By Morgan Guyer
The Maryville Spoofhound Girls Golf Team was able to take an entire team to the Class 2 State Tournament in New Bloomfield October 20-21, after missing out last season. The team ended with a sixth place finish.
“It’s always great when your team peaks at the end of the season. This is a very young team, except for our senior Alayna Pargas, who is our team captain and a four year varsity player. Juniors Halle Zimmerman and Taylor Akon started golfing in their freshmen year with no experience and stepped up to varsity last season. Sophomore Avonlea Mitchell joined the team last year with no experience, and freshman Cate Jordan joined with some experience,” Head Coach Brenda Ricks said.
Pargas finished her Spoofhound golf career with a fourth place finish, shooting a 90 and 85 over the two days.
“I have no doubt that Alayna will reflect back on this season in years to come with pride, as two of her goals were accomplished. She wanted her team to go to state and she wanted to finish with a medal. Her state finish is the best in Lady Spoofhound history,” Ricks said. “To top it off, all five girls improved their scores from day one to day two in the state tournament. We just couldn’t be more proud of these girls. They worked so hard all season, and the hard work paid off.”
Akon and Zimmerman finished tied for 40th and tied for 50th respectively in their first state tournament. Jordan ended up tied for 72nd, while Mitchell finished tied for 78th. With these four returning next season, the varsity team will have a strong foundation.
It wasn’t just on the course that Maryville found success. Pargas, Akon, Zimmerman, Mitchell and Junior Jaidaci Wilmes were recognized by the Missouri High School Golf Coaches Association, being awarded Academic All-State recipients.
