Low-Scoring Lineup Fuels Huskies' Run
October 18, 2017
By Dean Holzwarth
Second Half editor
GRAND RAPIDS – Team depth in any sport can be an important factor in making a strong postseason run.
The Forest Hills Northern girls golf team possesses just that this fall, and the hope is an abundance of contributors help carry it to a lofty finish at this weekend’s MHSAA Finals.
The No. 2-ranked Huskies will compete in Division 2 at Bedford Valley Golf Course in Battle Creek after placing runner-up at last week’s Regional.
“Now that we have this balance, if you do have a bad day, our team can still win,” said Forest Hills Northern junior Kay Zubkus, the team’s No. 1 player. “That ultimately makes all of us perform better because there isn’t that added pressure. It’s fantastic.”
The Huskies have a mix of veterans and young talent.
Zubkus is joined by senior co-captains Maddie Goodrich and Chloe Johnson, as well as senior Gabby Mas.
Freshmen Lilia Henkel and Anna Fay round out the top six.
Forest Hills Northern’s depth was apparent throughout the season as it won the Ottawa-Kent Conference White championship with all six girls being selected to the all-conference team.
“Our depth has been a strength for us all season,” Huskies coach Kent Graves said. “We were one of only two teams at Regionals to have five girls shoot under 90, and it takes a lot of the load off our No. 1 and No. 2 because if they don’t have great days they have three or four really good scores behind them.”
Forest Hills Northern entered the season with high expectations. It finished sixth at last year’s Division 2 Finals and graduated only one senior.
That created excitement for the potential of this year’s group.
“We were really anxious for this year,” Graves said. “We had the entire team back from last year minus one girl, and then we had two really super freshmen come in. We were excited about that, and our goal at the beginning of the year was a top-3 finish.”
The freshmen have played pivotal roles in the Huskies’ success.
Henkel was projected to be among the top players, but a pleasant surprise has been the improved play of Fay.
“I knew Lilia was good because I had played with her in tournaments, but we didn’t know about Anna and she has grown so much over this short season,” Zubkus said. “She came in shooting high 90s and now she is averaging high 80s, which is fantastic. We know we can rely on her, and their talent is awesome because it is going to help build the team for the next few years.”
Added Goodrich: “I knew Lilia was amazing, but Anna has really surprised me and has done super well. I’ve been impressed by her, and she has been solid the whole way through.”
Despite the range in classes, this year’s group has a tight bond.
“We’ve done a lot to become closer as a team and it’s been fun, especially since this is my senior year,” Goodrich said. “We’ve been so successful and gone to big tournaments and done well. We’ve been able to grow together as a team.”
The Huskies are aiming to end their season on a high note and improve on last year’s results.
Zubkus said the team’s dedication has put them in that position.
“A lot of hard work has been put in this year to get us where we are,” she said. “We are practicing six days a week to get us where we want to be to achieve our goals, which ultimately is winning a state championship.”
Forest Hills Northern will be among the favorites as it attempts to dethrone reigning champion and top-ranked Midland Dow.
“It’s going to take two days of really solid golf and we have to be at the top of our game, because 17 other teams want it just as bad as we do and will be shooting to win the thing also,” Graves said. “It’s two days of five girls playing the best they can play, and this tournament will be won with the third through fifth spot because at the state level everyone has really good (Nos.) 1 and 2 players.”
“We know we are capable of winning and everyone is going to have to play their best golf,” Zubkus added. “We have a very competitive division, and there is going to be no room for mis-strokes.”
The weather shouldn’t have an effect on the field, much to the liking of Graves.
“This is my 10th year and it will be the first time I’ve coached a state tournament not wearing my long underwear,” Graves joked. “I will be out there in shorts and a short-sleeve shirt.”
Dean Holzwarth covered primarily high school sports for the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years and more recently served as sports editor of the Ionia Sentinel and as a sports photojournalist for WZZM and WOODTV. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) This season's Forest Hills Northern girls golf team, from left: Olivia Moran, Chloe Johnson, Kay Zubkus, Lisa Reynolds, Gabby Mas, Lilia Henkel, Anna Fay, Maddie Goodrich, Coach Kent Graves. (Middle) The Huskies stand with their O-K White championship trophy. (Top photo by Jim Hill Photo; bottom by Kathy Goodrich.)
Unexpected Star Helps TC West Shine
October 21, 2017
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
ALLENDALE – Traverse City West senior Megan Jenkinson had to set down her celebratory slice of Little Caesar’s pizza to do a media interview.
Jenkinson is used to the sister duo of junior Anika Dy and freshman Anci Dy getting most of the attention (and they were certainly outstanding, as usual). But it was back-to-back rounds of 78 from Jenkinson, the Titans’ No. 3 player, which powered TC West on Saturday to its second MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 girls golf championship in the past three years.
