The South Gibson Star-Times serves the towns of Haubstadt, Owensville and Fort Branch.
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B-2 Tuesday, June 14, 2022 South Gibson Star-Times Evansville Nor th won the regional with a team score of 308. Their number one player, Damian Rij shot a 71 to take med- alist honors, by one stroke over Blackard. Blackard got of f to a hot star t making birdie on the par 5 opening hole. He then parred the next eight holes to finish the front nine at one under. He would bogey the par 3 11th hole, but a brilliant approach shot on the par 5 12th put him back to one under. Blackard laid up to about 90 yards on the long par 5 and was left with a tricky shot under an overhanging tree limb to a two-tiered elevated green. Two of his playing par tners had clear shots at the green and were laying 15 and five feet away and under the hole. He hit a dar t un- der the tree limb, barely clearing the front lip of the elevated green, took one bounce and settled two feet from the hole, pin-high for a near tap-in birdie. He would bogey the par 5 16th and make par on the last three holes for a one-over 37 on the back nine and one-over 72 for 18 holes. "I wasn't really ner vous. I was just tr ying to get in the house," said Blackard of the last few holes. Islam got of f to a slower star t, making bogey on the second and third holes. He got one stroke back on the par 5 sixth, but bogeyed the ninth hole that was playing more than 440 yards, to finish the front nine with a two over 38. "I was having trouble with the putter. It just didn't seem like the speed was right. Islam then played steady on the back nine, making par on ever y hole but number 17, where he made bogey to shoot a one-over 37 on the back nine. He finished with a four-over 75. It was good enough to get him into the state finals next week. Titan senior Cale Mar tin shot an 87. After a tidy 40 on the front nine, he str uggled with his driver and had a 47 on the back nine. Mitchell Gilles shot a 45 on the front and a 44 on the back for an 89 to round out the team score of 323. Dawson Maurer had a 94. Covenant Christian placed sec- ond with a team 312 and Evans- ville Memorial had a 319 for third place to advance to the state finals. Brebeuf Jesuit Prep shot 320 for four th place. Gibson Southern and Brownsburg both shot 323 to tie for fifth. The other team scores were: 7) Plainfield 324, 8) Mater Dei 330, 9) Avon 332, 10) Terre Haute Nor th 337, 11) Vincennes Lincoln 342, 12) Crawfordsville 342, 13) Greencastle 353, 14) South Knox 254, 15) Terre Haute South 356, 16) Sullivan 363, 17) Crawfords- ville 371, 18) Decatur Central 403. Islam and Blackard will play a practice round and then tee up on Tuesday and Wednesday against the best high school golfers in Indiana. "I'm happy that his 75 made it," said Blackard of having a teammate join him at the state finals. "It will definitely add to the experience," Islam said about having a teammate with him at the state finals. He added, "I real- ly wish it would have been whole team. This year we had great team chemistr y. It has definitely been fun." Islam said he is looking for ward to playing without the pressure of tr ying to advance to the next level. "It will be interesting to see how that works out. I put so much pressure on myself. Seems like I play a little better when I have a little pressure, but I'm having more fun." GOLF Continued from page B1 Dakota Moore represents Indiana at national competition By Janice Barniak SG Star-Times Editor editor@sgstartimes.com Dakota Moore of Princeton, helped Indiana bring home gold in the national Special Olympics competition in Orlando, Fla. Team Indiana took first place in the 4x100 relay event with a time of 51.34 — shaving .64 seconds of f their qualifying time. He also brought home bronze in long jump, at 4.80 meters and third in the 100 meter dash with a time of 12.92. In preliminaries he placed fifth, so he brought that up by two places. Moore said the best par t for him was the opening ceremony with all the athletes from around the countr y. "I really liked the opening ceremony because it gets you pumped up for the event. It's about being around team- mates, sharing the bonds, the support, and knowing what we're here for." When he's not in com- peting, he participates in a healthy athlete challenge at different stations of com- petition, and visits Animal Kingdom. Moore said his training has been consistent leading up to competition. He works at Toyota, his employer, because they have facilities for team members and trainers to assist. "This was definitely my personal best," he said of his performances this week. Team Indiana placed first in nationals in the 4x100 relay race. From left, Coach Andy Hunnicutt, Braiden Royal, Andrew Peterson, Dakota Moore and Josh Fletcher. Dakota Moore of Princeton competed at the national Special Olympics tournament on behalf of Team Indiana last week. "I really liked the opening ceremony because it gets you pumped up for the event. It's about being around teammates, sharing the bonds, the support, and knowing what we're here for." -Dakota Moore Senior Cale Martin, Titan Coach Matt Reinbrecht and sophomore Dawson Maurer kill time while they wait for the tee on hole 15. Gib- son Southern just missed advancing to the state finals as a team. They shot 323 and it took 319 to advance. "I really wish it would have been whole team. This year we had great team chemistry. It has definitely been fun." -Ryan Islam