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.)
Mustangs Complete Championship Climb
October 15, 2016
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING – Macomb Lutheran North’s route to an MHSAA championship seemed like a simple 3, 2, 1 countdown.
The Mustangs, who finished third at the Lower Peninsula Girls Golf Division 4 tournament in 2014 and second last year, broke through with a 36-stroke victory over second-place Livonia Ladywood on Saturday at Forest Akers West in East Lansing.
But for veteran Lutheran North coach Lori Gill, the road to the title started much more than three years ago – last century, actually.
“This was 19 years in the making,” said an emotional Gill after leading Lutheran North to not only its first-ever girls golf championship, but also the first MHSAA girls golf title for any Macomb County school.
“You are looking at one happy, happy coach. This is a really special group of girls. They are fun, and they are committed.”
Lutheran North took command of the two-day event with a solid team effort on Friday, building up a 16-stroke lead, then came back with an even better team score Saturday to zap any potential drama out of the team competition. Kalamazoo Hackett, the two-time reigning champion, placed third.
Junior Serena Nguyen led three Mustangs among the top 10 individuals with back-to-back 79s, good for fourth overall on the long and challenging Forest Akers West course. Senior Sydney Martens (85-79-164) took sixth and sophomore Kaity Rittner (82-84-166) was eighth.
Lutheran North’s fourth counted score on each day was an 89 – from senior Madison Mohr on Friday and junior Grace Farquhar on Saturday – as the Mustangs were the only team in the field to not count a score in the 90s or higher either of the two days.
“The best part is that it was a total team effort, and we all came through for our coach,” said Martens while cradling the championship trophy in her arms. “Each year we were getting closer and closer. It’s just so nice that we took that final step.”
The battle for individual medalist honors was closer than the team competition, but the experience – and power – of senior individual qualifier Nichole Cox of Maple City Glen Lake was too much for the rest of the field.
Cox capped off a stellar four-year career by winning her third consecutive Finals medalist honor, to go along with a fourth-place finish as a freshman. Cox fired an even-par 72 in Friday’s opening round and overcame a couple of bad holes on Saturday to finish with a 78 for a two-day total of 150 and a four-shot edge.
Frankenmuth senior Megan Watkins and Kalamazoo Hackett senior Naomi Keyte shot identical rounds of 78-76-154 to tie for second in the individual competition.
“I hit my driver great both days – almost all of them were straight with a little draw,” said Cox, who blasted a 280-yard drive on Saturday on the 407-yard, par-5 second hole. “I’m proud of myself because I had two double-bogeys today, but I hung in there.”
Cox, who will play golf at Bowling Green, had three birdies in Friday’s opening round and none on Saturday. She shook off a four-putt, double-bogey on No. 5, her second hole Saturday morning, then started racking up pars en route to her “three-peat.” She became only the ninth girl in MHSAA history to win at least three Finals individual championships.
The closest pursuer to Lutheran North in the team race turned out to be Livonia Ladywood, which improved on its fourth-place Finals finish one year ago. The Blazers captured the second-place trophy behind the big three of junior Gabriella Scopone (83-83-166), who placed ninth, senior Lydia Cranmer (86-81-167), who was 10th, and senior Jordyn Rioux (85-87-172).
But this was Lutheran North’s time for a title.
Martens, the senior leader for the Mustangs who will play golf at Oakland University next year, said the team talked about staying aggressive in spite of its 16-stroke lead after Friday’s opening round.
“Sixteen strokes sounds like a lot, but it’s only four strokes for each girl,” said Martens, whose older sister, Samantha Martens, was also a standout for Gill at Lutheran North. “We are a long-hitting team, and we wanted to keep playing our game and try to extend the lead.”
Gill, whose team was playing in the Finals for the sixth straight year, said another key to the Mustangs’ terrific run over the past three has been playing top-flight competition from Division 1 and other larger schools throughout the regular season. Lutheran North made a statement way back in August by winning the 15-school Flint Powers Invitational, then provided the other bookend to its spectacular season Saturday with a 36-stroke runaway.
“We got a taste of that top three (the last two years) and then winning the title became an obsession,” said Gill. “The girls knew what they wanted to do and they did it. What can I say? They are an amazing group of girls and an amazing group of golfers.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Macomb Lutheran North’s Serena Nguyen fires out of a bunker during Saturday’s final round of the Division 3 Final. (Middle) Maple City Glen Lake’s Nichole Cox holes a putt en route to her third straight individual title. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)