Notebook: Olentangy Berlin's Mia Raines rallies to top-10 finish at state golf tournament

Mia Raines dropped a pair of strokes during a blustery second round of the Division I girls golf state tournament Oct. 24 at Ohio State’s Gray Course to earn second-team all-state honors.

The Olentangy Berlin freshman shot 77 in the first round Oct. 23 and 75 on the second day to move from 19th to a tie for 10th out of 71 competitors with a 152.

Raines was 11 strokes behind medalist Madison Spiess of New Albany, which won its third consecutive team title.

“It feels really good,” Raines said. “As a freshman you don’t go for the whole top and everything. You have your own goals that you would like to get, so it was great to get in the top 10. Hopefully I can do better next year.”

Despite the all-state performance, Raines believed her first appearance at state left a lot to be desired.

“It was pretty rough,” she said. “I didn’t hit it well either day, so it was a big grind to get where I was. I had to get a lot of up and downs and I hit a few more fairways. It was just keep pushing and continuing to battle the uphill grind. I know it could have been worse.”

Raines advanced to state from the district tournament Oct. 13 at New Albany Links, where she shot 73 to tie Granville’s Ella Wigal for the two individual qualifying spots.

In a sectional Oct. 6 at Royal American, Raines was medalist with a 70 to qualify for district. 

The Bears were fourth (16-12) in the OCC-Cardinal Division behind champion Dublin Jerome (28-0). Raines (75.67 average) was first-team all-league, sophomore Reagan Clifton (88.7) was on the third team and junior Michele Starner (98.7) was honorable mention.

•In its first appearance in the Division I state tournament, the Orange boys golf team finished sixth (629) of 12 teams Oct. 23 and 24 at Ohio State’s Scarlet Course behind champion Akron Hoban (606).

Senior Corbin Bentley tied for 10th of 72 golfers with a 152 to lead the Pioneers and earn second-team all-state honors.

Junior Luke Johnson (153, tied for 14th), senior Jonathan Green (160, tied for 37th), senior Nathan Brown (164, tied for 45th) and junior Mitch Perdue (175, 61st) also participated.

"We were a little nervous coming off the tee box but everyone has that," coach Jerrod Ross said. "We settled down and were able to get through it."

Orange competed in the Division II state tournament in 2008.

The Pioneers won their first district championship Oct. 13 at Apple Valley by shooting 298 and won their first league championship by tying Liberty for the OCC-Central title at 18-2. 

Bentley (72.67) and Green (73.0) were first-team all-league, and Johnson (74.67) was on the second team. Brown (76.0) and Perdue (78.0) were honorable mention.

•Ella Franz went 1-1 in singles representing the Berlin girls tennis team in the Division I state tournament Oct. 23 at Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason.

The junior defeated Canfield’s Anna Kan 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round but lost 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 to North Canton Hoover’s Tess Bucher in a quarterfinal.

Franz was making her first appearance at state after winning a district championship Oct. 17 at Reynoldsburg. She also won a sectional championship Oct. 10 at Pickerington Central.

Also competing in singles for the Bears at sectional were junior Ragga Chakilam and freshman Siri Ponna. The doubles teams were senior Janna Harris and freshman Claire Emanuel and seniors Emma Reger and Sydney Webb.

Berlin finished 11-6 overall and 3-2 in the OCC-Cardinal.

•Despite a quick exit from the Division I state tournament Oct. 23, Olentangy girls tennis coach Jeff Luxenburger considered the season of senior Archita Sriram and sophomore Sydney Nickel a success.

The doubles team fell 6-0, 6-0 in the first round to Cincinnati Ursuline Academy’s Nina Dhaliwal and Bridget Estes. Both were making their first state appearances and were coming off a second-place finish at sectional Oct. 10 at Reynoldsburg and a fourth-place effort at district a week later on the same courts.

“Sydney and Archita are great players but state for them is a very, very pleasant surprise,” Luxenburger said. “They played their best tennis as the season got toward its end. I don’t think a lot of people had Sydney Nickel and Archita Sriram as players on their radars who would get to state and they worked so well together and practiced so hard that they earned this.”

Despite losing 2019 singles state qualifier Nour Khayat when she moved to California, Olentangy went 7-7 overall and 4-1 in the OCC-Cardinal.

Much of the lineup is eligible to return, including juniors Ava Estep, Sonia Chirravuri and Shriya Palusa and freshman Pranjal Agochiya, who played first singles for most of the season.

—Dave Purpura

•The Liberty girls tennis team’s season was highlighted by a runner-up finish in the OTCA Division I district tournament and by senior Dani Schoenly’s fourth consecutive trip to the OHSAA state tournament.

