Published: May 10, 2008 11:36 pm            

GOLF: Tigers take top spots at Mid-Indiana tourney

Peru wins title, Northwestern finishes second

It took the Peru boys golf team eight years from joining the Mid-Indiana Conference to finally break through and win the conference meet last season. Now it looks like the Bengal Tigers won’t be letting go any time soon.

Stuck behind five consecutive championships by Northwestern ending in 2003 and three more in a row by Maconaquah, Peru started its own streak by capturing its second straight title Saturday at Chippendale Golf Club.

The No. 19-ranked Bengal Tigers practically lapped the field Saturday, firing a 318 on the Championship Course and placing four golfers among the top eight all-conference medalists. Senior John McMillen was low medalist with an even-par 73.

The Purple Tigers were a distant second with 340 strokes, followed by Western (349) third, Cass (351) fourth, Hamilton Heights (358) fifth, Eastern (364) sixth, Maconaquah (375) seventh and Taylor (378) eighth.

“We’re playing well right now,” said McMillen, who a week ago shot a two-under 69 at the Honeywell Golf Course to medal at the Northfield Invitational. “Everybody is getting to the point where we’re playing good golf consistently. That’s what we need to have.

“I felt like [Saturday] if we came in and we played as well as we’re capable of playing we’d win and we did that. Our [Nos.] 4 and 5 really played well for us.”

That would be brothers Terry and Taylor Smith. While No. 3 Derek Mullikin slumped to a 94, Terry Smith, a sophomore, placed seventh with an 82 while Taylor Smith, a freshman, placed eighth with an 84.

No. 2 man Ethan Eckelbarger carded a 79 to place fourth. He lost a sudden-death playoff with Eastern’s Jeff Hartley for third and Terry Smith lost a playoff with Northwestern’s Peyton Richardson for sixth.

“The strength of our team is our [Nos.] 3, 4 and 5 players, and 4 and 5 came through for us [Saturday],” Peru coach Doug Muzzillo said, echoing McMillen. “When you have that kind of depth it really makes life a lot easier.

“They just feed off each other. When we realized Derek was struggling I was just making sure that [Terry and Taylor Smith] were taking care of what needed to be done and that they were going to be important. That didn’t add pressure. They just stayed focused and it’s a team thing. They all believe that.”

Saturday’s round was the second time this season McMillen had outdueled Purple Tigers freshman Ben-Marvin Egel over 18 holes. The first was the Peru Invitational, when McMillen beat Egel by one stroke. Egel shot 76 on Saturday.

McMillen was one-over par on the front nine and one under on the back at Chippendale, which will be the site of the Western Sectional in three weeks. He said his round “looked like a lot of circles and squares on the card,” signifying five birdies, five bogeys and eight pars.

“I’m getting to the point where I can navigate [the course],” he said. “I wouldn’t say I’m confident but I’m starting to understand it.

“I like to play with [Egel]. I feel like we’re both looking to beat each other and you play better when you know what you want to beat and it’s right there with you.”

In addition to Egel’s 76 and Richardson’s 82, the Purple Tigers got an 89 from C.J. Hansen and a 93 from Carson Bowers.

“To be honest, neither [Egel or Richardson] played to their ability and they’re both disappointed in themselves, but they played decently,” said NW coach Randy Lindgren. “This is golf. One day you can shoot 82 and the next day shoot 72. Or the day after that 92. The game is just so uncertain.”

Lindgren said his team will use the next few weeks to simply get some enjoyment out of the season, something that has been in short supply this spring.

“We’ll just have fun,” he said. “The kids are working hard and it’s been a tough spring to practice — cold, rainy, windy. We’ve got to get the fun aspect back into it because up to now it hasn’t been fun. It’s been a job.”

Panthers coach Tom Lewis saw plenty of consistency out of his team — just not the kind of consistency he was looking for. Aaron Weaver, Wes King and Kenton Williams all shot 87s. Russell Showers shot 88.

“We were very consistent [Saturday],” Lewis said. “Unfortunately we weren’t quite as consistently good as we wanted to be at times, but the weather was great and we have no excuses.

“I was happy with the way we played our back nine and came back from a poor front nine. Overall, we just need to bring all those scores down about three or four strokes to be where we need to be in a couple weeks.”

Rounding out the top eight scores, Adam Truax of Cass shot 80 to finish fifth.

        

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