WAYNESBORO – It was bound to happen eventually.
The Waynesboro Area Senior High School varsity golf team’s four-year reign in the Mid-Penn Colonial Division ended on Tuesday.
But it was how it happened that belonged to the category of the “bizarre.”
Waynesboro entered its previous meet down a match to Northern York. When the Polar Bears finished third in the competition and Waynesboro first, head coach Ryan Henderson’s team took over sole possession of the division lead.
That meant all Waynesboro had to do was finish no lower than second in the event Northern won Tuesday’s meet at its home course of Range End in Dillsburg.
Well, Waynesboro placed third. Northern was first, and the Polar Bears celebrated the division championship.
Northern turned in a team score of 318, more than enough to finish ahead of runner up Greencastle-Antrim, who finished with 332. Waynesboro struggled with a 336.
“Nothing good to report here except for Tyler (Fortney),” said Henderson. “Tyler remains consistent and again led the team with a strong 73. Other than that, not only did we lose to Northern, but we also lost to Greencastle. This kicked us out of not only first place, but a tie for first place, and finished second in the division. Not a good end to our season. Extremely disappointed.”
Northern finishes with a record of 38-4. Waynesboro, winners of the division since 2019, ended at 37-5.
The two teams battled back and forth since the season’s first meet, trading places at the top of the league until Northern emerged as the champions.
Northern’s Garrett White finished four strokes behind Fortney with 77. Teammate Josh Danz carded 79, while Logan White and Josh Hoover cemented the decisive win with 81s.
Northern’s top four all fared better than Waynesboro’s second scorer. Kellan Smith finished with 85, followed by Andrew Soffe (86) and Stone Taylor (92).
G-A’s Cooper Swam tied Danz for third among overall finishers with 81.
