WOOD RIVER - Marquette Catholic senior golfer Gracia Piar shot a school-record seven-under-par 65 to win the individual title as the Explorers claimed four of the top five spots in winning the IHSA Class 1A girls golf Civic Memorial regional Thursday at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Marquette's team score of 306 is also a school record. and they'll be joined by Litchfield, who shot a 368 to advance, while Father McGivney Catholic went through to the sectional for the first time as a team with a 369. Jersey was fourth at 383.
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The Explorers started off great and kept playing well all day in going on to their fourth straight regional title.
"I'm so very proud of them," said Marquette head coach Deb Walsh. "They're just an incredible group of players. We're doing really good, really good, Winning that regional is a big feather in their caps."
After a couple of bogeys on the first two holes Piar took off and played one of her best rounds of the season.
"Gracie had an incredible day," Walsh said. "She was just on fire. On 15, 17 and 18, she just finished strong."
Piar's teammates also had a great day, with Audrey Cain coming in second with a 77, Ava Bartosiak shot an 80, Clancy Maag had an 84 and Lily Montague fired an 85 for the Explorers.
"Audrey Cain hung in there all day," Walsh said. "She played really good. Clancy shot an 84, which I think is her personal best at the regionals. You know, when you have them in that zone, they keep going forward, which is really fun."
Laura Boston of Litchfield finished second with an 81, while teammate Carly Guinn tied for eighth with an 87. Jersey advanced three of its golfers --- Jerra LaPlant, Bria Tuttle and Madi Darr -- to the sectional, with LaPlant and Tuttle both firing an 87, while Darr had an 84 to go through.
The Griffins were led by Julia Stobie, who shot an 86, and Ellie Hyten, who fired an 87, to go through as a team for the first time, with Paige Yasitis shooting a 102 and Macy Smith a 104 to help see the Griffins through.
Roxana also had three sectional qualifiers in Ava Strohmeier, who shot an 89, Sydney Watts, who had a 93, and Reagan Lynn, who came up with a 94. Megan Dunn of Carlinville went through with a 94 and Carrollton's Emma Kallal shot a 95 and qualified after a four-player playoff to earn one of the last two individual berths.
The sectional will be hosted by Waterloo Gibault Catholic on Monday at The Acorns Golf Links, and Walsh is looking forward to the tournament.
"I am just so blessed to be with this team," Walsh said. "They get the game, and then, they go out there and work hard at it. I think it's good competition at sectionals, and we're going in there with our best foot forward."
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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