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.)
Seaholm Seniors Say Bye With Another Win
October 17, 2015
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
BATTLE CREEK – As the Birmingham Seaholm girls golf team gathered Saturday in the clubhouse of the Bedford Valley Golf Course, the body language of the girls suggested they might not have played well.
They were somber. They hugged. They cried. However, they actually played well enough to win their third consecutive Lower Peninsula Division 2 championship, and the emotion they were showing was the sadness of losing 11 seniors to graduation, including three who played this weekend.
“It was more sadness that it was the end of their high school careers,” said Seaholm coach Cathie Fritz, a co-coach along with Leon Braisted.
Seaholm’s fourth MHSAA championship came with a score of 664, 13 strokes ahead of runner-up Midland Dow and 28 ahead of third-place South Lyon. But it was closer than scores made it appear.
After play Friday, the leaderboard was quite jumbled as four teams were within 13 strokes of first-day leader Seaholm (335). Midland Dow was second (337), St. Joseph third (344), South Lyon fourth (347) and Okemos fifth (348).
Seaholm senior Allegra Cunningham explained the team’s strategy going into the second day with a slim lead.
“We did not have a score in mind,” she said. “We had a goal of just beating the girls in our group, or at least staying as close to them as possible so nobody could get too far away.
“My sophomore year we came back from 17 down to win by one, so every shot seriously counts, and we just focused on the notion that everything counts.”
Seaholm’s second-day score of 329 was at least 11 strokes better than the rest of the field, and senior Catherine Markley led the way with a 79 after a first-day 85.
“I was just hoping to do better than yesterday, and I didn’t expect to do this well, so I’m really proud of myself,” Markley said. “This was a roller-coaster of emotion, especially at the end.
“I was so nervous to finish, but at the same time I knew it was my last hole of high school golf, so it was really emotional, but I’m really excited that it ended so well.”
Cunningham, who delivered back-to-back rounds of 82, had high praise for Markley.
“Our team really pulled it together, and Catherine Markley, she’s MVP,” Cunningham said. “She had 79 and everybody played amazing. We could not be happier with how the girls played today.”
Seaholm’s steady scoring was the ticket to the title. The eight scores used toward their total ranged between 79 and 89. In addition to the scores by Cunningham and Markley, Jordan Michalak had 80 and 79 to lead the team with a 159 total, and Hailey Roovers added rounds of 88 and 89.
“We have focused this season in getting the girls to think in the here and not look ahead or behind at previous holes,” Fritz said. “They were really in the here and now, and that made a huge difference.”
Seaholm also used Cate Joelson on Friday and Emma Whittington on Saturday, but neither figured in the top-four scoring. Joelson said watching on Saturday was tougher than playing on Friday.
“You’re kind of biting your nails watching your teammates and hoping for them to do well,” she said.
Michalak’s effort was good enough to earn her a tie for third place individually, but she was left with a feeling of frustration after a triple bogey on her final hole. A par would have put her in a playoff for the individual championship.
“I had a bad last hole of high school golf, but that’s OK. I still finished great and it was enough to be top three,” she said. “I was so overwhelmed with emotion, both good and bad, and the tears were definitely flowing.
“I knew that it was close, and I was a little bit worried. But then I came in and it really didn’t matter, and everyone else was pleased with their own scores.”
The individual MHSAA championship went to Muskegon Reeths-Puffer freshman Karina VanDuinen, who followed a first-day 82 with a 74 to edge Stephanie Carras of Midland Dow by two strokes. VanDuinen sat in the front row as the scores were put on the big board one by one.
“It was harder watching than it was playing,” she said shortly after learning that she had won the championship. “I’m trying not to cry right now, and I’m just shaking.”
VanDuinen is just 14 years old, and she has been playing golf for just three years. Her parents, Mike and Christa, knew immediately that she was gifted in golf.
“She was in the high 90s in her first week, and the second week she was in the 80s, and it went from there,” her father said.
VanDuinen won the regional with a 71 but soared to a first-day 82 at the MHSAA Final, leaving her five strokes off the pace going into the final day. It was a deficit she knew she could overcome, but she also knew it wasn’t going to be easy.
“I knew if I shot low enough there was a chance, but I didn’t think I was actually going to do it,” said VanDuinen, who had a second-day 74. “I thought I needed to shoot 72, so I didn’t think it was going to be good enough.
“My drives and putting were definitely good, though.”
VanDuinen’s parents said the difference between Friday and Saturday was simple: Putting.
“Her putts weren’t falling Friday like they did today,” her mother said.
“I actually think she hit the ball better Friday than she did today, but she made the putts today,” her father said.
VanDuinen started her second round with five pars and a birdie through the first six holes and went on from there to win. As a freshman, she has the opportunity to win four MHSAA Finals titles, but she knows that won’t be easy.
“I’m going to try,” she said, “but right now, one time is good enough for me.”
Portage Northern senior Morgan Janke-Wolff had a highlight of her own with an eagle on the par-5, 378-yard fourth hole. She chipped in from about 10 yards off the green.
PHOTOS: (Top) Birmingham Seaholm poses with its MHSAA championship trophy Saturday at Bedford Valley. (Middle) Seaholm’s Hailey Roovers follows through on an approach shot. (Below) Muskegon Reeths-Puffer freshman Karina VanDuinen unloads a shot on her way to the individual title. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)