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.)
Work Begins Again for Reigning Champ West
August 18, 2016
By Dennis Chase
Special for Second Half
TRAVERSE CITY – Kristen Nolan is trying to avoid putting undue pressure on her Traverse City West golf team.
So talk about defending an MHSAA Division 1 championship has been kept to a minimum during the preseason.
“I don’t want my girls going into (the season) too confident because that can also be a negative,” the seventh-year coach said. “I want them focusing on individual goals instead of that full team goal of winning states again. As long as each player is working on their personal goals, the rest (will take care of itself).”
The unranked Titans pulled a surprise a year ago, edging first-day leader and tournament favorite Rochester in a tiebreaker to claim the Lower Peninsula D1 title.
Ironically, neither team had a senior in the lineup.
West returns its core group of Anika Dy, Hunter Kehoe, Grace Ellul, Madison McCall and Grace Warren. Dy, now a sophomore, finished runner-up for the individual title. She was one stroke back of medalist Julia Dean of Brighton.
Dy competed in an American Junior Golf Association tournament at Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club this week and missed the Titans’ season-opening tournament, the Bob Lober Classic at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa.
Dy missed a couple early tournaments last year as well, but when she returned to the lineup the Titans went on a roll, cruising to Big North Conference and Regional crowns en route to the MHSAA Finals championship.
“We got into a groove,” Ellul, a senior co-captain, said. “Hopefully, we can do the same this year.”
Most of the Titans spent considerable time on the links this summer, taking lessons and playing in several tournaments, notably in the Traverse City Junior Golf Association program.
“I highly encourage it,” Nolan said. “The girls love playing in it. It’s a little more low-key, not as competitive as high school golf, but it prepares them.”
Kehoe, also a senior co-captain, agreed.
“It allows us to focus and work on our games,” she said. “It’s a huge advantage coming into the fall.”
That focus has not shifted now that the high school campaign has arrived.
“We all have personal goals” Kehoe said. “Kristen does not want us to worry about going back to states and repeating what we did. She just wants us to work on our own games each and every tournament throughout the season.”
For Kehoe, who shot the Titans’ second-lowest score at the Finals last season, that means improving her approach to the game.
“I’m working on course management, really dialing in on target control,” the 17-year-old said. “I consistently shot 80 or low 80s last year. My goal is to be consistently in the 70s this year.”
Ellul, the Titans’ third-lowest scorer at the Finals, is stressing her mental outlook on the course.
“I get down on myself, get nervous, and it can ruin my game,” she said. “I need to learn to stay positive when I’m playing, not put myself down.”
Nobody was putting the Titans down last October when they rallied to win at The Meadows at Grand Valley State University.
West was in fourth place, five shots behind Rochester, after the opening day. But all five Titans golfers came back with lower rounds on the second day to give the school its first MHSAA girls golf title.
“Going into states our goal was top five,” Kehoe said. “We obviously knew there were a lot of good teams there. We did not expect to win it all. That was a huge surprise. It was amazing.”
After finishing their rounds, the Titans gathered in the clubhouse, away from the hubbub outside.
“We knew it was close,” Kehoe said. “All the parents were outside watching the scoreboard. We sat inside, too excited, too scared, to go outside and look.”
“It was nerve-wracking,” Ellul added. “We were trying to not get our hopes up, but we had to. When we found out we had won, it was crazy.”
Kehoe’s younger brother, Murphy, is the one who informed the team of its triumph.
“We walked out and immediately started crying and hugging our parents,” Kehoe recalled. “It was super surreal.”
How close was it? West and Rochester tied at 685, forcing officials to go to each team’s fifth golfer’s score over the tournament. Warren’s two-day 193 beat her rival’s to give West the title.
It kicked off a celebration that spilled over into the weekend and the following Monday at school when all of West’s sports teams held a reception for the champs in the school’s common area.
The team later custom-designed their own championship rings, which were presented at halftime of a boys basketball game.
“Thinking back on it, you forget how crazy it is to win the Division 1 state finals,” Ellul said. “Our school, and town, were so proud and supportive of us. They made it such a big deal. That was really nice.”
The Titans know they will not be able to take any team by surprise this season.
“Obviously, all eyes are on us,” Kehoe said. “We’ve been working hard this summer trying to improve our games. Our confidence is through the roof, but we’re all trying to maintain a calm, steady mindset so we don’t get too excited.”
Nolan likes what she has seen thus far.
“They definitely have that drive to try and win back-to back-state championships,” she said. “They’re definitely more eager. They’ve been putting in quite a bit of effort to get there.”
First things first, however.
“We can’t worry about an end-of-the-season result right now,” Kehoe said.
There’s work to be done.
Dennis Chase worked 32 years as a sportswriter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, including as sports editor from 2000-14. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Traverse City West hoists for the first time Oct. 17 its first MHSAA girls golf championship trophy. (Middle) Anika Dy lines up a putt during last season's Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)