Both the St. Cloud High girls and boys golf teams earned at-large bids to participate in the FHSAA Class 3A state championship, being held Nov. 19-20 at Mission Resort and Club in Howey-in-the-Hills.
This is the second time St. Cloud sends both teams to the finals – having also done so in 2022.
While neither Bulldog team finished in the top two in regionals on Monday to automatically qualify, advancing became a waiting game for both squads. Thanks to their state ranking points earned during the regular and post-season, the FHSAA announced Wednesday that both teams were qualifiers.
The Lady Bulldogs become the first team (boys or girls) in county history to advance to the state tournament four consecutive times. Behind Karolyna Adams’ two-day total (78-79-157) last year, the Bulldogs finished fourth with a 659 team score, the highest overall state finish ever by a girls’ Osceola County team.
The Lady Bulldogs finished tied for fourth in Region 2 at Royal St. Cloud Golf Club. It should be noted that the top four non-automatic qualifiers all came from St. Cloud’s Region 2.
The boys’ team had a strong season, but ran into a buzz saw in its regional tournament, where three schools shot under-par team scores at Stoneybrook West Golf Course. St. Cloud was fifth at 307 (+19), but when rankings came out Wednesday, St. Cloud earned an at-large selection – Region 2 claimed four of the eight available at-large spots.
“We are super proud of both teams, considering both teams are under first year head coaches,” St. Cloud Athletic Director Bryan Smart said. “These kids are extremely dedicated and work so hard at their games. The fact that half of the at-large field for both the boys and girls championships came from our region is a testament to how competitive and tough that region really was. I also would be remiss if I didn’t thank Bill Filson, Doug Holloway and the entire staff at Royal St. Cloud Golf Club. The success of our teams are due in a large part to the great facilities they provide our team to practice and play on.”
Heading to championship for the St. Cloud girls are Adams, Maddie and Nadia Burda, Abigail Murphy and Olivia Siegel. The boys’ team lineup includes Espn Pool, Ethan Parish, Dominick Velazquez, and Wyatt Wheeler.
At Mission Resort, the girls will play the Las Colinas course and the boys will compete on the El Campeon course.
