DISTRICT 4 GOLF: HICKS LEADS ATHENS TO RUNNER-UP FINISH AT CLASS 3A CHAMPIONSHIPS (9 PHOTOS) (2025-10-01)


ATHENS' BERTSCH QUALIFIES FOR DISTRICTS

Valley Sports Report
MONTGOMERY — Athens junior Eli Hicks shot a 77, but Jersey Shore had Shore had three golfers shoot 77 or better to win the District 4, Class 3A golf title here Wednesday afternoon at White Deer Golf Course.

"I am very pleased with how our team played today," said Athens coach Shane Saxon. "I'm proud of how far we've come from the beginning of the year as well. 

"I feel we are a young team with only a couple of starting returners with experience and those two boys (Eli Hicks and Ty Owen) carried a lot of weight on their backs this year," noted Saxon. "We came up short of what our goal was, but to come out with second place isn’t anything to shake a stick at.

"These kids have been working their butts off, grinding every night practicing and I think it showed today," he added. "Conditions weren’t the greatest, but the course did what they could to get the fairways back in a at least playable condition. The greens were in great shape."

Jersey Shore shot a four-player aggregate score of 314 to wrest the title away from the defending champion Wildcats, who placed second Wednesday with a 327. Selinsgrove was third at 335, and Williamsport was fourth at 341.

Hicks had a pair of birdies — on the 465-yard, par-5 second hole and the 139-yard, par-3 13th hole — and shot 38 on the front nine, and 39 on the back on the 5,917-yard, par-72 course. His score was good for a tie for third in the individual standings.

Sophomore Ty Owen carded an 80 (41-39) for the Wildcats, while Lucas Grenninger shot an 84 (44-40), including a birdie on the 486-yard par-5 14th hole, and freshman Jacob Saxon carded an 86.

Coach Saxon credited Grenninger and Jacob Saxon on their rounds in their first District 4 tournament.

"Lucas started off very rocky, but so proud of him to keep grinding," said Saxon. "He was 8-over after the first four holes and ended up 12 over for the day. He could have just thrown in the towel early but he didn’t he kept working and ended up with a pretty decent day.

"Jacob knew what he had to shoot today to make the individual tournament and he beat that score by two strokes," noted Saxon. "He started off pretty good, then had a three-hole stretch that was trying to throw him off the rails, but he also battled through it, put his head down, and finished strong." 

Junior Colin Congdon added a non-scoring round of 90 (47-43) — missing out on qualifying for next week's District 4 Individual tournament by two strokes. He logged a birdie on the 13th hole.

Sophomore Brooke Lyon tacked on a 104 (47-57).

Jersey Shore's Carter Girton earned low-medal honors on the day with a 75, while Mason Heydrich and Kylie Schall shot 76 and 77, respectively, for the Bulldogs, and Jackson Keeter added an 86.

BERTSCH QUALIFIES FOR DISTRICTS
Playing in a last-chance qualifying tournament for the District 4, Class 3A Championships, and Athens sophomore Peter Bertsch shot an 88 to hit the qualifying mark on the button to punch his ticket to the Individual championships.


The District 4, Class AAA Championships is set for Oct. 9 at White Tail Golf Course, and Oct. 11 at the Williamsport Country Club.

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PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING.




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