Butch Harmon
Sports Scene
For the second year in a row, the Davison girls golf team finished the season in the top ten at the Division 1 state finals.
This season, Davison finished in ninth place at the finals that took place at The Meadows at Grand Valley State University. The Cardinals shot a 395 team score on the first day of the tournament, and then came back the next day and fired a 387 in windy and cold weather conditions to finish with a two-day total of 782.
“I think that they held their own,” Stocker said. “They did a great job. Obviously the conditions were pretty tough for scoring, but we went out and shot two solid scores. Not our average, but still solid.”
Senior Laura Farah led the way for the team, carding a two-day total of 183.
“We had a rough first day, but we all came back pretty well the second day,” Farah said. “We did okay considering the winds were so bad and it was cold. We tried to judge the wind and tried to go a club up or club down. We had to make sure we knew where the wind was blowing.”
Senior Mariah Minzey shot a two-day total of 191.
“Friday was a tough day and then on Saturday it was real rough,” Minzey said. “You just try to not let the wind beat you. You just have to hit your shot and do your best.”
Junior Andrea Richards totaled a 199 for the tournament, while senior Megan Kechner totaled a 209. Sophomore Tara Schneider shot 111 on the first day and 122 on the second day for the Cardinals.
GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY
The Davison girls cross country team is off to one of its strongest starts in years. The team has recorded a number of top-three finishes this season, highlighted by a first-place finish at the Greater Flint Area Cross Country Championships. For the first time ever, the Davison girls brought home a title, as they won the Division 1 championship and were second place overall.
“The boys won it once or twice, but the girls have never won it,” Davison coach Ron Whitman said. “Thursday we made a little bit of history as a team. We now have our school’s name in the record book. We’ve had some individual champions, but this was the first time that the Davison girls have ever won at that meet dating back to when it use to be the Genesee County Meet.”
Sophomore Jordann McDermitt led the way for Davison, as she turned in a time of 20:44.1 and placed eighth overall. Amanda George finished in a time of 20:49.5 and placed tenth. Both McDermitt and George were named first-team, all-county.
Davison had five girls earn all-county honors. Elise Close, Shelby Roesner, and Casey Schaefer all earned second-team, all-county honors.
“I’m really proud of what the girls accomplished,” Whitman said. “They really ran hard, and it was a good team effort. It was something that has never been done before by Davison girls.”
BOYS CROSS COUNTRY
How does one of the top wrestlers on the Davison wrestling team get ready for the season?
If you’re Davison junior Patrick Rooker, you become one of the top runners on the Cardinal cross country team.
After graduating standout John Izzo from last year’s team, Rooker has stepped in as the top runner on the team and is setting his sights on returning to the Division 1 state finals this season.
Rooker qualified for the Division 1 state meet last season, where he finished 74th overall with a time of 16:16. That time put him 32nd on the list of returning runners from the Division 1 state meet this season.
Rooker is picking up where he left off, despite a foot injury suffered during track season.
His best time is 16:53, which came in a key Big 9 conference win against Powers Catholic.
“In addition to improving as a runner, Patrick is one of, if not the, leader of the team,” said Davison coach Matt Ambs. “With all of our seniors gone, he has kind of taken the bull by the horns and become one of the leaders of the team. He is a big part of our early success.”