By Rick Cassano

CROSBY TOWNSHIP – An OK day wasn’t nearly enough to keep Harrison High School’s boys golf team alive in the Division I postseason.

The Wildcats finished in 10th place and senior Chase Strine was 23rd individually Thursday in the sectional tournament at Miami Whitewater Forest Golf Course, ending their hopes of advancing to districts.

“We played out here Sunday in our Best of the West and shot 316, so I had some high expectations,” Harrison coach Trevor Ward said. “I thought if we could do that, we’d be in the mix.”

Ward said the Wildcats got off to a bit of a slow start Thursday and couldn’t avoid putting up a 331 team total. They weren’t close to the four teams – St. Xavier (291), Elder (293), La Salle (307) and Mason (309) – that earned district berths at Heatherwoode Golf Club in Springboro on Oct. 5.

Harrison was led by Strine (39-40—79) and sophomore Luke Leurck (41-39—80) on the par-71 course. The four individual district qualifiers were Kings’ Austin Siereveld (35-35—70), Little Miami’s Austin Nicholas (34-36—70), Indian Hill’s Jacob Lewis (38-35—73) and Talawanda’s Ryder Jallick (38-37—75).

“I’ve never seen that many individual low scores,” Ward said. “Chase just couldn’t get anything going. He hit the ball awesome today. He just didn’t score great. Golf’s one of those things where you can hit the ball great and not score and you can hit the ball like crap and score. It’s a weird game.”

Also competing for the Wildcats were seniors Coen Rotert (46-39—85), Andrew Brunner (41-46—87) and Ryan Mullins (45-46—91).

“Today was not really what we expected, but I’m proud of our kids for playing hard,” Ward said. “They didn’t get down. They kept their heads up and had good attitudes, and that’s what we ask for.”

Leurck was the only guy in the starting lineup that wasn’t a senior. Harrison began on the back nine and finished on the front.

“It was really wet and I feel like the greens were faster than usual, but they were still pretty slow,” said Leurck, who shot a 76 on Sunday at Miami Whitewater. “I had a few bad holes, but overall, the round was pretty solid. My chipping was pretty good. Usually my short game is the best thing I have.”

Leurck said the Wildcats have had trouble getting everybody to play well at the same time, so Thursday wasn’t necessarily a surprise.

“It’s been a really fun season,” Leurck said. “I wish that we could’ve had a better match today, but I feel like we didn’t play horrible. There just haven’t been many matches where we’ve all done well.”

Leurck has been one of Harrison’s best players down the stretch. He started the season with the varsity and struggled, prompting Ward to send him down to the junior varsity for an event at Reeves Golf Course.

The motivation was a good thing, according to Leurck. He said he shot a 78 at Reeves and returned to the varsity.

Leurck said he’s been golfing since he was about 7 years old. He spends a lot of time focusing on the sport and said he may or may not participate in basketball this year after playing last season.

“I’ll definitely play a lot,” Leurck said of his offseason golf plans. “I’m hoping to get a swing coach too so I can get a lot better. I just need to get stronger so I can hit the ball farther.”

Ward said it certainly didn’t help the Wildcats’ cause this year when Strine was out with a back injury for a stretch of time.

Leurck and classmate Nolan Veite will be the only returnees with measurable varsity experience next year. Harrison will be losing a total of eight seniors to graduation.

“I would have liked a little better performance today, but I’m pleased with the kids overall,” Ward said. “They gave me all they had all year long. People are going to remember how you acted more than how you played, and from that standpoint, I couldn’t be more proud of the kids. This is one of the best groups of kids I’ve ever coached. Personality-wise, they’re just dynamite.”

The Wildcats’ season isn’t over. They’re scheduled to play Indian Hill at the Camargo Club on Monday and are slated to meet Ross on Tuesday and Colerain on Wednesday at Miami Whitewater. Harrison will also play in the rescheduled Oakwood Invitational at Dayton Country Club on Oct. 18.

“We could just say, ‘Hey, this is the end of our season and we’re done,’ but why not play golf and let these kids continue to play?” Ward said. “They’re going to get a chance to go play Camargo and Dayton Country Club. The kids are all about it because they know what a privilege it is to play those golf courses.”

This is Ward’s 21st season as the Wildcats’ head coach. Ward, who has two sons playing in college, said he’s not sure if he’ll return for another year at the helm, though he will be coaching Harrison bowling this winter.