October 12, 2006 Issue                                       

Click Here

©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Mount golf wins AACA
by TOM UTESCHER

Mount St. Joseph’s tournament team for the AACA championships: (front row, L-R) Victoria Arena, Christen Kouch, Lauren Haney; (back row, L-R) Carson Price, Emily Gimpel, Nicole Weinrich (Photo by Tom Utescher)

Playoff season arrives quickly in scholastic golf, and as the month changed from September to October, Mount St. Joseph Academy wrapped up an undefeated season in league matches, won its fourth straight Athletic Association of Catholic Academies championship, and participated in a PIAA qualifier in which five players earned a place in the District I tournament.

The AACA championship tourney was held Sept. 28 on the par-35 front nine holes at the Honeybrook Golf Club, in Chester County. With her customary consistency Victoria Arena, a senior who’s the number one player for the Magic, bogied just one hole and parred all the others to come in with a one-under score of 36.

A birdie on the par-four ninth hole helped freshman Emily Gimpel fire a 40, and senior Carson Price was next with a 46. Another upperclassman, Christen Kouch (a team co-captain along with Arena), made it around in 48 strokes, and Mount St. Joe received a 52 from junior Lauren Haney and a 55 from sophomore Nicole Weinrich.

The team score for the event consisted of the sum of the five best rounds, and the Mount’s tally of 222 put the locals comfortably ahead of runner-up Merion Mercy, whose scores added up to 244.

On Monday of last week, the AACA’s top golfers assembled earlier than usual and headed out for an 18-hole district qualifier at the par 70 Twining Valley course. Those who shot a score of 97 or better would punch their tickets for the District I tourney, which will be held this week at two different venues near Limerick, PA.

Arena, who tied for the state championship in 2005, headed the field with a 76, while the promising ninth-grader, Gimpel, returned to the club house with an 82. Three other Mounties also made the cut; Kouch with a 93, and Price and Weinrich, who each had a 95. The only other players in the league to qualify were Maggie Tighe of Merion Mercy, and Kristin Faust of Villa Maria.

Before the district tournament, though, the Mount still had some unfinished business in the AACA. On Wednesday the Magic played the last match on their regular-season slate, meeting Gwynedd Mercy Academy on the Monarchs’ home course at Cedarbrook Golf Club.

Here, two birdies outweighed one bogie for Arena, and she handed in a round of 35 on the par-36 circuit. Gimpel had a 42 and Kouch was close behind with a 43, and the Mount’s total score of 219 was completed by a 49 from Haney and a 50 from Price. This gave the Magic a comfortable margin over the Monarchs, whose score of 243 included a 46 from Chiara Trentalange and a 47 from Melanie Reynolds.

In the seven seasons that golf has been an official interscholastic sport for the Catholic academies, the Magic have never lost a head-to-head match in the league. Since 2003, the winner of the AACA tournament has been recognized as the league champion, and the Mount has won all four of these events, as well.