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Chambersburg's Mary Kate Norcross wins MPC golf title


Monday was a sign of good things to come for Mary Kate Norcross.

Playing in the Mid Penn Conference boys championship as a member of the Chambersburg team, Norcross shot a 75 - her best round in competition. So when the Mid Penn held its girls championship Wednesday at Armitage Golf Club, Norcross was ready.

And it translated into a league championship. Norcross shot a 77 to win the MPC title by a stroke of Alex Voight-Shelly of State College.

"I was feeling really confident after that round Monday," said Norcross, a sophomore. "I played here (at Armitage) last year and had a practice round here Saturday and I like the course. It's short and pretty easy compared to the courses we play in the Colonial Division.

"This feels pretty good."

Norcross was one of five Franklin County golfers who placed in the top 20 and qualified for next week's District 3 Tournament at Briarwood West.

Waynesboro advanced three to districts - Olivia Gardenhour (4th place, 84), Taylor Zimmerman (15th, 99) and Jessica Barber (tied for 18th, 102). In addition, Amanda Steier of Greencastle-Antrim shot her best-ever score (85) to tie for fifth place.

Trojan coach Mark Yost said, "Mary Kate knew she was ahead of the girls in her group, but didn't where she stood overall. As it turned out, she had a two stroke lead and then bogeyed No. 9, her last hole. When she found out she had a big smile on her face."

Voight-Shelly dropped a stroke at the par 3 No. 17 - her next-to-last hole - to fall two back.

Norcross, who birdied No. 12, a par 4, said, "My putting was pretty good today. I liked the speed of the greens and I only three-putted once."

"It was just a solid round," Yost said. "When she got into trouble, she recovered really well."

The highlight of Steier's round was a chip-in birdie on the difficult par 3 No. 17.

"My tee shot hit the cart path and was on the hill left of the green," Steier said. "So I had 34 yards down to the green and the pin was on the far side. It was a complicated shot. I needed to take a short swing and follow through and hit just short of the green. I hit it pretty good, and just when I said, 'It's going in,' it did go in."

Steier had played a practice round Monday at Armitage and shot 78 - the first time she's broken 80 - and her confidence was up.

"I've been working on my putting and chipping every day, and it's helped," she said.

G-A coach Jeremy Eby said, "She's been working on her short game and staying away from any big numbers in the last month."

Waynesboro's Gardenhour was about a stroke over her average with her 42-42, 84. The 'Boro trio all made districts last year, too.

Mid Penn Girls Tournament

1.Mary Kate Norcross (Chambersburg) 77, 2.Alex Voight-Shelly (State College) 78, 3.Molly Holbert (Mechanicsburg) 81, 4.Olivia Gardenhour (Waynesboro) 84, 5.(tie) Amanda Steier (Greencastle-Antrim), Anna McCormick (Central Dauphin) 85; 7.Isabelle Macioce (Big Spring) 90, 8.McKylie Boreman (Red Land) 91, 9.(tie) Maddie Ernst (East Pennsboro), Kristen Nodell (SC) 95, 11.(tie) Jessica Lamarca (RL), Kaylee Richards (SC) 96, 13.(tie) Thea Nagle (Cumb. Valley), Katlyn Rudy (Trinity) 98, 15.Taylor Zimmerman (Way) 99, 16.(tie) Carrie Hornbaker (EP), Bella Recce (CD) 100, 18.(tie) Jessica Barber (Way), Brittany Graham (Boiling Springs) 102, 20.Kelsey McGonaghy (Palmyra) 103.

James Buchanan: Claire Alfree (32nd, 117).