Gremlins Push Title Streak to 4
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
May 28, 2014
MARQUETTE — The Houghton girls capped a short, but successful golf season Wednesday as they captured their fourth consecutive MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 1 title with 396 strokes.
Runner-up Marquette finished with 423, with third-place Escanaba at 433.
“Three of our girls didn’t play until May 13 when we went to the Negaunee Range Bank Invitational at Wawanowin (Golf Club near Ishpeming),” said Gremlins’ coach Corey Markham. “Some of our new girls did real well. We have a couple real talented golfers, and our seniors (Noelle Polakowski and Megan Kelly) have been real consistent. Noelle and Megan have been part of four U.P. championships. This has been a real hard-working group.”
Gladstone senior Callie Jensen earned medalist honors with a 90 on the Marquette Golf & Country Club’s Heritage course. She was followed by Marquette’s Sydney Higgins with 94 and Kelly at 95.
“I went into a hazard and got a nine on it (on the par-5, No. 4 hole),” said Jensen, who will study at the University of Michigan this fall. “I had a little lane, but I hit a tree and ended up back in the hazard. I think if I could have gotten that down to a six, I would have been pleased with it.
“Overall, I played decent. This is a very challenging course. The greens were faster than we’re used to, although I like fast greens. So I can’t complain about that.”
Like most U.P. teams, Gladstone also started later than usual. The Braves opened their season May 1 at the Escanaba Country Club.
“We had a lot of tournaments cancelled due to bad weather,” said Jensen. “The late start made it harder to get into the swing of things.”
After the tournament, Braves’ coach Dane Quigley paid tribute to Jensen’s farewell performance and career.
“I thought Callie played well,” he said. “Yes, she took a nine on one hole. But that’s a quality golfer and young lady we’re losing. Callie is very dedicated to our program. She’s going to be missed, as (will) all of our other seniors.”
Manistique junior Hailey Hoholik placed fourth at 97, a stroke better than Escanaba senior Kelsey Motto.
“I thought everything went pretty good, although I should have done better on a few holes,” said Hoholik, who played on the Heritage course for the first time. “My putting didn’t go as well as I hoped. The greens were fast. Ours at home (at Indian Lake Golf Course) are pretty slow. This was a big adjustment at first. But by the third hole, I started getting used to it.”
Like Jensen, Motto received her due from Escanaba coach Brian Robinette.
“Kelsey has been an ambassador for our golf team,” said Robinette. “We spent four years together. Our girls’ program was barely breathing when I started. Kelsey knows what it takes to nurture the younger kids and play the game the right way. She has been a top-five golfer from the beginning of the year to the end. I think she’s going into college golf with a lot of momentum and self-belief.”
Motto, who will continue her golf career at St. Norbert College in DePere, Wis., next season, was followed by Houghton’s Adison Cook with a 99 and Polakowski with a 100.
The Gremlins also had a fourth golfer in the top 10, with Taryn Kaurala taking ninth overall at 102.
“Some of our girls came up through the junior program at Michigan Tech, which is a great program,” Markham said. “They’re all very competitive. They’ve been able to shake it off when they had a bad hole.”
Polakowski shared seventh with Marquette’s Hannah Crampton.
“Sydney’s second-place finish helped us get where we needed,” Marquette coach Ben Smith said. “Hannah had a solid round and Leah Anderson has been in the mix all year. Houghton is solid. It seems like Megan Kelly has been with them forever. I’m thrilled for our girls. Their scores got better through the season.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Houghton's Megan Kelly hits from the first fairway during the MHSAA Division 1 U.P. Final on Wednesday. (Middle) Gladstone's Callie Jensen hits out of a bunker on the first fairway; she went on to finish first individually with a 90. (Photos by Adelle Whitefoot.)
Dexter Follows Manning to Team Championship, McCollum Makes Jump to Medalist
By
Tom Lang
Special for MHSAA.com
October 18, 2025
BATTLE CREEK – Dexter’s Avery Manning, an all-state Dream Team selection last year, entered this weekend’s Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final at Bedford Valley Golf Course as the reigning individual champ on a team that finished runner-up last fall.
The script flipped this year.
Manning led the Dreadnaughts to the Division 2 team championship, while she took third individually with a 154 score.
“We came into this so strong and so ready to do it, and I’m so proud,” she said. “I’m a little sad knowing we say goodbye, but I couldn’t have asked for a better ending to high school golf.
“I was very disappointed in what I did (in Friday’s first round),” she added about shooting a 79 to open in seventh place, “but I grinded out my last six holes and so it put me into a better position and headspace to go into (Saturday) where I was just trying to stay as steady as possible and keep my position and try to keep the lead for my team. I’m proud that I stayed content, even if something went wrong.”
Dexter’s team win helped make up for last year’s runner-up finish to Farmington Hills Mercy, which placed sixth this time with a team total of 718.
The Dreadnaughts’ two-round total of 643 placed ahead of No. 1-ranked Bloomfield Cranbrook Kingswood at 659. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central and Lowell tied for third at 684 each.
“The girls played amazing today,” Dexter coach Greg Palkowski. “They really brought it to the course. We played aggressive all day long. We told them don’t hold anything back today. Just go get it done and play our style of golf. This is what we’re accustomed to, and they did it today.
“With this group, being in either first or second going into today’s final round, I’m happy with it. It would have been the same mindset (if trailing). Just come out aggressively, get off to a good start, and they did today. That really propelled us through the first nine holes, and they just played steady golf on the whole back nine.”
Palkowski had plenty of reasons to credit a total team effort.
“All five of our girls are capable of shooting the scores they got here,” he said. So, for them to come through and do what they did, especially the seniors today, Avery, Ellie (Anderson) and Millie (Truesdell) played really well. Maddy (Manning) did really well today, and our number 5, Morgan (Pomerantz), played an awesome round today. They knew they could do it; they just needed to prove it today, and they did.”
Sophia McCollum, a junior at Muskegon Reeths-Puffer, was the individual medalist, leading wire-to-wire. Yet that’s not how she would have scripted it.
“I really didn’t want to be leading after the first day,” she said. “I feel like that’s more pressure, to stay at the top. So I definitely felt a lot of pressure, but it got a lot better as it went along.”
McCollum, who tied for 17th last year, said knowing both Saturday playing partners from summer golf helped ease her mind some – as did her start on each hole.
“I got off the tee box well, and I hit almost every green in regulation,” she said. “My putting wasn’t as great. I putted fine, just not my best. But definitely, my irons and my driving were good.”
She kept the pace with a two-round total of 148 to finish ahead of runner-up Sixtine Charnelet of Kingswood (152), with Avery Manning in third. Chaille Payne of Forest Hills Northen and Megan Guerrera of Mercy tied at 155 for fourth place.
PHOTOS (Top) Dexter’s Avery Manning tees off during Saturday’s second round at Battle Creek’s Bedford Valley. (Middle) Muskegon Reeths-Puffer’s Sophia McCollum tees off. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)