After winning state doubles titles in 2017 and 2018, Schoenly lost in a singles quarterfinal last season and this year, falling 6-3, 6-1 to Whitehouse Anthony Wayne’s Lilly Black on Oct. 23.

“I’ve had a lot of fun,” Schoenly said. “It was a good (senior season). To be in the final eight (as a team in the OTCA) was amazing. Our team played really well, so I was really proud of our team for making it that far.”

Liberty finished 10-7 overall and 3-2 in the OCC-Central.

Sophomore Kylie Wilson, who was a district qualifier in singles, should be the top returnee. Also competing in singles during the postseason was junior Morgan Porter, who lost in a sectional quarterfinal Oct. 8 at Reynoldsburg.

Sophomores Megan Haddow and Charvi Thumati teamed up to reach the district tournament in doubles. Freshman Athena Mattis also should be back after competing with senior Cathy Zhu at sectional in doubles.

—Jarrod Ulrey

•The doubles team of senior Courtney Sproule and junior Tyler Reed represented the Orange girls tennis team in the Division I state tournament.

On Oct. 23, Sproule and Reed lost 7-5, 6-4 in their opening-round match to Centerville’s Caroline Hinshaw and Clara Owen, who fell 7-6, 6-3 to Upper Arlington’s Ella Hazelbaker and Megan Basil in the final.

The pair was runner-up in the district tournament Oct. 17 at Reynoldsburg, losing to Hazelbaker and Basil 6-3, 6-0 in the final. They were joined at district by junior Karol Korotkin, who lost her first match in singles.

Sproule and Reed also lost 6-4, 6-2 to Hazelbaker and Basil in a sectional final Oct. 10 at UA, where Korotkin finished third in singles.

Senior Katie Dicken and freshman Ellie Logan also competed at sectional in singles along with the doubles team of sophomore Aanya Tummalapalli and freshman Arefa Kapasi.

The Pioneers finished 9-9 overall and 2-3 in the OCC-Central.

—Scott Hennen

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BERLIN GIRLS GOLF

•OCC-Cardinal standings: Dublin Jerome (28-0), Delaware (24-4), Hilliard Darby (18-10), Berlin (16-12), Hilliard Bradley (14-14), Dublin Scioto (8-20), Worthington Kilbourne (3-25), Thomas Worthington (1-27)

•Senior lost: Ari Cleveland

•Key returnees: Izzy Borgstrom, Reagan Clifton, Paige Kellner, Mia Raines and Michele Starner

•Postseason: Fifth (391) at sectional behind champion Jerome (322)

ORANGE BOYS GOLF

•OCC-Central standings: Liberty and Orange (both 18-2), Dublin Coffman (11-9), Upper Arlington (8-12), Hilliard Davidson (5-15), Bradley (0-20)

•Seniors lost: Corbin Bentley, Nathan Brown and Jonathan Green

•Key returnees: Luke Johnson and Mitch Purdue

•Postseason: Second (306) at sectional behind Jerome (298), first (298) at district, sixth (629) at state behind champion Akron Hoban (606)

BERLIN GIRLS TENNIS

•Record: 11-6 overall

•OCC-Cardinal standings: Jerome (5-0), Olentangy (4-1), Berlin (3-2), Marysville (2-3), Darby (1-4), Thomas (0-5)

•Seniors lost: Juniya Franks, Janna Harris, Emma Reger and Sydney Webb

•Key returnees: Ragga Chakilam, Claire Emanuel, Ella Franz and Siri Ponna

OLENTANGY GIRLS TENNIS

•Record: 7-7 overall

•Seniors lost: Khushi Agarwal, Isha Sawhney and Archita Sriram

•Key returnees: Pranjal Agochiya, Sonia Chirravuri, Ava Estep, Sydney Nickel and Shriya Palusa

LIBERTY GIRLS TENNIS

•Record: 10-7 overall

•OCC-Central standings: UA (5-0), Coffman (4-1), Liberty (3-2), Orange (2-3), Bradley (1-4), Davidson (0-5)

•Seniors lost: Emma Clark, Straavia Potluri, Dani Schoenly and Cathy Zhu

•Key returnees: Megan Haddow, Athena Mattis, Morgan Porter, Charvi Thumati and Kylie Wilson

ORANGE GIRLS TENNIS

•Record: 9-9 overall

•Seniors lost: Katie Dicken and Caroline Sproule

•Key returnees: Arefa Kapasi, Karol Korotkin, Ellie Logan, Tyler Reed and Aanya Tummalapalli