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.)
Returning with Full Lineup, Bark River-Harris Capitalizes Fully with Finals Sweep
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
May 27, 2026
HOUGHTON — When Bark River-Harris has enough golfers for a team, they’ve become pretty tough to beat in the Upper Peninsula.
The Broncos won a U.P. Finals title two years ago but didn’t have enough golfers for a team score at last year’s championship tournament. This year, they did – and they made it two Division 2 championship trophies earned in three years.
They won convincingly; their score of 416 was 12 strokes better than runner-up Cedarville on Wednesday at Portage Lake Golf Course. Hancock was third, Ironwood fourth, and last year’s champion, Newberry, fifth.
“We had high expectations this year. We had a good team last year,” Bark River-Harris coach Matt Sly said. “The three players that played this year — that was part of our core team — last year we didn’t have enough players. They came back this year, we were able to recruit our fourth player and she was a vital part of our team.
“So we knew we had a pretty good chance, and it does feel really great to win.”
Bark River-Harris sophomore Makayla Hyslop won the individual U.P. Division 2 title, carding a 91, which was three strokes better than Hancock’s Kaelyn Rouleau. Ironwood’s Cristina Braucher took third with a 96. Last year’s U.P. medalist, Cedarville/DeTour’s Makenna Smith, finished in fourth with a 97, and Newberry’s Blair Maki was fifth, shooting a 98.
“I think I really focused on hitting solid, straight drives because it’s a little narrow out there,” Hyslop said. “And I remember I was just trying to get the most distance I could out of all of my shots and to play smart and to stay out of trouble.
“All of the work I’ve put in the last two years kind of feels like I’m being rewarded for the long hours and practice rounds and all of the stuff I did got me to where I am, so it feels nice,” Hyslop added.
Her goal was to place in the top three herself, but to win as a team.
“I really didn’t expect to do as well as I did,” she said. “But I am very glad that it went the way that it did. My first few holes started off really strong. I parred my first, so that gave me a good confidence boost. And probably around six holes in, I realized I was doing pretty well. When it came down to the last few holes, I realized I really could win if I just stayed focused and control what I can.”
The team title was a big deal as well.
The three golfers who were on last year’s team at the Finals all placed among the top 10 Wednesday. In addition to Hyslop, sophomore Alana Nault was sixth with a 99 and senior Dakota Bridges ninth with a 103.
Senior Julia Nault tied for 25th from that integral fourth spot to round out the lineup.
“It was really special to win because we’re losing two seniors, so to win it with them feels really special, especially because we could have won it last year with one of our seniors (Dakota Bridges) if we had another girl,” Hyslop said. “So to be able to get a title as a sophomore and experience it with one of my favorite seniors was really special.”
PHOTOS (Top) The Bark River-Harris girls golf team poses for a photo Wednesday with its latest championship trophy. (Middle) Cedarville/DeTour's McKenna Smith follows an approach shot. (Top photo courtesy of Painesdale Jeffers’ athletic department. Action photo by Jason Juno.)