Local linksters come up short

It was a good showing by local golfers at Monday's IHSA girls and boys' sectionals across southern Illinois, but all came up short in their bid at this weekend's state tournament.
At Carbondale, Harrisburg's Ashton Hall missed the cut by three strokes, shooting an 81 at Hickory Ridge, while Hall's teammate Andrew Bittle fired a 100.
Team wise, Charleston (297), Belleville Althoff (304) and Benton (306) will represent the area at the state tournament at Weibring Golf Club at Illinois State University in Normal.
At Effingham, Eldorado sophomore Noah Smith shot an 82, also just barely missing out on a trip to the state tournament. Smith lost a chance to go to state on a second playoff hole. He was tied with three others for two spots. Evan Coyle finished in a tie for 47th place with an 89.
Eldorado head coach Chad Albers said while it was a disappointing end, he was most proud of how hard both Smith and Coyle worked this year.
"They both worked so hard at the game of golf," Albers said. "They both had outstanding seasons and personal best scores this year. I'm proud of both of them and the way they represented Eldorado High School."
On the girls' side, Harrisburg's Madison McClusky came up one stroke short at the Centralia 1A Sectional, shooting a 41-44 to finish with an 85. Teammate Annabella Robinson closed out her senior season with a 113, finishing in a tie for 92nd place.
Right behind Robinson and finishing 95th overall was Eldorado's Ashlyn Sizemore as the Eagle senior carded a 117.
Harrisburg girls' head coach Steve Black commended Robinson on her four years of golf at HHS and tipped his cap to McClusky for playing through some pain.
"Annabella had a rough start, but finished much better. I'm proud of her and she had a great finish of her four years at Harrisburg. Madison played with her knee in a brace and just had a great day. She was one shot away from going to state. She finished tied for 19th out of 104 players and shot the third-best score for a freshman at Sectional."