Concord headed into the Division I golf team championships on Thursday with nothing on its mind but adding another trophy to the case.
For a stretch at The Overlook in Hollis, the Crimson Tide appeared they would bring home said trophy. Unfortunately, it is going to have to wait another year and for another time as Concord finished in third place behind runner-up Exeter and champion Bedford.
The Tide, who shot a 41-over-par 396 as a team on Thursday, entered the tournament as the No. 1 team in the division after posting a 25-1 regular-season record and were riding high into the championship round.
Concord was led by senior Cam McGonigle in Thursday’s play. McGonigle shot a 5-over 76 on the course, which was the sixth-best score of all competitors. The only golfers who shot better were Jascha Johnston and Will Ducharme of Exeter, Kyle Foster of Keene, Elliot Wallace of Bedford and Stephen Ramos of Timberlane.
Johnston, Ducharme and Foster finished in a three-way tie for first, all shooting 2-over 73. Wallace and Ramos tied for fourth by shooting at 74.
McGonigle’s finish was followed by teammates Gavin Richardson and Dylan Miles. Richardson, a sophomore who was 11th in the tournament a year ago, saw improvements a year later with his seventh-place position. He shot a 77 and shared his seventh place spot with Spencer Lawe of Hanover and Kaleb O’Connor of Spaulding.
Miles was the final member of the Tide to make the cut on the leaderboard after he shot a 78, a score that landed him in a three-way tie for 10th. He shared the spot with Sean Toscano and Braden Kelly, both from Bedford.
Concord’s three golfers will now compete on Saturday at Beaver Meadow for a chance of an individual title on Saturday. The top 20 golfers in each of the four divisions will tee off on Saturday starting at various times.
While those three made the cut to compete on Saturday, they weren’t the only ones who played on Thursday as several members of the Tide’s team walked the course. Parker Savoy narrowly missed the cut, shooting an 81.
Read Merril, Cam Brown, Tyler Coskren and Jack Shoemaker all competed as well and finished with scores of 84, 87, 89 and 90, respectively.