Preview: Golf Finals Celebrations Could Include Pair (or More) by 1st-Time Champions
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 15, 2026
Two new team champions are guaranteed during this weekend’s Lower Peninsula Girls Golf Finals – and if rankings are right, two teams will raise first-place trophies for the first time.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central in Division 2 and Bath in Division 4 entered the postseason with top spots in the weekly coaches polls, and both are pursuing their first Finals titles.
At the same time, Northville is the lead contender in Division 1 after winning the last two championships, and Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian also is playing to repeat – but in Division 3 after winning in Division 4 a year ago.
Play begins both Friday and Saturday at 10 a.m., and live scoring is available through iWanamaker. See the Girls Golf page for qualifiers, results and more from all four divisions. Below is a glance at several team and individual contenders:
Division 1 at Battle Creek’s Bedford Valley
Top-ranked: 1. Northville, 2. Macomb Dakota, 3. Okemos.
Northville is coming off its second-straight Division 1 championship and claimed last season’s by 29 strokes ahead of Dakota, which is expected to be the main challenger again as it seeks a first Finals championship in this sport. Okemos also is seeking a first Finals title after finishing third a year ago, only two strokes behind Dakota.
Northville: The Mustangs have been ranked No. 1 all but two weeks this season and return their top three from last year’s championship run – senior Naaz Gill, who finished fourth, and juniors Cam Baker and McKenzie Stevens, who tied for seventh. All three tied for eighth at the 2024 Final, as well. Baker finished second, Stevens third, Gill sixth and sophomore Katie Lis fifth as Northville won their Regional last week at nearby Salem Hills by 46 strokes.
Macomb Dakota: Last year’s runner-up finish was Dakota’s highest at a Final, and the Cougars will attempt to take the next step returning four from their 2025 lineup. Senior Marissa Monteith finished second last season and senior Angelina Accuso finished just outside the top 10, and they placed first and fifth, respectively, as Dakota won the Regional at Oakland Township’s Twin Lakes by 39 strokes. Junior Dakota Cooper and freshman Chloe Viars placed fourth and seventh, respectively, at the Regional, and sophomore Madison Mangeno also is returning from last year’s Finals five.
Okemos: The Wolves also will bring back five of six golfers who carded rounds during last season’s championship tournament, where sophomore Saisha Patil placed third and junior Anika Srivastava finished fifth. Okemos is seeking its best team finish since placing second in Division 2 in 2013, and won the Regional at Michigan State’s Forest Akers East by 12 strokes with Patil second, Srivastava third, junior Zoey McArdle tied for eighth and sophomore Ishika Shah tied for 13th. Senior Emma O’Shea tied for 16th and played both rounds at last season’s Final.
Individuals: Utica Eisenhower junior Emanuella Micakovic and White Lake Lakeland sophomore Abigail Ngo also are back after placing sixth and tied for seventh, respectively, in 2025, giving this field eight of its top 10 back but with a new champion guaranteed. Plymouth junior Lauren Abuel was the champion last week at Salem Hills after defeating Northville’s Baker in a playoff, and she was joined among Regional winners by Monteith, Portage Central senior Olivia Griswold, Dearborn senior Calyssa Post, Troy freshman Hannah Kim and Hartland junior Payton Rohrhoff. Utica freshman Victoria McCulloch also could be in the mix; she tied Monteith at their Regional before they went to a playoff.
Division 2 at Michigan State University’s Forest Akers West
Top-ranked: 1. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, 2. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 3. Battle Creek Harper Creek.
Dexter ended Farmington Hills Mercy’s three-year title run last fall, but Mercy could be back in the hunt ranked No. 4 entering the postseason. Forest Hills Central is seeking its first championship in this sport after tying for third a year ago, and Cranbrook finished second a year ago and in 2023 and is seeking its first team title since placing first in Division 3 in 2021. Harper Creek did not qualify for the Final as a team, finishing fourth at its Regional.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central: The Rangers return their top four from last season’s Finals run and won the Regional last week at Eldorado in Mason by 51 strokes. Junior Alivia Offer tied for sixth last season and led the most recent Regional barrage finishing first and followed by senior Caroline Vandervelde in second, junior Camille Tierney and freshman Abigail Offer tied for third and junior Glenna Rinckey tied for seventh.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood: The Cranes also won their Regional last week, at Pine Knob in Clarkston, by 51 strokes. Senior Josie Vandenhaute finished first, senior Brianna Giudici was second, sophomore Alaina Tato was third and senior Maddie Anderson placed fourth. Vandenhaute and Giudici both played in last season’s Final, Giudici tying for 19th individually.
Farmington Hills Mercy: Senior Megan Guerrera was the medalist at last week’s Regional at Farmington Hills Golf Club and is joined by junior Claire Bores as returning golfers from last season’s sixth-place Finals finisher – which was keyed by Guerrera’s tie for fourth individually. Freshman Carolyn Watson also played a huge role as Mercy finished second at the Regional, placing fifth.
