Brother-Sister Duo, Lauryn and Quincy Leonard Jr. bring in wins
HUNTSVILLE, AL — The Pike Road High School Girls Golf Team won the AHSAA 4A-5A State Golf Championship at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Hampton Cove facility, May 9-10, in Huntsville, Alabama.
Pike Road finished with a team total of 36 over par 468 to win by 16 strokes. The State Championship comes in the first year for Pike Road to field a girl’s team in golf and was the only team competing without the full roster of four players.
Pike Road was led by individual runner-up Beka Yang (74-76 for a six over par 150 two-day total). Only in the eighth grade, Yang barely missed winning the overall individual title by one stroke to senior Lauren Sechrest of Alexandria High School. Junior captain, Yvette Gordon, finished third in individual at plus nine over par 153 (75-78). Ninth-grader Lauryn Leonard shot 82-83 165 total to finish top 12.
Of special note is Quincy Leonard Jr., the Boy’s Runner-up AHSAA 5A Individual State Champion, (76-71 – 147), the brother of freshman Lauryn Leonard. For certain, some exceptional golfing skills are developing within the Leonard family, as Quincy Jr. placed 2nd only to one player from Guntersville, making him the individual winner from the south and runner-up overall.
“The girls jumped out to a big lead after the first day and played solid golf in the final round,” said Head Golf Coach Ted White. “I couldn’t be prouder of the effort and commitment from these young ladies. To play all season knowing you didn’t have a fourth player to pick up the slack, it is really remarkable what they accomplished.” Added Assistant Coach Brooke Sansom “These three girls worked so hard all season with a common goal of winning state. They are not done yet. All three will go to college on a golf scholarship and we will be back next season to defend our state championship.”
The proud father of Lauryn and Quincy Jr. is Quincy Leonard Sr., owner of Leo Golf Academy. He was simply elated over the success of his children. Serving as their swing coach, he said “They have been officially 2022 High School Golf National Championship in Pinehurst, NC – which only invites the best high school golf teams & individuals based on their State Championship performance.”
It’s not often that we are privileged to see an African American brother-sister duo excelling in golf at this level, all while having two Black coaches: Pike Road High School’s Head Golf Coach Ted White and Quincy Leonard Sr.
We’ll be keeping an eye on the Leonards.
