Xavier, Hamilton win state D-I high school golf championships

The fall high school golf season has concluded, with Xavier Prep and Hamilton, two perennial powers, emerging as the Division I state girls’ and boys’ team champions.

These intense two-day tournaments took place at Aguila Golf Course in Phoenix last week. Let’s take a closer look at the results of the D-I championship tournaments:

Girls

The girls’ tournament was held on Tuesday and Wednesday, with Xavier being the favorites this year, thanks to their deep roster consisting of seniors Lena Durette, Grace Rubelsky, and Kalyn Doss, as well as sophomore Isabella Piazza and freshman Alexis Lamadrid.

The Gators dominated the competition from start to finish, securing their 38th golf championship.

Impressively, four of their players finished in the top 10 of the individual leaderboard. Lamadrid and Durette tied for second place, while Piazza claimed fifth place and Rubelsky finished right behind her in sixth.

After round one, the Gators led the championship by a 10-stroke margin. The following day, they shot an impressive 5-under par, winning the round by a staggering 23 strokes. In the end, the Gators emerged victorious with a 33-stroke lead over second-place Pinnacle, finishing the tournament with a total of 581 compared to Pinnacle’s 614.

The overall individual D-I winner was Angela Chen, a junior from Hamilton, who finished 6-under over the two-day tournament. Kaitlyn Moreland, a freshman from Pinnacle, tied with Lamadrid and Durette for second place, shooting 4-under for the championship.

Both the Huskies and the Pioneers had three players in the top 15, but Pinnacle managed to have all five of their golfers land in the top 20.

Last year, Hamilton won the state title, with Xavier finishing in second place.

Boys

The boys’ tournament was a closely contested battle between two of Arizona’s top high school programs, Brophy and Hamilton. Brophy, with seniors Henry Dall and Tyler Spielman leading the way, showcased its talented roster, while Hamilton, led by senior Vincent Cervantes, also had a strong lineup.

In the end, it was Hamilton who claimed the title after the second round on Friday. Cervantes, the Republic’s boys golfer of the year two seasons ago, posted an impressive 9-under par over the two rounds, helping Hamilton edge out Brophy by seven strokes to secure the championship with a total score of 568-575. This marked the Huskies’ fourth state title in the last five years.

Cervantes finished second on the individual leaderboard, while the top overall individual title went to Liberty senior Adam Croix, who shot an impressive 11-under par for the championship, including a 7-under round on Friday. Dall and Spielman from Brophy both finished among the top five.

Eli Sweet from Liberty created a buzz during the tournament with a hole-in-one, the only ace in either the boys’ or girls’ Division I or II tournaments.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic.