CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Cleveland's Rheagan Hall made it known last year that one of her goals as a high school golfer was to qualify for the state tournament every year. Thanks to another of her goals being met Monday at Cleveland Country Club, she'll get the opportunity next Monday to qualify for the Class Large state tournament.
Hall was the medalist in the District 5 tournament, and she and Ellie Mills' combined 175 made the Lady Raiders the tournament champions.
"It means a lot to me," Hall said of the team title and the effort put forth by Mills and Cleveland's other entrant, Emma Crouch. "It's my senior year and that was one of my goals. The team came together. I've been working toward this since my freshman year.
Walker Valley (188) and Sequoyah (191) are the other District 5 girls' teams moving on to the Region 3 tournament, which will be held at The Bear Trace at Cumberland Mountain. Team winners there will move on to the state tournament, along with the top three finishing boys and girls not on those teams.
Hall shot 79 on Monday but expected better.
"I hit the ball really bad," she said. "My chipping and putting was what kept my score what it is."
Walker Valley's Whitney Kincaid finished second, 11 shots back of Hall. Lauren Baker, who joined Bradley Central teammates Cuppie Kyle and Bridger Yowarsky as individual region qualifiers, was third. Sequoyah's Macy Moses was fourth and Mills wound up fifth.
Walker Valley's Cade Puryear, whose round began with a birdie followed by seven consecutive pars, was the boys' medalist. He defeated good friend and teammate Parker Gray on the first playoff hole after both shot 75s.
"We were both going to be happy either way because we won the team championship," Puryear said.
The Mustangs' 309 was 28 strokes better than runner-up Bradley Central and 37 ahead of third-place Cleveland. All advance to the region, along with five individual qualifiers led by third-place finisher Nicholas Thompson (76) from McMinn County.
East Hamilton's Miller Wick (78), another region qualifier, earned fourth place on the third hole of a playoff with Walker Valley's Dalton Sutton, who rounded out the top five. The other individual region qualifiers were McMinn County's Dodj Watson, East Hamilton's Matthew Ott and Sequoyah's J.T. McDaniel.
* District 6 Large: At The Bear Trace at Cumberland Mountain, the teams comprising the other half of the Region 3 tournament were led by Cumberland County's boys (308) and White County's girls (183).
Jessica Kirklen's and Madeline McNeal's combined scores allowed Soddy-Daisy's girls to qualify for the region by finishing third. Hixson's Madelyn Standford qualified as an individual.
Boys' individual region qualifiers included Soddy-Daisy's Zane Penney and Hixson's Bruce Wilson and Jared Thomas.
* Region 3 Small: At Chatata Valley, Signal Mountain took three of the top four honors.
Lindsey Hollis was the girls' medalist with a 78, and with teammate and runner-up Taylor Gardner shooting 79, the Lady Eagles were the team champions, which puts them in the state tournament Sept. 26-27 at WillowBrook. The Signal boys also will be going after totaling 306, paced by individual runner-up Foster Wood's 73 and Ben Seay's third-place 76.
McMinn Central's John Houk was the boys' medalist with a 69 and teammate Seth Ward (77) is also a state qualifier. The other is Polk County's Garrett Jones (77).
The girls' individual state qualifiers are Sale Creek sisters Hannah and Ashley Holland, who finished third and fourth individually, and McMinn Central's Emily Wilson.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.
District 5 Large tournament
At Cleveland Country Club
Boys' team scores: WALKER VALLEY 309 (Cade Puryear 75 [won medalist 1st playoff hole], Parker Gray 75 [2nd], Dalton Sutton [5th], Nick McCracken 81); BRADLEY CENTRAL 337 (Gage Brakebill 79, Bryce Kaufman 84, Tyler Ferguson 85, J.T. McKenzie 89, Lucas Maynard 89); CLEVELAND 346 (Drew Linkous 81, Matt Marino 85, Balee Miller 87, Wade Samples 93); EAST HAMILTON 359 (Miller Wick 78* [won 4th in playoff], Matthew Ott 87*, Kendall Tate 97, Hayden Davis 97); SEQUOYAH 360 (Samuel Watson 88, J.T. McDaniel 88*, Nate Watson 90, Dylan Lee 94); McMINN COUNTY 384 (Nicholas Thompson 76* [3rd], Dodj Watson 82*, Justin Alexander 103, Ethan Page 123); OOLTEWAH 451 (Nicholas Rahn 104, Avery Panni 113, Connor Ingram 116, Rikesh Patel 118). Note: *Region qualifiers.
