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The race for the SAC crown
By JAMAL THALJI, Times Staff Writer WESLEY CHAPEL -- It's official: the Sunshine Athletic Conference race is wide open. The conference's last unbeaten team, Ridgewood, fell by three strokes to host Wesley Chapel at Lexington Oaks on Wednesday. That means the top five SAC teams -- Land O'Lakes, Mitchell, Ridgewood, Wesley Chapel and Zephyrhills -- all have at least one loss to the other. No longer will the conference tournament be a mere coronation for a dominant team. Five teams have a shot at the title in the closest conference race ever. The individual medalist race should be just as close. "There's no doubt about it," Rams coach Gary Anders said. "I felt it was that way even prior to (Wednesday). And the way the conference championship is determined, combining regular season wins with the tournament finish, anything can happen now." Steven Seal shot a match-low 35 for Wesley Chapel, followed by Andrew Martin's 39, Cameron Knight's 43, and Ryan Sumner's 42. Ridgewood was led by the Schlau brothers again. Justin Schlau shot 39 and Jason Schlau 41. Nick Smith had 39 and Jake Stuchell 43. Coaches have sensed it would be a close race, but the past two weeks of matches have sealed it. Last week, Mitchell suffered its first loss of the season, losing by a stroke to Ridgewood. Mitchell fired back with an 11-stroke victory over defending SAC champion Zephyrhills, which now has two conference losses. Bulldogs coach Bob Hatfield said the conference race is close because the talent levels on the teams are so comparable. "This conference is vastly improved and I would cite this example," Hatfield said. "Years ago, a team that could shoot 170 had a chance to be competitive with anybody. This year a team out of the middle 150s isn't going anywhere. Ridgewood and Mitchell are two good examples of that. It's going to be pretty competitive between these schools, and they're all pretty good." Every team has good leaders: Ridgewood has Justin and Jason Schlau; Mitchell has defending SAC champion Kyle Laux and Tyler Clippard; Zephyrhills has Kyle Pierson; Land O'Lakes has Tanner Whitmill; and Wesley Chapel's Seal is the latest entrant in the medalist sweepstakes. The Schlau brothers said they were disappointed to let their undefeated season slip away Wednesday, but the main prize is still in sight. "We've just got to suck it up and keep working on the rest of the season," Justin Schlau said. "We have to go out and play twice as hard." Said Jason Schlau: "We've got a good chance still. There's a lot of teams with a good chance. It just depends on which team shoots better that day. Seal, Wesley Chapel's senior leader, said he's never seen the county's individual talent compete so closely with one another. "There's a lot of good No. 1s and No. 2s out there," he said. The conference tournament is Oct. 22 at Lexington Oaks, home of the newest SAC contender, Wesley Chapel. Coach Alan Black said this is the best field of teams and golfers he's seen in more than a decade. "Since 1987, even with 11 teams in the old (Gulf Coast Athletic Conference), there were three or four teams who could be in the hunt, and there would be one or two favorites," he said. "But this, who knows? It's up for grabs. We're playing here, and it'll be a pretty fair golf course to everybody." A fair course? After his team beat previously undefeated Ridgewood? "(The coaches) made me take it," Black said. "It's their fault."
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From today's Pasco Times Letters |
