High schools: Belchertown's Michael Murray posts top 10 finish at MIAA Division 1 Golf Championships

Belchertown’s Michael Murray finished ninth at the MIAA Division 1 Golf Championships on Monday at The Haven Country Club in Boylston.

Belchertown’s Michael Murray finished ninth at the MIAA Division 1 Golf Championships on Monday at The Haven Country Club in Boylston. STAFF FILE PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS

Staff Reports

Published: 10-21-2024 9:16 PM

Belchertown star Michael Murray may have been disappointed with his 4-over-par round of 76 at the MIAA Division 1 Golf Championship at The Haven Country Club in Boylston, but he finished in the top 10 (tied for ninth) to put a bow on his spectacular junior season Monday afternoon.

Murray struggled out of the gate starting on the 15th hole, a 415-yard par 4. He originally had a putt for birdie, but the pin was in a brutal location and he hit the putt with too much pace and watched it roll off the green. He then chipped it back on but three-putt to make a triple bogey. Another three-putt on the 16th put Murray at 5-over par after just two holes.

“I was a little disappointed based on the start I had, with the triple and the double [bogeys],” Murray said. “Just a couple of bad breaks.”

After that, he was lights out.

Murray birdied the 17th to kick start a six-hole stretch where he played even par. And following a bogey on the fifth, Murray then recorded four straight pars and a birdie to string together a terrific run. He played his last three holes 2-under par to card a 76, with a 38 on each side.

“I played the other 16 holes 1-under, so I mean at least there’s a positive to take away from this round,” Murray said.

Still with another year of high school golf ahead, Murray expects Monday’s experience to be valuable for him next year, assuming he makes it back to the big stage.

“The best I can say is I hope to better if I do make it next year,” he said.

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Northampton’s Reilly Fowles capped his season with a 14-over 86, earning a share of 57th place. Fowles birdied the 10th hole, and shot 41 on his back nine after a 45 on the front.

St. John’s Ronan Mooney blitzed the Division 1 field, posting five birdies and an eagle en route to a 4-under 68 to win the state title. Mooney was six strokes clear of the entire field, as teammate Adam Trani and St. John Prep’s Seamus O’Holleran tied for second at 2-over 74.

St. John’s won the team title by nine strokes (294), with Xaverian Brothers earning runner-up honors (303).

South Hadley’s Ryan MacGregor showed well at the MIAA Division 2 Championships at Taconic Golf Club in Williamstown on Monday.

MacGregor shot a 5-over 77 to finish in a tie for 17th place in a field of 100 golfers. He had five birdies on his card, and shot even-par 37 on the back nine.

Pope Francis’ Michael McGrath and Foxborough’s Zac Georgantas tied for first place with 1-under 71s. Pope Francis won the team title with a score of 308 just ahead of second place finishers Westwood, Old Rochester and Nashoba Regional (all tied at 310).

Girls volleyball

WMass Class C quarterfinals

No. 2 Lenox 3, No. 7 Easthampton 0 – The Eagles were unable to spring the road upset, falling in the opening round of the sectional tournament in Lenox on Monday.

Field hockey

Greenfield 3, Amherst 0 — The Hurricanes trailed just 1-0 into the fourth quarter, but Greenfield netted a pair in the final stanza to snatch an independent win on Monday.

Boys soccer

Smith Academy 9, Mahar 1 — Jack Brady netted a hat trick, while Cajun Benson struck for two goals and two assists in the Falcons’ dominant win on Monday.

Oscar Higuera and Connor Prew each scored their first career varsity goals for Smith, which also received contributions from Matthew Scagel (1G, 1A), Grayson Zima (1G), Harrison LaFlamme (1A), Cameron Graves (1A) and Rowan Jeffress (2A). Jake Wilcox made two saves in net for Smith, which closes out its regular season slate on Tuesday against Sci-Tech.

Hopkins 2, Greenfield 1 — Chase Simonich and Nate Rickles staked the Golden Hawks to a 2-0 lead, and the hosts held on for a one-goal victory on Monday in Hadley.

Locked in a 0-0 game at halftime, Simonich tallied in the 42nd minute before Rickles netted the eventual game winner in the 66th minute. Logan Bye and Matt Feltovic combined to make one save in net for the Hawks.

Chicopee 2, South Hadley 1 — Jack Chagnon netted the goal for the Tigers, which were edged by undefeated Chicopee in action on Monday.

Noah Carillon made nine saves in net for South Hadley.

Amherst 4, Chicopee Comp 0 — Abdi Byl Brann put home a pair of goals to propel the Hurricanes to a dominant win over Chicopee Comp on Monday.

Insaf Fazal and Brandon Barahona added goals as well for Amherst.

Girls soccer

Smith Academy 5, Lee 0 – A Caitlin Graves hat trick helped the Falcons turn a 1-0 halftime lead into a 5-0 victory on Monday in Lee.

Madison Zononi made nine saves to pitch the shutout for Smith. Addison Fournier and Annabelle Van Geel were the other scorers for the visitors, and Anna Scagel notched a pair of assists.

Renaissance 1, Gateway 0 — The Gators were held without a goal in a 1-0 loss to Renaissance on Monday afternoon.

Girls cross country

Gateway 26, Pope Francis 29 – Anya Niles paced the pack with a first-place finish in 20 minutes, 11 seconds, as the Gators edged Pope Francis to cap their Pioneer South regular season on Monday at Whiting Reservoir in Holyoke.

Gateway finished 12-2 overall and 8-1 in the league ahead of this weekend’s Western Mass. Championships.

Ava Christie was second overall to pace Gateway (20:13), followed by teammates Autumn Clark (sixth, 22:14), Laurel DeMoss (eighth, 22:51) and Lily Peloquin (ninth, 23:03).

Boys cross country

Pope Francis 20, Gateway 39 – Jake Maynard was the overall winner for the Gators, crossing in a blistering time of 16:40 on Monday in Holyoke.

Late weekend results

Girls soccer

Hopkins 1, Smith Academy 0 — Falcons keeper Madison Zononi recorded 15 saves, but a magnificent Sadie Cyr free kick in the final minute finally beat her to give the Golden Hawks a 1-0 win.

Hopkins held Smith Academy without a shot on goal on Saturday.

Quaboag 1, Granby 0 — Each team put on eight shots on goal, but the Rams couldn’t squeeze one into the back of the net as they fell in an out-of-region contest with Quaboag.

Parker Tunley was the lone goal scorer.

Field hockey

Amherst 1, Smith Academy 1 — The Falcons and Hurricanes played to a draw over the weekend, with each team b urying a goal in the third quarter to make the score 1-1.

Smith Academy’s Chloe Avery scored first on an assist from Alexa Jagodzinski, but Amherst’s Aria Haupt responded minutes later on a feed from Annie Haws jaahbink to tie the game.

Boys soccer

Smith Academy 1, Hopkins 0 — Cajun Benson netted the game’s only goal in the 45th minute to propel the Falcons to a close win over the Golden Hawks on Saturday. Cameron Graves  recorded the assist.

 Jake Wilcox made three saves for Smith Academy to earn th e  shutout while Logan Bye grabbed  five saves in net for Hop kins.

Holyoke 2, SICS 0 — A pair of second half goals were enough for the Purple  Knights to get by the Bulldogs last week, as Arthur Mazzu and Kerdy Laura found the back of the net.

Christian Guzik and Laura tallied assists and Xavier Davis gobbled up 13 saves in the win.