The Wesley Chapel Wildcats and the Cypress Creek Coyotes emerged victorious from the boys and girls 2A District 9 golf tournament earlier this week respectively. The competition, hosted by the Hernando Oaks Golf and Country Club, saw the boys squads square off on Monday followed by the girls teams the next day.
11 schools were featured during the boys tournament while 9 girls squads competed on Tuesday. All five of Hernando County’s public high schools were represented in the girls competition, though Central did not send a contingent for the boys tournament. The other schools that made it out to the links for both days included Wesley Chapel, Cypress Creek, River Ridge, and Zephyrhills. Gulf and Pasco High Schools only sent their boys teams as well.
The Hernando Leopards had the strongest showing among the county’s boys teams by placing third below the Wildcats and the Coyotes. The Nature Coast Sharks girls team fared similarly by taking third overall behind the Coyotes and the Zephyrhills Bulldogs. The overall team results for the boys and girls squads are listed below:
Boys:
Wesley Chapel Wildcats – 308
Cypress Creek (Wesley Chapel) Coyotes – 311
Hernando Leopards – 321
River Ridge Knights – 325
Zephyrhills Bulldogs – 336
Pasco Pirates – 359
Springstead Eagles – 363
Weeki Wachee Hornets – 373
Nature Coast Tech Sharks – 391
Hudson Cobras – 427
Gulf Buccaneers – 452
Girls:
Cypress Creek – 406
Zephyrhills – 452
Nature Coast Tech – 453
River Ridge – 476
Wesley Chapel – 477
Weeki Wachee – 484
Springstead – 507
Hernando – 518
Central (Brooksville) Bears – 587
Despite the seventh-place finish for both squads, Eagles Athletic Director and Boys Golf Head Coach Matthew McGarry was pleased with what he saw. A freshman like Hugh Huddleston was a standout especially because he will be able to return for multiple more years while continuing to hone his craft.
“I thought as a team, we probably performed the best we have since I took over in 2019,” Coach McGarry said. “We had some individuals who stood out like Christian Schaefer shooting a career low 82 and our Freshman Hugh Huddleston shot an 88. So, it’s encouraging that we will have both of them back next year, as well as a couple others. I think we have a shot to be even better next season if these young men continue to work on their games.”
Nature Coast Tech Head Coach Tom Brown was also impressed by the play of one of the underclassmen on his boys squad. Though the team finished ninth on Monday, bright spots like Dylan Cooper (who scored a 96) leave the Sharks coach looking to the future.
“Freshman Dylan Cooper played well,” Coach Brown said. “He was our low score and surprised, bettering his average by nearly 10 strokes. The team was consistent overall and are already looking forward to next year.”
The top three individual performances from each high school’s boys and girls clubs are listed below:
Boys (Individual):
Tien Do (Sophomore, Wesley Chapel) – 72
Casey Hudson (Senior, River Ridge) – 73
Jack Hudson (Sophomore, River Ridge) – 73
Girls (Individual):
Miranda Hernandez (Senior, Nature Coast) – 82
Skylar Lee (Senior, Cypress Creek) – 91
Danica Boswell (Junior, Wesley Chapel) – 97
