WHEELING – Kerri-Anne Cook always dreamed big.
She watched her brother Caleb Cook lead the 2018 Westside golf team to a state championship.
When it came time for her to take the stage, she was ready.
On Wednesday she ascended to the throne as the 2023 Class AA Individual state champion and she brought along a little history. She became the first girls player to win the individual state tournament championship.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise, she has been knocking at the door over the course of her career.
She was sixth in 2022 and was runner-up in the girls invitational championship twice.
In her last match as a prep player, she simply kicked it down.
Cook shot a 10-over to beat Winfield teammates Andrew Johnson (+12), Stephen McDavid (+16) and Jackson Woodburn (+19). She had a tournament-best seven birdies on the Jones Course layout, assuming a two-stroke lead on Day 1.’She kept that lead for most of the second day, and never bowed to the pressure, winning by that margin.
In double-A Shady Spring finished second to Winfield, which won by 58 strokes. Nicholas County which made a little history of its own by qualifying was sixth.
Shady Spring’s Tyler Beard finished seventh in the AA field.
In single-A Summers County finished second overall, shooting a +82, four off the lead put down by state champion Wheeling Central.
Summers County’s Xavier Honaker finished tied for fifth overall, Sean Cooper was tied for 12th and Brian Cooper was 14th.
In triple-A. Woodrow Wilson’s Jonah Willson finished in a three-way tie for eighth place shooting a +18 overall. Washington’s Tommy Evans shot a -4 to lead all scoring in the tournament and to win the Class AAA championship.
Wahama’s Grant Rousch win the Class A title at +12.