Girls' team scores: CLEVELAND 175 (Rheagan Hall 79 [medalist], Ellie Mills 96 [5th]); WALKER VALLEY 188 (Whitney Kincaid 90 [2nd], Lauryn Roby 98); SEQUOYAH 191 (Macy Moses 94 [4th], Kelly Swabe 97); BRADLEY CENTRAL 194 (Lauren Baker 91* [3rd], Cuppie Kyle 103*, Bridger Yowarsky 121*); OOLTEWAH 221 (Danielle Siever 104*, Emma Cripe 117*); McMINN COUNTY 270 (Darien Sneed 132, MaKenzee Shirk 138).
* Region qualifier
District 6 Large tournament
At Bear Trace Cumberland Mountain
Boys' team scores: CUMBERLAND COUNTY 308; COOKEVILLE 320; WARREN COUNTY 348; DeKALB COUNTY 349; STONE MEMORIAL 350; RHEA COUNTY 370 (Jackson Lytle 88, Russell Green 91, Kevin Rothwell 91, C.J. Smith 100); SODDY-DAISY 391 (Zane Penney 81*, Zac King 97, Luke Ellis 97, Brett Billendorf 116). Individuals: Bruce Wilson (Hixson) 84*; Jared Thomas (Hixson) 85*. Note: *Region qualifiers.
Girls' team scores: WHITE COUNTY 183; COOKEVILLE 206; SODDY-DAISY 213 (Jessica Kirklen 103*, Madeline McNeal 110*); RHEA COUNTY 238 (Christen Sneed 117, Lesley Green 121); LIVINGSTON ACADEMY 246. Individual: Madelyn Standford (Hixson) 109*.
* Region qualifier
Region 3 Small tournament
At Chatata Valley
Boys' team scores: SIGNAL MOUNTAIN 306 (Foster Wood 73 [2nd], Ben Seay 76 [3rd], Benjamin Burns 78, Wesley Portera 79); McMINN CENTRAL 329 (John Houk 69* [1st], Seth Ward 77* [4th], Bradley Dunkle 88, Josh Loveday 95); TELLICO PLAINS 375 (Lucas Pilky 83, Tyler Wear 93, Forrest Atkins 99, David Crace 100); POLK COUNTY 399 (Garrett Jones 77*, Luke Sneed 103, Jonathon Pippenger 106, Matt Passmore 113); GRUNDY COUNTY 418 (Ajay Tenenbaum 89, Kollyn Cooper 103, Trey Hampton 111, Lucas Woodley 115); BLEDSOE COUNTY 491 (Caleb Wagner 113, Trevor Smith 118, Tommy Turner 129, Brady Haston 131). Individuals: Jasper Cooley (Loudon) 91; Corbin Pell (CSAS) 100; Trent Bibee (Sweetwater) 101; Casey Tierney (South Pittsburg) 103; Hugh Jackson (CSAS) 104; Ricky Utera (Loudon) 109; Samuel Anderson (Meigs County) 110; Logan Hutcheson (Copper Basin) 112; Colton Friday (CSAS) 115. Note: *State qualifiers.
Girls' team scores: SIGNAL MOUNTAIN 157 (Lindsey Hollis 78 [medalist], Taylor Gardner 79 [2nd]); SALE CREEK 173 (Hannah Holland 83* [3rd], Ashley Holland 90* [4th]); MEIGS COUNTY (Katie Whitted 103, Rebecca Godsey 120, Alexis Newman-Millard 120); McMINN CENTRAL 214 (Emily Wilson 96*, Carsi Beaty 118); LOUDON 229 (Desera Woods 107, Caroline Millsaps). Individuals: Emily Smith (Grundy County) 104; Callie Kirkpatrick (Tellico Plains) 109; Brooke Talley (Tellico Plains) 109; Meggie Woody (Polk County) 111; Kaitlyn Gibbs (Copper Basin) 113; Chandlee Jones (Polk County) 113; Haylie Wagner (Bledsoe County) 118.
* State qualifier