Medalists Blakesly Warren, Gordon Hulgan lead teams to City Prep titles

photo Baylor's Blakesly Warren watches her tee shot on No. 10 during play at the City Prep Championship at Bear Trace.
photo McCallie's Gordon Hulgan fires his second shot at the18th green Thursday shooting 4-under par to win the City Prep Championship at Bear Trace in Harrison.

A newspaper picture of Blakesly Warren hangs on the family refrigerator.

It took a memory of that image from Bear Trace at Harrison Bay two years ago to remind Warren that she now has won three straight City Prep Championships after the University of Tennessee commitment shot a 1-under-par 71 at the state park course Thursday.

"I guess that's really cool," said the humble Warren, who shared medalist honors with Baylor School teammate Lauren Johnson last year. "To be honest, I didn't think about winning three in a row. But actually, that's really cool."

Another Baylor teammate, Katherine Holmes, was the runner-up Thursday, shooting a 4-over 76 on the 6,000-yard set-up to give the Lady Raiders the team championship as well.

"It's great to add on to the tradition that we've had here," Holmes said. "I'm glad because this was my first time playing [in the lineup] this season."

Their combined score of 3-over 147 topped runner-up Girls Preparatory School by 23 shots, while Signal Mountain and Walker Valley shared third place at 171. Kaitlyn Sneed of Meigs County placed third individually with a 79, followed by 81s from Ooltewah senior Samantha Griffith and Walker Valley senior Katie Bishop.

"I don't think GPS has played as a team here in a few years, and to come in second is a great honor," GPS coach Rob Riddle said. "This is a nice steppingstone."

McCallie's Blue Tornado took a big step toward their goal of winning the Division II-AA boys' state championship as they combined to shoot a 9-over 297.

The Tornado beat Baylor by five shots, Signal Mountain by seven, Notre Dame by 15 and East Hamilton by 19. It was the first time this season that McCallie shot a sub-300 round.

"I was proud of the way two guys played, but I think the team knows that we need to play better because the ultimate goal is to be competitive at the state level and we're striving for that goal," McCallie coach Tony Meyers said. "This allows us to know that our goals are attainable, but we need to continue to work. We can't just show up."

McCallie senior Gordon Hulgan played his best round of the calendar year and won medalist honors by shooting a 4-under 68. He had been one of the area's dominant players as a sophomore but took a step back last year.

"I took a long time off after state last year and I wasn't liking golf as much as I used to," Hulgan said. "Now I like to play and practice as much as I used to. Taking time off hurt me in the summer, but in the long run, it will be a good decision."

Hulgan topped teammate Patrick McDonald by one stroke when McDonald bogeyed the 18th hole after trying to be safe off the tee. Chattanooga Christian junior Scott Stevens and Walker Valley sophomore Dylan Lillard also shared runner-up honors.

"Hopefully it's a good statement," said Lillard, who hit 17 greens in regulation. "It's my best round this season and my second best ever. Now I have confidence and I know that I can shoot low."

Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP

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