Girls golf: Brunswick repeats as GCC champion

STOW — Plunging temperatures and persistent rain were powerless to cool off the red-hot Brunswick girls golf team and junior Ellie Gonzalez-Ribble on Monday. Gonzalez-Ribble fired a 7-under-par 64 to break her school record by one stroke and lead the Blue Devils to a program-best 300 in the final Greater Cleveland Conference Tournament at Fox Den Golf Course to win the league in back-to-back years. "I'm almost speechless," Gonzalez-Ribble said. "I'm just really excited. I feel like the last GCC is a really good place to do this. I made a couple of bogeys in the beginning, but after that everything was going my way." Gonzalez-Ribble was backed by younger sister Emma Gonzalez-Ribble (74), Rylee Roth (75) and Autumn Muslusky (87) as Brunswick defeated Riverside by 56 strokes. The Beavers entered the day with a chance to share and possibly win outright had they defeated the Blue Devils. Ellie Gonzalez-Ribble barely missed a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th green that would have tied the county record for strokes in an 18-hole round held by former Highland greats Isabella Goyette and Elizabeth Coleman. Ellie Gonzalez-Ribble was on the other side of luck with the putter on the par-3 17th. After missing the green to the right, she chipped to about eight feet and hit a birdie putt that started to go down, spun three-quarters of the way around the cup, popped up and hung on the lip before falling in for par. "I was so scared," she said. "I didn't know exactly what my score was, but I thought I had to make this (putt). When I hit it, I thought it might go in, and then it snapped across the edge and went up for like a millisecond. I was stressing so much, but it dropped." Before those putts on the final two holes, Ellie Gonzalez-Ribble dropped to 3 under through eight holes with birdies on the 389-yard sixth, 341-yard seventh and 304-yard eighth. The sixth and seventh were par 5s. She added eagles on the 352-yard, par-5 11th and the 333-yard 15th, on which she holed out. Emma Gonzalez-Ribble highlighted her round with an eagle on the seventh, where she followed a solid drive with a 58-yard wedge shot to three feet for the putt. She also birdied No. 17 after hitting a 5-iron to five feet, as well as No. 13. The Blue Devils are feeling strong as they focus on Big Met Division I Sectional on Monday. "I'm pretty confident," Emma Gonzalez-Ribble said. "I think our team is doing really well, and I'm very proud of everyone." Roth played an incredibly steady round with 13 pars and added her only birdie on the 11th. She made up for a chunk on her second shot by hitting a pitching wedge to about 10 feet to set up her birdie putt. Roth credited her ball striking and putting for keeping her on track. She also was quick to praise her teammates' performances as Brunswick secured the GCC title by winning the final three tournaments. "Ellie really helped out today. That was just insane," Roth said. "Also Emma did really well. Autumn shot her personal record on her birthday. I really think it was the birthday luck that we all had. It's really exciting that we won for the second year in a row and ended my senior season on a good note." The Gonzalez-Ribble sisters and Roth cheered as Muslusky made her final putt to secure the program record. Muslusky was 7 over through four holes, but rallied with pars on the fifth, sixth and seventh. She parred eight holes and kept it to bogey on another five. "It's my birthday, so that makes it a little more special," Muslusky said. "(The team) breaking the school record is pretty awesome being a senior and my last GCC. It's crazy. I didn't think this day would ever come. "I'm happy. The back is hurting a lot, but it's worth it." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Greater Cleveland Conference No. 4 at par-71 Fox Den G.C. Standings: 1. Brunswick 300, 2. Riverside 356, 3. Strongsville 376, 4. Mentor 385, 5. Shaker Heights 490. Brunswick (300) — Ellie Gonzalez-Ribble 64, Emma Gonzalez-Ribble 74, Rylee Roth 75, Autumn Muslusky 87, Addison Wish 107.