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MIDWAY — About the only mystery surrounding Wednesday's 5A girls golf tournament at Wasatch Mountain State Park Golf Course was whether or not the last groups would finish their rounds before it was too dark to see.
Because there was little drama in either the team or individual races where Bingham cruised to its third straight title and the Miners' Sirene Blair won her third straight individual title as expected.
The round was completed — barely — as the last group finished at 8:24 p.m., a half-hour after the sun has disappeared behind the mountains to the west and perhaps 15 minutes before it would have been too dark to finish.
Blair was her usual quiet self when asked about winning for the third straight time, saying, "It was really nice — it's the same feeling."
She got a little more animated when asked if she was worried about getting done before dark since she was in the final group.
"Yes, I kept checking my watch and checking the sun," she said with a laugh. "I thought it was going to be tight, but we tried to speed up our group."
Blair was expected to win easily, after shooting a 67 as a freshman and 68 as sophomore and winning by comfortable margins. But her score of 74 barely beat her teammate Sam Crawford, a 95-pound sophomore who shot the best round of her life, a 4-over-par 76.
Crawford said she was "making putts left and right," including a 25-foot birdie putt at No. 5 on her way to the 76.
Besides Blair and Crawford, the Miners had scores of 84 by Elena Pittenger, 86 by Alisha Terry, 92 by Carly Minert and 94 by Amanda Acton. The top three scores, converted to the Stableford scoring system, gave the Miners a 252 total, 18 better than second-place Alta.
"Oh my gosh, it gets better every time," said Alta coach Liz Conry. "I'm always nervous, but these girls work hard and always manage to pull it out."
Copper Hills finished third with 214 points, despite only having four players to get three scores from, compared to six for the other top teams. Weber was fourth, followed by Viewmont, Layton, American Fork and Lone Peak.
Among the individuals, Brighton's Cobair Collinsworth was third with a 77, followed by Carly Oldroyd of Davis at 78 and Madi Rooker of Alta at 80. Bingham's Pittenger, Alta's Nicole Jack, Bingham's Alisha Terry, Lone Peak's Summer Willis were next, while Alta's Tavia Rasmussen, Copper Hills' Mikayli Booth and Layton's Melissa Moore tied for 10th.
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5A Girls Golf Tournament
Wasatch Mountain State Park Lake Course
Wednesday
Team scores (Stableford system)
1. Bingham 252
2. Alta 234
3. Copper Hills 214
4. Weber 208
5. Viewmont 203
6. Layton 202
7. American Fork 200
8. Lone Peak 196
9. Davis 194
10. Brighton 188
Individual scores (strokes)
74 — Sirene Blair, Bingham
76 — Sam Crawford, Bingham
77 — Cobair Collinsworth, Brighton
78 — Carly Oldroyd, Davis
80 — Madi Rooker, Alta
84 — Elena Pittenger, Bingham; Nicole Jack, Alta
86 — Alisha Terry, Bingham
87 — Summer Willis, Lone Peak
88 — Tavia Rasmussen, Alta; Mikayli Booth, Copper Hills; Melissa Moore, Layton
89 — Haylee Chugg, Weber
90 — Hannah Hall, Viewmont; Hailey Petersen, Alta; Shaina Snyder, Copper Hills; Mikenna Worthington, Viewmont