EAST LANSING — Successful title defenses from the Grand Rapids area sure were the themes of the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Girls Golf Final this weekend at Michigan State’s Forest Akers West. 

From a team perspective, Grand Rapids Catholic Central fulfilled a season with sky-high expectations, easily winning its third-straight championship with a score of 682.

The Cougars were the team to chase all season with four golfers back after winning last year’s Final by 65 strokes.  

Ultimately though, there wasn’t a team in Division 3 that could catch and dethrone them.

“There definitely was a target,” Catholic Central coach Kim Napieralski said. “The expectations weren’t anything new or different. They just leveled up to it.”

Catholic Central had three golfers earn top-7 individual finishes, led by senior Kelsey Preston (81-78-159), who took third. Senior Margaret Deimel finished with a 166 (80-86) to place sixth, while senior Sofia Piccione added a 167 (81-86) to finish in a tie for seventh. 

“All of them are super competitive,” Napieralski said of her team. “They are grinders. If they have a bad hole or two, they get right back into it. That’s the biggest strength of our team, is our mental ability to get through the round comfortably even when there is bad stuff happening.”

There was also a repeat winner individually, with Grand Rapids Christian senior Lillian O’Grady reigning again after winning last year at Bedford Valley in Battle Creek. 

After birdieing five holes to shoot 72 in Friday’s first round, O’Grady birdied six more holes during her second round Saturday, finishing with a 1-under par score of 71 for a two-day total of 143. 

“This course, you can kind of be more aggressive with it and really hit it to good spots on the greens,” said O’Grady, who will play next at the University of Findlay. “I would say it was a lot of good wedge shots into the greens and making some pretty good putts. In some moments, my driver was off but my irons were really good, and I was making the putts. And then other times my irons were off but my short game was really good. All combined together, it was really good.”

O’Grady did have a different dynamic winning the title this year, as her closest pursuer was sister Eleanor, a freshman who finished runner-up with a score of 156 (78-78) in what could be a passing of the baton within the family. 

“It was so special to have my sister on the team and experience this with her,” Lillian said of Eleanor. “Hopefully she can do what I’ve done these years.” 

Making its first appearance as a team at an MHSAA Final since 2021, Grand Rapids Christian finished runner-up, surging ahead of Detroit Country Day with a strong second-day-total of 353 to finish at 711. 

Country Day was third at 731 (356-375), Grand Rapids South Christian was fourth at 734, and Goodrich rounded out the top five with a score of 745. 

“I thought we played about as well as we could today,” Grand Rapids Christian coach Seth Davis said. “This course is tough and was set up really tough. You play that first day and you kind of get over that first tournament-day thoughts of, ‘What does this place look like?’ But the second day, you just feel a bit more confident and you are hitting your stride. We played more like we could.”

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PHOTOS (Top) Grand Rapids Catholic Central’s Margaret Deimel chips toward the green Saturday at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Golf Final. (Middle) Grand Rapids Christian’s Lillian O’Grady follows a drive at Forest Akers West. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)