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High School Sports NewsBarrington rolls to Challenge Cup title08:28 AM EDT on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 Barrington coach Jeffrey Dantas monitors Eagles golfer Jarred Adams as Adams lines up a putt on the 18th hole yesterday. Click here to see a gallery of photos. > The Providence Journal / Kris Craig CRANSTON — Fresh off a victory at the East Bay Scramble last week, the Barrington golf team dominated the field at the two-day High School Challenge Cup Championships, which ended yesterday at Alpine Country Club. The Eagles won by 58 strokes over second-place La Salle (614 to 672). Hendricken finished third with a total of 682. “I’m really proud of the team,” Barrington first-year coach Jeffrey Dantas said. “They’re playing solid as a team. As long as they keep playing this way they are going to be pretty tough to beat.” Brian Hughes, of Fairfield, Conn., won the boys’ individual championship. After shooting a 77 on the first day, Hughes fired a one-over-par 73, which was the low round of the day, to finish with a total of 150. “This is a big deal for me because this is the first Challenge Cup tournament that I’ve won and the second tournament that I’ve won in my life, so it’s pretty big for me,” Hughes said. Barrington All-Stater Jarred Adams (77-74—151) and teammate Jeff Ray (78-73—151) tied for second place, which helped Barrington easily win the team title. “All the kids are good players,” Dantas said of his team. “They’ve been working hard. This year, what stands out is that on any given day, any of my top six guys can get even-par, which is nice to have.” La Salle’s Juliet Vongphoumy was the girls individual champion and the Rams’ best golfer in the tournament. Vongphoumy (79-80—159) beat North Kingstown’s Samantha Morrell (81-79—160), the defending state champion, by one stroke. “Juliet beat Samantha in match play at the Junior Match Play Championship two weeks ago and she went on to win that tournament, too,” Challenge Cup director David Adamonis Jr. said. “It’s nice to have two girls that are that high caliber of players in the tournament. They are high-caliber players and they will go on to be high-caliber Division I players in the future.” Barrington, the defending state champion, has won five of the last six state titles, and this year the Eagles will be tough to beat once again. Along with Adams, who carded four birdies yesterday, and Ray, who had two birdies, returning All-Staters Eddie Hjerpe (80-76—156), Alex Fay (75-88—163) and Jake DiMario (88-81—169), along with Peter Costa Jr. (82-89—171), also played well for Barrington. “They are working hard and they are going to get stronger and stronger every day,” Dantas said. “Every week we are going to get better and better, and I definitely see a big improvement from two weeks ago, when they played in their first tournament to this week.” Hughes began yesterday four strokes behind tournament medalist Joseph D’Amato (73-80—153), who tied with Weston (Conn.) High teammate Bernard D’Amato (77-76—153) for fourth place. Hughes quickly made up ground on D’Amato with a birdie on the par-4, 418-yard first hole. “Today I was hitting the ball a lot better,” Hughes said. “I missed a lot of putts, but overall I was hitting the greens and [Monday] I wasn’t hitting as many greens. The first hole I had like 50 yards in with the wedge and I just stuck it. Then I made a three-foot putt.” Hughes continued his steady play and made the turn at one-over-par 38. The highlight of Hughes’ back nine was a short birdie putt that he sank on the par-5 10th hole. “I almost hit it onto the green in two,” Hughes said. “I chipped it on the green and had about two feet for birdie and tapped it in. The course played great. The greens were real nice.” Hendricken expects to be a much stronger team when All-Stater Tyler Fay, who transferred from Barrington after finishing fourth at the state tournament last year, and Joey DeSimone, a transfer from Scituate, become eligible. The Hawks also return All-Stater Peter Taylor. The Challenge Cup scores can be found at the US Challenge Cup Web site, www.uschallengecup.org. Team Scores 1, Barrington 310-304—614; 2, La Salle 335-337—672; 3, Hendricken 341-341—682; 4, St. Andrew’s 375-357—732; 5, Mount St. Charles 376-356—732; 6, Cranston West 371-364—735; 7, Toll Gate 372-365—737; 8, Pilgrim 367-371—738; 9, Lincoln – 374-366—740; 10, East Providence 373-373—746. Boys Division Brian Hughes, Fairfield, Conn., 77-73—150; Jarred Adams, Barrington, 77-74—151; Jeff Ray, Barrington, 78-73—151; Joseph D’Amato, Weston, Conn., 73-80—153; Bernard D’Amato, Weston, Conn., 77-76—153; Eddie Hjerpe, Barrington, 80-76—156; Taylor Bowen, St. Raphael, 82-74—156; Paul Dornfeld, Newton, Mass., 77-81—158; Tyler Cooke, Toll Gate, 78-80—158. Girls Division Juliet Vongphoumy, La Salle, 79-80—159; Samantha Morrell, North Kingstown, 81-79—160. |
