Wallace State golf sixth in the nation; men's tennis seventh in nation

Hanceville, AL — Wallace State Community College’s men’s golf team finished sixth in the nation at the recent National Junior College Athletic Association’s Men’s National Championship for Division I. Held at Sand Creek Golf Course in Newton, Kansas, the team finished with 1,116 points over four rounds of play at 14 over par.

The winning team, Indian Hills Community College, finished at -25 under, followed by Odessa College (-14), Midland Community College (-10), New Mexico Junior College (-6), and Hutchinson Community College (+9).

Freshman Keith Hunter of Ontario, Canada, finished the highest on the leaderboard for Wallace State, coming in tied at 11th in the nation, shooting -2 under par for a four-round total of 286.

Zackery Coker, a sophomore from Gulf Shores, was the next on the leaderboard for Wallace State, finishing tied for 21st place nationally at +1 over par, with a four-round total of 289.

Sophomore Davis Aaron of Tuscaloosa finished tied for 43 in the nation, freshman Liam Meaden of Nottingham, UK, tied at 62, freshman Alex Citron of Olathe, Kan., tied at 98.

Aaron was named NJCAA Division I PING Second-Team All-American and a member of the NJCAA Division I Southeast All-District Team. Hunter earned Honorable Mention for the 2023 NJCAA Division I Men’s Golf All-America Teams.

“I am very proud of this team and their competitive edge. Their patience throughout the year paid off this past week,” said Coach Sylas Elliott. “Keith had a great finish, and I also could not be more proud of the leadership Davis and Zack have shown in their time at Wallace. I wish them both the best of luck as they move on to Huntingdon College to continue as teammates. Lions golf future looks very bright, and we are honored to be able to represent.”

Wallace State women’s golf 12th in nation

Wallace State women’s golf finished 12^th in the nation at the 2023 NJCAA Women’s Division I National Championship. Held at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course in Garden City, Kan., the team finished at +189 over par with a score of 1,341 over four rounds.

The winning team, Seminole State-FL, finished at +49 over par.

Freshman Aidan Haithcock of Homewood finished highest for the Lions, tied at 38th in the nation. Sophomore Hope Harrell (48) of Guntersville and freshmen Sydney Epes (64) or Water Valley, Miss., and Abby Gattis (72) of Jacksonville, Ala., followed.

Wallace State Men’s Tennis seventh in the nation

Wallace Sate men’s tennis finished seventh in the nation at the2023 NJCAA Men’s Nationals held in McKinney, Texas.

Freshman Lennert Lemahieu of Belgium went 4-2 overall, winning two singles matches before falling to the No. 1 seed in his flight. He and Hugo Blasco of Spain won two doubles matches before falling to the No. 3 seed in their flight. Blasco was 3-2 overall, with one victory in a singles match to add to the two earned with Lemahieu in doubles.

Alex Jaulin of Australia was 4-3 overall, with two victories in singles matches, including a victory over the N0. 4 seed before falling to the No. 1 seed in his flight and two doubles wins with Hudson Harden.

Iyan Cresens of Belgium was 2-1 overall in singles matches, including a win over the No. 7 seed in his flight before falling to the No. 2 seed.

Massimo Caliendo of Venezuela and Sebastian Gamez of Colombia, each went 2-2 overall, each earning one win in singles matches and a win their doubles match. Gamez was defeated in his singles match by the No. 2 seed and Caliendo was defeated by the No. 4 seed. The pair lost their doubles match to the No. 3 seed.

Women’s Tennis finishes 14th in nation

Wallace State’s women’s tennis finished 14th in the NJCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championship held at Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas.

Freshman Lilly Brown of Guntersville went 5-2 overall, four wins in singles matches and one in doubles with freshman Lexie Luders of Australia, falling to the No. 2 seed after their initial win. Luders was 2-2 overall, with an additional win in her singles matches.

Sophomore Erianna Irvin of Atalla was 3-2 overall, with two wins in her singles matches before falling to the No. 1 seed in her flight. She and doubles partner freshman Kim Coots of Huntsville were 1-1 in doubles, with Coots 1-3 overall.

Sophomore Martina Paillet of Argentina and freshman Natalia Vergara of Colombia were both 2-3 overall, with the pair 1-1 in doubles, falling to the No. 1 seed in their flight, and each 1-3 in single matches.

Wallace State Baseball end season at district tournament

The Wallace State Lions baseball team ended their season at the NJCAA South District Tournament championship. The team had a conference best regular season record of 25-7 (37-18 overall) and were 21-9 at home. Coach Randy Putman ended the season marking the 1,204th win of his career.

Sophomore catcher Dan Stewart of Hazel Green was named to the ACCC All-Tournament Team.

Freshman infielder Andrew Hunt of Birmingham and Stewart tied at 44 for the most runs for WSCC this season, with freshman infielder Dominic Decker of Sellerburg, Ind., following just behind at 43. Stewart accounted for 52 RBI and 12 home runs and a batting average of .365. Decker and Hunt each had 35 RBI and batting averages of .364 and 350, respectively.

Sophomore Mikel Pryor and freshman Tucker Burns, both of Hunstville, earned the highest batting averages for the Lions, with Pryor topping the board at .438 and Burns at .437.