JC Eagles claim 1st golf championship

Jackson Christian's boys' golf team brought plenty of experience into this week's Division II-A state championship tournament at Sevierville Golf Club.
It was the fourth time to play in the state tournament for Nolan Smith and third time for teammates Casen Justice, Carson Andreoni and Brody Smith.
That experience helped as the Eagles beat Franklin Road Academy by five strokes to claim their first-ever golf championship.
"If you could see how hard these boys have worked for this for the last two, three years - even longer than that - you'll know how appreciative we are of this championship," said one of Jackson Christian's coaches, Jared Smith.
Smith and Pete Andreoni have coached the Eagles the last three seasons, making it to the championship tournament each year.
"The first year, we were glad to be here, and then last year we had higher expectations but we didn't have our best effort," Smith said. "Then this year, we came in and all five of our guys had great tournaments.
"Out of 10 total rounds shot, we only had one round not finish in the 70s for us."
That depth is what proved to be the difference between the championship for the Eagles and other teams looking up at them on the scoreboard despite having golfers finishing better than Jackson Christian.
Battle Ground Academy had the second- and third-place golfers individually and still finished fourth as a team.
"That was one thing that other coaches came up to me complimenting us for, our depth," Jared Smith said. "The way they score this is we throw out our lowest score each round, and we threw out a 76 [Monday in the first round].
"Do you know how many of these teams would've killed to have had a 76 in their top four? So that was the biggest difference for us."
Casen Justice led the Eagles by shooting a two-round score of 143, which was good enough to tie for fourth individually. Nolan Smith shot a 144 to tie for eighth. Carson Andreoni finished 15th at 147, and Brody Smith tied for 19th a 152. Seth Joyner had a 158 for his two rounds to finish No. 26.
Smith said something that changed last year and was increased this year was the coaches' search for tough competition.
"Some of the other teams that are among the best in the state, we sought out their coaches and asked them where they were playing in tournaments in the regular season," Jared Smith said. "I wanted to get into those tournaments and play against tough competition throughout the year so that our guys would be used to playing against other good golfers and it not be new to them when they got here."
The championship is Jackson Christian's fourth team championship in school history along with a football championship and two baseball championships. A couple of tennis players have also recorded individual state championships representing Jackson Christian.
Here's a look at how other golfers did at the state tournament:
University School of Jackson also sent a team to the Division II-A boys' tournament. Houston Brasfield led the Bruins with a 143 in that tie for fourth place individually. Gage Dement finished tied for 16th at 149. The Bruins as a team finished sixth.
Tori Robinson represented Trinity Christian Academy in the Division II-A tournament and finished runner-up individually with a score of 138, which was 2-under par from the girls' tees.
In the Class A boys' tournament, Madison's team qualified and finished seventh. They were led by Chad Joyner with a score of 152.
Nora Manley from Madison finished as an individual tied for No. 18 at 21-over after two rounds.
Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news