CRYSTAL FALLS --- Bark River-Harris went home from last year’s Upper Peninsula Division 2 Girls Golf Final with some hardware. Just not the kind the Broncos wanted. 

After finishing third the year before, they earned the runner-up trophy at the 2023 championship tournament, and Ava McDonough also took home a runner-up finish.

This year at Young’s Golf Course, the Broncos won the team title and McDonough took the medalist honor.

“It’s pretty great. We’ve been working for it for three years now, and it feels really good to finally accomplish it,” she said. “Last year we got second. I got second individually. 

“I mean second’s good, but first is better.”

It was really good for the Broncos’ entire team, which won their first U.P. title since claiming back-to-back Division 3 championships in 2014 and 2015. They finished a dozen strokes fewer than runner-up West Iron County (451). Norway was third, Stephenson fourth and Munising fifth.

“It’s amazing,” Broncos coach Matt Sly said. “I’ve been with these girls now, this is our third year. We took third three years ago, second last year. They worked really hard this year, and they were able to do it.”

McDonough carded a 101 to earn the medalist honor.

“My drives were pretty good, and my chipping I did good,” she said. “My putting was not very good. That was the only thing that really killed me. Otherwise, it was all pretty good.”

Sly said she's been playing well this entire season.

“She’s just an all-around good player,” he said. “She’s good off the tee, she has good short game and she was able to put it all together today.”

McDonough finished just one stroke ahead of teammate Ella Boney, who was runner-up with a 102.

“She played exceptionally well today,” Sly said of Boney. “She was several strokes better than her average.”

Munising’s Jailen Hancock and West Iron County’s Addison Franzene both carded 105 to tie for third. The Wykons’ Kya Dallavalle finished fifth with a 108.

McDonough said improvement over the last year has been about hard work, practice, helping each other out and not getting down when things went badly. 

“Four of the five are seniors,” Sly said of McDonough, Boney, Zailey Cortez – who placed 13^th – and Melody Racicot. Sophomore Dakota Bridges took 16th. “They’ve been waiting for this for a while.”

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PHOTOS (Top) Bark River-Harris Ava McDonough tees off on No. 17 at Wednesday's Division 2 Final at Young's Golf Course. (Middle) West Iron County's Kya Dallavalle putts on No. 17. (Photos by Jason Juno.)