“How is that for a happy ending?” asked first-year Titans coach Karl Gagnon, back for his second stint leading the program, as he wiped away tears of joy moments after accepting the championship trophy.
“Meg played her best two rounds of the year in the state finals in her final high school tournament. It doesn’t get much better than that.”
Jenkinson’s outstanding play helped Traverse City West (626) to a surprisingly wide, 22-stroke victory over runner-up Brighton (648) in unseasonably warm and dry, but windy, conditions at The Meadows at Grand Valley State University.
TC West and Brighton shot out of the gate in Friday’s opening round, shooting rounds of 311 and 314, respectively, essentially turning the 18-school tournament into a two-horse race. The storyline going into Saturday was a variation of “Sister Act,” pitting the Dy sisters of Traverse City West against junior Annie Pietila and freshman Maggie Pietila of Brighton.
Anika Dy, the state’s reigning Miss Golf and already a verbal commit to play for the University of Michigan, was absolutely outstanding both days – shooting a 3-under par 69 on Friday and validating it with an even-par 72 on Saturday. Dy’s 141 total was eight strokes better than second place Savannah Haque of Rochester.
The 5-foot-1 Dy, who is certainly not a bomber off the tee, used her masterful course management skills and incredible putting to win Finals medalist honors at The Meadows for the second time. Dy chipped in on the final hole to take medalist honors when TC West won the first girls golf state title in school history on the GVSU course in 2015.
“I feel like this course is built for me,” said Dy, who is planning to take some time off from golf after a hectic summer and fall schedule. “I really didn’t hit it well at all, especially today, but I had some clutch putts, a lot of them for pars. My putting definitely pulled me through.”
Anci Dy, a 14-year-old who made it all the way to the quarterfinals of the Michigan Women’s Amateur in July (before losing to her sister, 2 and 1), finished sixth overall with rounds of 78-76-154. Jenkinson gave the Titans three players in the Top 10 with 78-78-156, good for ninth place.
It was ironic that the Division 1 Finals were held the farthest west of the four MHSAA championship tournaments, as nine of the top 10-ranked teams in the final Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association state poll hailed from the east side of the state. TC West, which entered the Finals ranked fifth, was the only ranked team from either western or northern Michigan.
“We had to represent,” Anika Dy said with a laugh. “There are so many good teams, but we knew that if we played smart that we had a good chance to win it.”
Gagnon, a longtime teacher at Lake City High School who actually started the boys and girls golf programs at Traverse City West before stepping down because of the distance and time commitments, is now retired from teaching and decided to get back into coaching. He thanked his son and assistant coach Greg Gagnon, along with Bay Meadows Golf Course professional Scott Wilson, the swing coach for many of the Titans’ players.
Senior Maddy McCall and junior Jillian Ellul also both figured into the scoring for TC West. The Titans used McCall’s 86 on Friday and Ellul’s 89 on Saturday to complete the total team effort.
Annie Pietila, following in the footsteps of her two older sisters, Emmie and Hannah, who both played Division I college golf at Tennessee, shot rounds of 75 and 80 to lead Brighton to second place. Saline (649) finished one shot behind Brighton for third, followed by Northville (664) and Plymouth (669).
Catherine Loftus shot consecutive rounds of 75 to finish third overall for Saline, which entered the Finals at No. 1 in the MIGCA rankings and was the only team at the Division 1 Finals that featured five seniors. Bloomfield Hills junior Mikaela Schulz (152) placed fourth, and Lapeer senior Brooke Gibbons (153) took fifth.
The Dy sisters, who gained much attention this summer with their outstanding play in the Michigan Woman’s Amateur that culminated with their epic match in the quarterfinals, were quick to deflect credit for this weekend’s championship to Jenkinson.
Jenkinson, who was the No. 6 player for the Titans as a sophomore in 2015, started off this year’s Finals tournament by topping her first drive “about 30 yards.” But she ended it by nailing a long par putt on her second-to-last hole on Saturday and then nearly jarred her final high school iron shot on her final hole, the par-3 17th.
In between, Jenkinson said she had her best putting tournament of the season, along with a chip-in for birdie and three straight birdies on holes 7, 8 and 9 on Friday.
“I’ve had a lot of ups and downs playing golf, like everyone does, so I really, really wanted to play good in my last tournament,” said Jenkinson, who is undecided about playing college golf. “I think that terrible first drive was a good thing. It kind of woke me up, and I knew it could only get better after that.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Traverse City West’s Anika Dy follows a shot on her way to winning a second MHSAA individual championship. (Middle) Brighton’s Annie Pietila led her team to a runner-up finish at The Meadows. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)