Girls' time to shine: Golf invitational set for Tuesday (with updated tee times)
Sep. 6—When it comes to girls golf at the high school level in West Virginia, not many teams have a Kerri-Anne Cook.
That is, with far more boys than girls in the sport currently, the No. 1 player on any given team is most often a boy. Meanwhile, Cook's name is synonymous with Westside golf and it didn't happen by accident. In July, the Renegades junior locked up the West Virginia Golf Association Girls Player of the Year Award for the second year in a row.
Cook is used to being in the spotlight, but other girls golfers around the state are not. But the focus will be squarely on them Tuesday at the fifth annual West Virginia High School Girls Golf Invitational Championship at Mingo Bottom Golf Course in Elizabeth.
Seventy-six girls will tee off from Nos. 1 and 10 starting at 10:50 a.m. Wayne Ryan, assistant executive director for the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission, said the tournament was been well received since its inception in 2018 and provides the girls a day to stand out on their own.
"In the sport of golf, because we don't have a separate sport of girls golf, the girls are often not a featured part of their golf team," he said. "Now a few girls are, but a lot of girls aren't. This gives them the opportunity to play with other girls and to have that day on the course where all of the girls are the main thing. It's a pretty special day. We've gotten a lot of positive feedback."
The invitational grew in its first three years — including a high of 77 girls in the Covid season of 2020 — and has held steady in the mid-70s.
"We started this in 2018 and we had 50 participants, and we were thrilled with that," Ryan said. "Then in '19 it increased to 69, in '20 we went to 77 and in '21 we had 75. This year we're at 76. So we're averaging now right at 75 participants a year, which we're very, very pleased with."
Putting the focus on girls athletes and trying to grow their sports has been a mission for the SSAC, which also hosts a girls wrestling invitational every February. Girls wrestling is the fastest growing sport in the nation but is still lagging behind in West Virginia as a whole. The goal is to get those sports up to where they can be sanctioned, but work remains to be done.
"It is, but our bylaws require that in order for a sport to classify for its own state championship — which is why this is an invitational — you've got to fill 32 teams in a field," Ryan said. "Well, that means 32 teams have got to have four golfers. So we're still quite a ways from that, but we're certainly increasing the number of girls-only events, and we're holding steady and we're letting the girls know in the sport of golf we care about them. I don't know what the future will hold, but I do think we've done a lot of good things for girls golf, and girls playing golf."
Local girls playing on Tuesday are:
Ava Arbogast (Liberty); Bethany Rosiek (Oak Hill); Maddie Lucas (Liberty); Alley Denny (Woodrow Wilson); Kanyon Painter (Westside); Kinleigh Bradley (James Monroe); Maggie Asbury (Liberty); Anna Frasher (James Monroe); Madison McMillion (James Monroe); Katherine Viars (James Monroe); Madison Noonkester (James Monroe); Rylee Johnson (Nicholas County); Anastin Hornsby (Nicholas County).
Email: gfauber@register-herald.com; follow on Twitter @gfauber5
Tee times (subject to change)
Hole No. 1
10:50 a.m. — Mary Felts (Robert C. Byrd), Avery Fife (Ripley), Gianna Koski (Fairmont Senior)
11 a.m. — Ava Arbogast (Liberty), Bethany Rosiek (Oak Hill), Scarlett Anderson (George Washington)
11:10 a.m. — Madelyn Williams (Webster County), Olivia Frye (Huntington St. Joe), Maddie Lucas (Liberty)
11:20 a.m. — Morgan Messner (John Marshall), Serenity Cole (Webster County), Jules Tankersley (Huntington St. Joe)
11:30 a.m. — Trista Arnold (Calhoun County), Anistyn Collins (Huntington St. Joe), Madison Stellatato (Ripley)
11:40 a.m. — Leigha Keadle (Parkersburg South), Danica Riggins (Elkins), Amelia Kaste (John Marshall)
11:50 a.m. — Andi Bledsoe (Chapmanville), Olivia Foley (Parkersburg South), Brooke Tallman (Elkins)
Noon — Lauren Cline (Parkersburg South), Alley Denny (Woodrow Wilson), Jocelyn Blatt (John Marshall)
12:10 p.m. — Maggie Siley (Williamstown), Kaylee Criner (Braxton County), Reagan Friel (Pocahontas County)
12:20 p.m. — Olivia Cox (University), Rachel Felton (Pocahontas County), Ruby Stutler (Winfield)
12:30 p.m. — Maddie Erwin (Winfield), McKenna Knotts (Bridgeport), Grace Yan (Morgantown)
12:40 p.m. — Victoria Singzon (Bridgeport), McKenzie Armstrong (St. Marys), Anna Earl (Parkersburg)
12:50 p.m. — McKenna Darr (Morgantown), Payten Clark (John Marshall), Brielle Milhoan (Parkersburg), Sydney Baird (Webster County)
1 p.m. — Taylor Sargent (Cabell Midland), Savannah Hawkins (Hurricane), Kerri-Anne Cook (Westside), Emerson Simons (Roane County)
No. 10
10:50 a.m. — Taylor Spratt (Buckhannon-Upshur), Maddie Potts (Wheeling Central), Kali Grueneberg (Parkersburg)
11 a.m. — Kanyon Paynter (Westside), Brasinn Provenzano (Oak Glen), Samantha Colaw (Petersburg)
11:10 a.m. — Kinleigh Bradley (James Monroe), Christee Craddock (Calhoun Middle), Maggie Asbury (Liberty)
11:20 a.m. — Anna Frasher (James Monroe), Sarah Yoder (Gilmer County), Natalie Chirico (Chapmanville)
11:30 a.m. — Chloe Painter (Herbert Hoover), Madison McMillion (James Monroe), Alexis Herndon (Lincoln)
11:40 a.m. — Aly Wellman (Wayne), Bella Bowen (Herbert Hoover), Katherine Viars (James Monroe)
11:50 a.m. — Madison Noonkester (James Monroe), Lilly Roman (John Marshall), Danielle Scantlin (Ripley)
Noon — Kiya Brown (Wayne), Lila Roman (John Marshall), Allie Frye (Buckhannon-Upshur)
12:10 p.m. — Mady Schaefer (University), Isabella Bryant (Williamstown), Gabby Nixon (Robert C. Byrd)
12:20 p.m. — Indigo Bruehwiler (University), Rylee Johnson (Nicholas County), Katie McCutcheon (Point Pleasant)
12:30 p.m. — Anastin Hornsby (Nicholas County), Sarah Saffer (George Washington), Lauren Harrah (Capital)
12:40 p.m. — Emily Claire Swingle (George Washington), Ruth Freeman (Herbert Hoover), Malia Dukes (Capital)
12:50 p.m. — Ava Armstrong (Herbert Hoover), Lauren Welly (George Washington), Payton Barnitz (Wahama)
