Lakeside captures 5A girls state championship

The Sentinel-Record/Jami Smith STATE CHAMPIONS: Members of Lakeside's girls' golf team celebrate Wednesday at the Hot Springs Country Club after winning the 2018 Class 5A girls' state golf tournament.
The Sentinel-Record/Jami Smith STATE CHAMPIONS: Members of Lakeside's girls' golf team celebrate Wednesday at the Hot Springs Country Club after winning the 2018 Class 5A girls' state golf tournament.

Lakeside's girls' golf team overcame a rough start on Wednesday to win the Class 5A girls' state tournament at the Hot Springs Country Club.

"We seemed to start bad and I wasn't sure," said Lakeside golf coach Gary Don Smith. "I knew Mountain Home was good. I knew Greenwood was good and a couple of others. I was worried about the No. 3 and No. 4 spots.

"We have won at state before with somebody in the 90s. When I saw the scores start coming in, I figured we were part of it."

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The Sentinel-Record/Richard Rasmussen UP AND OUT: Lakeside's Abby Lea Huett hits out of a sand trap on the second hole Wednesday at the Hot Springs Country Club during the Class 5A girls state golf tournament. Huett overcame early struggles to earn All-State honors with a round of 84.

Sophomores Carly Orr and Abby Lea Huett earned All-State honors with rounds of 81 and 84, respectively. They joined with junior Riley Langston and sophomore Lilly Crabtree to shoot a team score of 263. Mountain Home placed second at 268.

"I was glad to see them pull together and do a good job," Smith said. "They stayed in there fighting when they had some bad holes."

"If you just keep playing and not let the bad holes bother you, you will be surprised with how the scores end up," Smith added. "I was surprised today."

Paragould's Madison Holmes medaled with a score of 74. The next-best score among the 18 participants who qualified to compete as individuals was 99.

"I didn't think we had it all together," Smith said. "We practiced pretty hard yesterday and went through everything. I thought the girls did really well yesterday. It just worked out in our favor.

"We knew we had the possibility. I was saying it was an outside chance. Then, all of a sudden, boom, the scores start coming in and everybody starts telling me."

Greenbrier's Olivia Parker, Sheridan's Emma Hester and Siloam Springs' Kaitlyn Robinson each shot rounds of 80 to qualify for a playoff for second place. Mountain Home's Sydney Czanstkowski tied with Orr at 81.

"I really was not thinking about how everyone else was doing," Orr said. "I was just thinking that I was doing good and I was happy with that."

Also earning All-State were Kenzie Collins for Mountain Home with a score of 86, Olivia Abernathy for Jonesboro with a score of 88 and Gabrien Parker for El Dorado with a score of 91.

"I was nervous because I saw Mountain Home's score," Orr said. "It was almost the exact same score as our No. 1 and our No. 2."

Mountain Home's final two scores were 101 and 110.

"I thought it was going to be really close when I got in, but when I found out that Carly shot an 81 and, then, when the last girl came in for Mountain Home, I knew that we had it," Orr said.

Greenwood placed third at 283 without an All-State performer as three of the four team members hit in the 90s. Sheridan placed fourth at 288 and Siloam Springs was fifth at 293.

"Of course, it is always fun, but it is nerve-wracking to me," Smith said. "I only talk to them every once in a while. Abby came by one time and said, 'I'm not doing good.' I said, 'Get it going.' They know I'm joking. I act like I am fussing a bit.

"Abby expects to lead. She did a good job hanging on to be in the 80s, because she was struggling for a while. She has a bad knee and it was hurting her. Her mom and I were trying to watch that and keep her going. I am proud of her for sticking it out."

"I just tried to stay positive, because anything can happen if the other girls are with me," Huett said. "That is what happened at conference. Just have to keep calm."

Huett medaled with a round of 77 in the 5A-South district tournament on Sept. 18 at the El Dorado Country Club. Hester shot a 79.

Sheridan won the conference championship with a team score of 270. Lakeside was second at 274. Orr placed third at district with a round of 93.

"Carly has such a sweet swing," Smith said. "She hits it out there. She can putt well and I saw her save several pars. They are the leaders.

"Riley is a junior and this is her first year to really get to play a big part on the team. I gave her the goal for somewhere around 95 and we would have a chance. She got to 98."

Lake Hamilton freshmen Ginny Higginbotham and Annabelle Coppedge and sophomore Kenley Spruill qualified from the conference tournament and competed as individuals Wednesday at state in their first year of competition.

Lakeside's boys' team won the conference tournament and qualified for the state tournament, which will be held Tuesday at the Paragould Country Club.

Sports on 09/27/2018

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