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MEADVILLE -- Warren's Kate Shippee reached her career goal of making it to the PIAA Girls Golf Championships after placing second at the District 10 AAA Championships on Wednesday.
Shippee found herself in second place after shooting an 86 on Day One. She repeated her score two days later and shot another 86 in the final round to finish four strokes ahead of third place and punch her ticket to the state tournament. Shippee is the first Warren High golfer since Rachel Wilson to qualify for the PIAA Championships. Wilson won the 2018 District 10 AAA individual title, and finished ninth in the state that year.
Heading into Wednesday, Shippee was three strokes behind Bella Deaton of McDowell and four strokes ahead of Claire Kennis of Dubois. Wednesday's round was a hotly contested match between the three leaders with both Kennis and Shippee having their own string of good holes.
After 26 holes between the two days, Kennis was tied with Shippee in the overall standings, which put pressure on Shippee. After going out of bounds on No. 9, Kennis was two strokes back again with Shippee extending the lead to three after No. 11. After No. 12, Kennis again pulled within one, she experienced problems in the sand on hole 13, allowing to extend her lead to four shots once again.
With two holes remaining, Kennis nearly scored a hole in one on No. 17, and converted the tap-in for birdie. Now up three strokes with the final hole to play, Shippee made a clutch par to slam the door and ensure her senior season remained intact.
"It was a very fun match to watch as a spectator, but as a coach, it was very stressful but gratifying to watch Kate once again battle back from a few troublesome holes and to earn a spot to the state championships," Warren coach Scott Pearson said. "I can't say enough how lucky I have been to have coached Kate for four years and see her progress as a player and person, and I am so proud and happy for Kate regardless of how she was going to finish today. Kate has had just a tremendous year, but securing a trip to the state championships is definitely the icing on the cake."
Shippee will advance to the state championships on the White Course at Penn State University Oct. 19-20.
Bella Deaton of McDowell won the individual AAA District 10 Championship on Wednesday with a two-day total of 165, followed by Shippee's 172, and Kennis' 176. Also closing out his high school career was senior Michael Palmieri, who made the cut on Tuesday after shooting an 87.
"Michael struggled on the course today, but that did not impact his demeanor," said Warren head golf coach Nate Sandberg. "I am proud of Michael and all of his hard work this season. He is a great kid and I am fortunate to have coached him the last four years."