Individuals: Half of last season’s top 10 individual finishers will be back in the field this weekend, with reigning champion Sophia McCollum leading the way coming off a Regional runner-up finish at Muskegon’s Lincoln Golf Club. She, Guerrera and Alivia Offer also are part of that group along with Lowell senior Kaila Richards and Dexter junior Maddy Manning, who tied for eighth a year ago, and Grand Rapids Christian sophomore Eleanor O’Grady was the Division 3 individual runner-up last season. Joining Offer, Vandenhaute, O’Grady and Guerrera as Regional champions last week were Battle Creek Harper Creek junior Haley Willi and South Lyon freshman Presley Kiehler.
Division 3 at Katke at Ferris State University
Top-ranked: 1. Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian, 2. Montague, 3. Flint Powers Catholic.
Grand Rapids Catholic Central has won the last three Division 3 championships but missed qualifying for this weekend by five strokes. Enter NorthPointe, last season’s Division 4 champion, and Montague, which finished fourth in Division 4 a year ago. Powers finished 15th in Division 3 last year and is expected to make a run at the title, and No. 4-ranked Lansing Catholic also is in the mix after finishing second to NorthPointe by a stroke in Division 4 last season.
Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian: Three of the team’s top four finishers from last season’s Final will bring that experience to Big Rapids, with sophomore Izzy Duflo having tied for fourth in Division 4 last year. NorthPointe won the Regional last week at Willow Woods in Portland by 47 strokes, with Duflo the medalist, freshman Avery Klein fourth, senior Clara Velting tied for seventh and junior Aila Ellis tied for 17th.
Montague: The Wildcats are seeking their first Finals title since winning Division 4 back-to-back in 2020 and 2021, and they finished 10 strokes behind NorthPointe a year ago. Four of last season’s golfers are back leading this run, with senior Molly Mulder winning last week’s Regional at nearby Old Channel Trail in a playoff and followed by junior Marguerite O’Connell in third and senior Addi Smith in seventh. Senior Brynlee Kessler also is back from last fall’s lineup.
Flint Powers Catholic: The Chargers are seeking their first Finals championship since 2018 and return three golfers from last season’s top five. Powers won the Regional at Cracklewood in Macomb with junior McKenna Kelly tied for second, sophomore Isabelle Mark fourth, junior Laney Applegate tied for eighth and senior Emma Darmafall 10th. Kelly, Applegate and Darmafall were part of the 2025 title pursuit.
Individuals: With O’Grady in Division 2, Detroit Country Day senior Halle Heineman is the highest returning placer from a year ago after tying for seventh. Williamston senior Paige Radebach returns after placing ninth, and Goodrich senior Brookelyn Webb also is back after finishing 10th. Owosso sophomore Samantha Ross joins the mix after tying for eighth in Division 2 last fall. Ross, Webb and Radebach joined Mulder and Duflo as Regional champs last week, as did Pinckney senior Katelyn Sanchez.
Division 4 at The Meadows at Grand Valley State
Top-ranked: 1. Bath, 2. Kalamazoo Christian, 3. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett.
Bath finished sixth last season and only two teams (Elk Rapids and Napoleon) that finished ahead of the Bees are in the field this weekend. While Bath is seeking its first championship, Kalamazoo Christian is hoping to earn its second after finishing first in 2024 and seventh a year ago. Liggett also is seeking a first Finals championship in this sport.
Bath: Sophomores Addilyn Duflo and Hattie Lalonde, senior Sophia Perales and junior Mya Vietzke were the team’s leading scorers at last year’s Final, and all four are back with Duflo also coming off a runner-up individual finish. The Bees won their Regional last week at Forest Akers East by 20 strokes ahead of Liggett as Duflo placed first, Perales third and Lalonde tied for fifth.
Kalamazoo Christian: Senior Lillian Locker and juniors Rylee Slater and Sydney Early are returning from last season’s Finals lineup, and Locker also played a Finals round for the championship-winning team in 2024. She and Early shared last week’s medalist honor at their Regional at Cascades in Jackson, with Slater sixth and senior Oliva Hanel tied for ninth.
Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett: The Knights are back at the Finals for the first time in several seasons thanks to a Regional round that while second to Bath at Forest Akers East was the third-lowest in all of Division 4. Sophomore Olivia Robinson and freshman Maria Saqqa tied for eighth at the Regional, and lone senior Natalie Greene placed 10th.
Individuals: Despite three contending teams moving into Division 3 this season, this tournament will still welcome back four of last season’s top 10 finishers with Duflo joined by Byron junior Adalen Brown (third), Elk Rapids sophomore Piper Smith (tied for fourth) and Fowler senior Noelle Krepps (seventh). Duflo, Locker and Early were joined as Regional champions last week by Piper, Krepps, Cass City senior Lindsey Langenburg and Napoleon junior Katelyn Ault.
PHOTO Detroit Country Day’s Halle Heineman lines up a putt during last season’s Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
Spring Lake Can't Be Caught in 3-Peat
October 15, 2016
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
BATTLE CREEK – Only one team could beat Spring Lake at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 girls golf tournament Saturday at Bedford Valley Golf Course.
That team was Spring Lake.
The Lakers fired a 343 on the first day to take a 13-stroke lead into the final round Saturday. In that final round, four of Spring Lake’s five players bettered their first-day score and another tied her Friday round as the Lakers sliced 24 strokes off their first-day score with a 319 to finish with a two-day total of 662.
