COLUMBUS — The red, white and blue ribbon Justin Fender wore, along with a broad smile, drew applause from the crowd during the awards ceremony at Ohio State University.

        The 18-year-old New Richmond senior shot a 3-under-par 67 Saturday and a 4-under 137 for the 36-hole event, to win medalist honors at the Division II state golf tournament.

        “I started wearing the ribbon after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York,” Fender said. “It made me realize how important life is and that golf is a game and only for fun.”

        Granville shot a tournament-best 294 Saturday to win the Division II state championship with Monroe finishing eighth at 611 after shooting a 306 on Saturday.

        Warren John F. Kennedy (618) repeated as Division III champion, winning by 18 strokes over Gahanna Columbus Academy. Summit Country Day shot a 673 to finish in a school-best fifth place.

        Although Wes Homan fired a 2-over 74 and 149 for the tournament, the Summit Country Day senior was runner-up to medalist Jason Kokrak from Warren JFK, who shot at 146.

        Consistency was Fender's strength throughout season, earning medalist honors in 18 of 20 dual meets and tournaments.

        In the final four weeks of the season, Fender was medalist at the Dick Hadley Memorial and the sectional, district and state meets.

        “Today, I reached 16 of 18 greens in regulation and hit every tee shot in the fairway when using the driver,” said Fender, who's 5 feet 10, 140 pounds.

        “The only bogey was on the 16th, which was after a 20-minute wait. I just wanted to reach the top of the hill so I used a two-iron, which resulted in the ball going into the rough.”

        As a junior, Fender averaged 37.1. He dropped his nine-hole average to 35.1 this season.

        Fender is New Richmond's second athlete to win an individual state title. Ben Bird won the discus championships in 1990 and 1991.

        A first-team all-state performer in 2000, Homan quietly sat in the scoring area with his shoes on, hoping for a playoff for medalist honors.

        “I wasn't hitting the ball well like I usually do, and four or five putts lipped out,” Homan said. “I didn't play good enough to win.”

        Besides Homan, who holds every golf record at Summit Country Day, Pat Cruz, Eric Ragland, Mike Frederick and Alex Tieman also contributed.

        “We were 12th last year and had four of five golfers back,” said Summit coach Bob Juenke. “This was the fourth consecutive year we made it to state, and I thought we had a chance to win.”

        Monroe's Matt Waidmann earned second-team all-state honors.
        Division II

        (Gray Course, par 70)

        Team Scores: 1. Granville (305-294) 599. 2. Lima Shawnee (302-299) 601, 3. Notre Dame Cathedral Latin (308-296) 604, 4. Chillicothe Unioto (301-303) 604, 5. Sandusky Perkins (303-304) 607, 6. Portsmouth West (305-304) 609, 7. Orrville (304-306) 610, 8. Monroe (305-306) 611, 9. Medina Highland (318-299) 617, 10. Loudonville (317-304) 621, 11. Kettering Alter 318-317) 635, 12. Gnadenhutten Indian Valley (323-327) 650.

        Top Scores: 1. Fender, New Richmond (70-67) 137, 2. Shonhoft, Canton Central Catholic (69-74) 143, 3. Rittberger, Pepper Pike Orange (71-73) 144, 4. (tie) Josh Graham, Portsmouth West (75-70) 145, Tim Perin, Sandusky Perkins (73-72) 145.

        Monroe: Waidmann 73-74—147, Talbot 79-76—155, Crist 80-76—156, Hunt 76-77—164, McGraw 85-80—155.

        Division III

        (Scarlet Course, par 72)

        Team Standings: 1 Warren JFK (309-309) 618, 2. Gahanna Columbus Academy (317-319) 636, 3. Mansfield St. Peter's (322-316) 638, 4. Newark Catholic (332-340) 672, 5. Summit Country Day (337-336) 673, 6. Versailles (345-337) 682, 7. Kalida (339-344) 683, 8. Elmore Woodmore (339-344) 683, 9. Sandusky St. Mary Central Catholic (339-348) 687, 10. Waterford (341-352) 693, 11. Gates Mills Gilmour Academy (346-350) 696, 12. North Adams (364-359) 723.

        Top Scores: 1. Kokrak (Warren JFK) 72-74—146, 2. Homan (Summit Country Day) 75-74—149, 3. Macali (Warren JFK) 75-78—153, 4. Clemente (Warren JFK) 77-76—153, 5. Niegsch (Gahanna Columbus Academy) 73-81—154.

        Summit: Homan 75-74—149, Cruz 85-80—165, Ragland 86-90—176, Frederick 91-97—188, Tieman 97-92— 189.

        North Adams: Foster 83-83—166, Copas 96-86— 184, Young 87-85—175, Schweighart 98-102—200, Meade 99-100—198.

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