Irish, Lady Eagles earn region titles

Signal Mountain's girls and Notre Dame's boys earned team titles Monday, and Signal Mountain's Jordan Britt was the girls' individual champion in the Region 4-A/AA high school golf tournament at Cookeville Golf Club.

Both championship teams advance to the state tournament Oct. 14-15 at Old Fort in Murfreesboro.

Britt's 73 helped the Lady Eagles to a score of 156, seven strokes better than second-place Livingston Academy.

"She is definitely the leader of our team," Signal Mountain coach Wes Moore said of the senior transfer from GPS. "We had a couple of good days of preparation for this. She really helps out there, especially with our other players being a sophomore and a freshman."

The sophomore, Sarah Dolomovich, gave support with an 83. Haley Davidson contributed an 89.

"The girls played very well," Moore said. "It was a tough day. It was wet, cold and windy. The girls battled through all that and made enough clutch putts to win the championship."

Kyle Wittler, the Irish's only senior, led Notre Dame to a 295 by shooting a 71. He finished runner-up individually to DeKalb County's Payne Denman, last year's state champion. He shot 68 for the runner-up team at 302.

Notre Dame's David Weeks and Todd Krum were part of a three-way tie for fourth place at 74. Weeks took fourth in a playoff and Krum ended fifth. Jack Noonan added a 76 for the Irish, who also got a 77 from Kyle Holley -- the score not used because the best four comprise the team score.

"When five guys score in the 70s, good things are going to happen for you," Notre Dame coach Jeff Fisher said. "We knew the kid from DeKalb was going to be tough because he won the individual title last year and won the district last week, shooting 67 on this same course. We knew we were going to have to play decently to beat them."

Signal Mountain's boys finished third at 326 and Grundy County wound up sixth with 357. Grundy County's girls came in third at 170 and Notre Dame's girls were sixth at 192.

The top four boys and girls not on either of the championship teams also qualified to play in the state tournament. On the boys' side that includes Signal Mountain's Blake Boerger, who shot 78.

Area girls qualifying individually are Notre Dame's Maddi Everts (79), Sequatchie County's Kelsey Weiner (79) and Grundy County's Loren Pickett (84). Everts edged Weiner in a playoff for fourth place.