Spring Lake’s winning margin was 35 strokes fewer than Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (697) but not nearly the rout of a year ago when the Lakers edged the runner-up team by 70 strokes.
It was the third consecutive title for Spring Lake, which became the first Division 3 team in MHSAA history to win three straight championships. The MHSAA Lower Peninsula tournament moved to four divisions from two classes in 1999, and prior to that, Grosse Ile won three in a row from 1996-98 in the Class B-C-D meet.
“Spring Lake has had only one other team win a state championship, and that was girls cross country, so to be a part of a team that won three consecutive state titles is something special,” said Spring Lake senior Anna Kramer, who tied for medalist honors but lost in a playoff to Pontiac Notre Dame Prep sophomore Danielle Staskowski.
Kramer, the reigning Division 3 individual champion, led Spring Lake with rounds of 78 and 75 for a two-day total of 153. Junior Madelyn Nelson was next with rounds of 89 and 79 for a 168 total. Her 10-shot improvement from the first day was the largest for Spring Lake.
“I think it was just first-day nerves,” Nelson said, “and my putting was a lot better (Saturday).”
Sophomore Hannah Klein, who had an eight-stroke improvement over the first round and finished 89-81 for a 170, echoed the feeling about first-day nerves.
“There were a lot of people watching, and I had to get used to it,” said Klein, the only sophomore on the team. “We were really focused on winning, and every shot counted. I felt like every shot had to be amazing to be able to pull out the win.”
Two other seniors rounded out the five players who took the course for Spring Lake. Jackie Olszewski duplicated rounds of 87 but did it in a strange fashion. She had 39 on the first nine and 48 on the second nine the first day and then flipped them on the second day with 48 on the front and 39 on the back.
“I went through a bad streak both days,” Olszewski said. “I had five or six terrible holes, and then I had to make it up. I just told myself to forget about it and do my best because I couldn’t change what had happened.”
While Olszewski’s 87 counted the first day, it wasn’t needed the second day as fellow senior Jaedyn Shelton went from 93 on Friday to 84 on Saturday.
“I’ve worked really hard over the years to get to this point, and it feels really good,” she said. “We all didn’t have great rounds on Friday, but we all improved, and that is what we were looking to do.
“For me, there were a lot of nerves, because it was my first time at states, so I was worked up, and I think that’s how everybody felt.”
Everybody, including coach George Bitner, whose extensive background brings plenty of experience while his grandfatherly nature brings comfort and confidence.
“This is like having six daughters,” said Bitner, who has coached girls golf at Spring Lake since 1980 and also coaches boys golf. He also has coached junior high football, track & field and wrestling, and he said it all adds up to 87 seasons.
“To win a state title, you have to have the talent,” Bitner said. “The results are what I like. It shows that I am getting through to them. The girls listen better than the boys, they drink more water than the boys, and they stick together and do things together. They are an unbelievable group of girls.”
Bitner calls Kramer “The Franchise” for obvious reasons.
“Anna is a practice-aholic,” he said. “She will come out of the clubhouse and go to the putting green for 30 minutes, go to the chipping area and sand for 20, go up for an hour on the driving range and then go back to the clubhouse, but first she spends another 30 or 40 minutes on the putting green. That’s her routine every day, and the other girls follow it.”
Although the Lakers won their third MHSAA Finals title, the day finished on a disappointing ending for Kramer. On the first playoff hole, Kramer ran a long putt well past the hole and three-putted as Staskowski parred the hole for the individual title.
“It’s tough to three-putt in a playoff,” Kramer said. “I read the putt fine. One of my friends came up to me after and said she had that putt Friday and you can’t tell how fast it is, and it just flew by the hole.”
Staskowski, who opened with an 80 on Friday, improved to 73 on Saturday to force the playoff. She was in the same pairing as Kramer, and they were tied after 12 holes and matched each other the rest of the way to set up the playoff on the par-5 No. 16.
“I love playoffs,” Staskowski said. “All my life when I have practice putting I will say to myself, ‘This is for the state championship,’ and then, there I was, standing over a putt that was for the state championship.”
Staskowski, who finished fourth last year, drilled the 4-foot putt right into the hole, and she said she knew she had it the moment she hit it. She chipped just short of the green with her third shot, while Kramer was on the green but was facing a very long putt.
“I felt like I could get the chip up there and then get it to the hole so I would have an easy putt,” Staskowski said. “I hit that putt maybe 50 times on the putting green, so when I stood over it, I was like, ‘You made 50 of these. You’ve got it,’ and then I hit the putt.”
Staskowski had parred the hole Friday and birdied it Saturday prior to the playoff.
“I started my round off with four bogeys (Saturday), and then I didn’t have a single bogey coming in,” she said. “I made three birdies, and once I got to the place where I felt like I was playing well, it just didn’t go away.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Spring Lake's golfers and coach hold up their third straight MHSAA championship trophy. (Middle) Plainwell's Madison Tran watches one of her approach shots. (Below) Pontiac Notre Dame Prep's Danielle Staskowski. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)