Salem freshman Kathryn Ha shot a one-over-par 73 to lead the Spartans to a seventh place finish in the Virginia High School League Class 4 state golf championship tournament Tuesday. The tournament was held at the Glenrochie Country Club in Abingdon.
Blacksburg, a fellow member of the River Ridge District with Salem, was the team winner with a 285, or three under par as a team. Jamestown was second at 298 and Salem shot a 317, which is 29 strokes over par.
Jake Albert, a freshman from Blacksburg, was the individual champion with a five under 67. Salem’s Ha was tied for sixth, earning her all-state honors before she has completed two months of high school. Also scoring for the Spartans were Trey Joyce and Macy Johnson at 81 each and Taylor Davis at 82.
“I’m not the least bit disappointed, our goal was to get here,” said Salem coach Thad Snyder. “From August 1st until today I was fortunate to have a group of kids who are just great people. They worked hard every day and were fun to be around.”
All four of Salem’s state scorers are underclassmen. In addition to freshman Ha, Joyce and Johnson are juniors and Davis is a freshman. Salem had just three seniors, Alex Rea, Hunter King and Josh Kiser.
Ha and Johnson have already qualified for the girls’ state championship tournament on October 25th. Davis will try to make it three Salem girls in the field when she plays in a state qualifier next Tuesday at Hidden Valley.