By: TODD RUTH Review Sports Editor truth.eph@lnpnews.com, Staff Writer

After playing the front nine at seven-over-par Monday at Foxchase, Ephrata’s Megan Esterbrook thought her chances of winning an L-L League girls golf title were all but gone.

"At that point I honestly thought I was out of it," she said.

The Ephrata senior bared down and finished strong, securing a par on hole 13 to close out a round of 83 and most certainly clinch a spot to Districts.

But then she got some even better news.

"I knew I had 83 and I thought that was good enough for maybe third place at best," she said. "Then one of the mothers said, I think you got first place. I was like, ‘no I didn’t.’ I was pretty excited."

Esterbrook finished widid indeed capture first place, and became the second Ephrata girl to win the title in the last three years, joining Lauren Smith, who won it in 2010.

"It’s my senior year. I wanted to win, I’m not going to lie. I’m just excited. My first goal was just to make it to districts. But, (winning) was definitely in the back of my head. I knew I had a chance but I figured it would take in the low 70s to win it. But it was tough with the wind today so that probably kept the scores a little higher."

Esterbrook, who shot 42 on the front and 41 on the back, defeated senior teammate Lacey Bensing, who earned second place with a round of 86. Manheim Central’s Haley Goodling was third with an 87, while Manheim Township’s Meg Palic and Mary Beth Palic tied for fourth with a pair of 91s.

Both Esterbrook and Bensing qualified for the District Tournament, which is scheduled for Oct. 5-6 at Briarwood West in York. They also led the Ephrata girls, along with Paige Hammaker (122) and Lauren Moyer (129), to an L-L team title with a combined score of 422.

On the boys’ side, Ephrata will send two players to Districts and Cocalico qualified three through Monday’s Tournament.

Ephrata senior Ryan Lefever finished in a tie for 13th overall with a round of 84 to make the cut. Teammate Nick Hatch also qualified after surviving a four-man playoff that also included fellow Mount Aaron Hubbard for the final District berth. Hatch, who shot 87, sank a 25-foot putt for birdie on the fourth playoff hole to punch his ticket.

For Cocalico, Nate Artz and Hans Shollenberger finished in a tie for 10th place with rounds of 81 to move on. They will be joined at District by Nate Sauder, who tied Lefever for 13th place with an 84.

The District Boys Tournament will be held at Briarwood East Oct. 5-6.

As for Esterbrook, she said her putting came through in a big way Monday.

"I played in a tournament on Saturday and had nine three putts," she said. "It certainly didn’t give me too much confidence going into today but I worked on my putting a lot on Sunday. I relaxed. I wasn’t nervous at all and I think that helped my putting because I made the two three-footers I was missing before."

She played in the second group behind the other top player, which also helped her relax.

"I think that helped me because I didn’t know what they were doing," she said. "I was just able to focus on what I needed to do. There were times I really could have blown up out here today. I had five bogeys in a row but I was able to hold on and keep it together."

With her first L-L title in the books, Esterbrook was asked of her goals moving forward.

"My main goal is making it through Districts and advancing to regionals," she said. "Winning would be great, medaling would be great, but at the end of the day just getting to regionals is my main goal." 1. Megan Esterbrook, Eph83*

2. Lacey Bensing, Eph86*

3. Haley Goodling, MC87*

4. Meg Palic, MT91*

5. Mary Beth Palic, MT91*

6. Hailey Fricke, GS93*

7. Cayla McCarty, CV96*

8. Hailey Hartman, CC99*

9. Hannah Riden, War102*

10. Carla Zinsky, NL103*

11. Kirby Graham, L-S105

12. Lauren Smith, Hem106

13. Mackenzie Ord, Hem108

14. Kendall Zeswitz, War116

15. Paige Hammaker, Eph122

16. Annalia Kostow, Le.C125

17. Lauren Moyer, Eph129

18. Casey Graham, L-S134

WD Brianna Fritsch, La.C

WD Claire Fitzgibbons, CC

* Qualified for District Tournament. 1. Ryan Dornes, MT72

2. Andy Butler, MT73

3. Aaron Fricke, GS75

3. Drew Baker, War75

5. Marc Oliveri, CV76

6. Craig Hornberger, CV77

6. Mark Dano, PM77

8. Connor Sheehan, Sol78

9. Zach Hildebrand, GS79

10. Nate Artz, Coc81

10. Hans Shollenberger, Coc81

10. Cameron Mondock, Hem81

13. John Kitsock, MT84

13. Nate Sauder, Coc84

13. Ryan Lefever, Eph84

13. Aaron Brown, PM84

17. Drew Bievenour, Hem85

18. Logan Miller, Hem86

19. Nick Hatch, Eph87

20. Don Oliveri, CV87

21. Aaron Hubbard, Eph87

22. Nate Rader, CC87

23. Carl Johnson III, NL88

23. Walt Pelensky, War88

25. Tyler Kline, Hem89

25. Mitchell Storb, Eph89

25. Jimmy Howell, Sol89

25. Eli Perron, MC89

25. Chris North, MT89

30. Tom Holzbauer, L-S91

30. Ian Hart, War91

30. Ethan Cairns, Sol91

33. Evan Havemann, War92

33. Colin Deery, MT92

33. Lucas Jewll, Etn92

33. Zach Ward, Hem92

37. Evan Dissinger, CC93

37. Ryan Fritz, Eph93

37. Charles Waleski, MT93

37. Caleb Ginder, NL93

37. Andrew Davies, War93

37. Chris Booth, Hem93

43. Zach Gristick, CC94

43. Jon Miller, Sol94

45. Tyler Clisham, GS95

45. Connor White, PM95

45. Marc Storb, Eph95

48. Trey Herring, L-S97

49. Alastair Proud, MC98

50. Logan Frey, L-S99

50. Isaiah Monger, CV99

52. Tyler Fry, Etn102

53. RJ Bowman, MC103

54. Kyle Anderson, Etn104

55. Hunter Lutz, Sol105

56. Jarrett Hassinger, Sol106

57. Brycen Loeper, Leb108

58. Ben Greaves, War115

59. Galen McNaughton, El116

60. Dakotta Moyer, El122

61. Tyler Downs, Leb127 Ryan Dornes, MT; Andy Butler, MT; Aaron Fricke, GS; Drew Baker, War; Marc Oliveri, CV; Craig hornberger, CV; Mark Dano, PM; Connor Sheehan, Sol; Zach Hildebrand, GS; Nate Artz, Coc; Hans Shollenberger, Coc; Cameron Mondock, Hem; John Kitsock, MT; Nate Sauder, Coc; Ryan Lefever, Eph; Aaron Brown, PM; Drew Bievenour, Hem; Logan Miller, Hem; Nick Hatch, Eph.

Note: Hatch won the final spot in four way playoff with Dom Oliveri of CV (first alternate), Aaron Hubbard of Ephrata (second alternate), and Nate Rader of Cedar Crest. More L-L GOLF, page B-4