PHS, South finish among state’s elite

Both in Top 10 at T of C

By: Bob Nuse
   Both the West Windsor-Plainsboro High South and Princeton High golf teams went to Monday’s Tournament of Champions to win.
   Neither did.
   But both managed to finish in the Top 10 in the state, which is quite an accomplishment. And while WW-P South walked away reasonably happy with its sixth-place team finish, Princeton couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed as it finished tied for ninth.
   "When they enter a tournament, their one focus is not just to be there, it’s to win," WW-P South coach Russell Wray said of his team. "They wanted to win, but I’m proud of them. They finished sixth in the state. That’s fantastic."
   The Pirates, who were making their first T of C appearance since 1997, were led by sophomore Anthony Aloi, who shot a 74 to finish eighth. South finished with a team score of 322 at Rumson Country Club, which was 17 shots behind champion Christian Brothers Academy.
   "The team that won, Christian Brothers, they shot 305," Wray said. "That’s a fantastic score. That’s way off from where we were. You can wonder if you’re losing by one or two, if you could have had it. We did well. We didn’t embarrass ourselves. I’m still not going to be upset, but they think they could have done better."
   Senior Ryan Phelan shot an 80 for the Pirates, while senior Mike March had an 81 and sophomore Dan Kim shot an 87. In all, it was a pretty good day for the Pirates.
   "Anthony will be back," Wray said. "Dan Kim will be back. We graduate two kids, but we still have a lot of kids coming up. They’re very motivated by seeing success. I push hard to get them to play in more competitive events in the summer. I tell them to get in that competitive atmosphere. The more you’re in it, the more you’re going to succeed."
   Aloi is one of those players who plays all year, and that has made him quite successful. Still, he would have liked to have seen his team play a little better against the best of the best in the state.
   "I don’t think we played well at all," Aloi said. "I don’t think our coach was really happy how we finished. It was a great year. He was happy we got there. We finished second out of four teams for Group IV. We were really happy to beat Princeton. That was good to do again."
   Princeton came into the season hoping to win a T of C championship. And while the Little Tigers had a great deal of success this season, they still came up a little short of their own expectations.
   "It was not exactly what we wanted," Princeton coach Sheryl Severance said of the team’s ninth-place finish. "They started off playing real well (on Monday). I saw a couple of them out on the course and they started well. But we did not finish well. Maybe they started thinking too much about being able to win it."
   The Little Tigers finished with a team score of 330, 25 shots behind CBA. Peter Teifer led Princeton with an 80, while Mike DiMeglio shot at 81.
   "This season was like a roller coaster for us," Severance said. "We started off real well and won the Bunker Hill tournament. We wanted to win Cherry Valley, but we were third. We had the lowest round in school history (a 183) for a par 36 course and Mike DiMeglio shot a 32 for the best individual score.
   "But, we wanted to win the (Mercer) county and we didn’t. We wanted to win sectionals and we didn’t. And we wanted to finish higher than last year (fifth) at the T of C and we didn’t do that."
   Still, the Little Tigers can close out a 17-1 season today against Nottingham, including a perfect mark in the Colonial Valley Conference.
   "I know a lot of teams would be thrilled with our season," Severance said. "But I think the guys expected more. I know they’re not happy right now, but when you look at it, we did have a nice season. We had a lot of highs and a lot of lows."
   In the end, where you finish in an event and how happy you are is all a matter of perspective. For South, sixth place looks pretty good. But for Princeton, ninth doesn’t make the Little Tigers feel real happy.