Preview: One More Swing at History
October 17, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A year ago, many eyes turned to the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final as Muskegon Mona Shores attempted, and completed, a quest to become the first in Lower Peninsula history to win four straight girls golf team championships.
Many will be watching Division 2 again this weekend as Okemos' Elle Nichols attempts to become only the second in the Lower Peninsula to win three consecutive individual titles.
That's obviously one of the most significant storylines heading into this weekend, but every Final has more than a few. Below are contenders to watch and the stories behind their successes so far. Play begins Friday morning and finishes Saturday afternoon. Click for more information including all qualifiers and Regional results.
Division 1 at Michigan State’s Forest Akers West
Top ranked: No.1 Troy, No. 2 Plymouth, No. 3 Saline.
Plymouth won its first MHSAA team championship in 2012; could this weekend be Troy’s turn to do the same? The Colts have been in the hunt before but never finished among the top two at a Final. Saline’s best player now was its third-best in 2010 when her team won its most recent of three MHSAA titles.
Troy: The Colts are favored to win their first MHSAA championship after missing the Finals completely a year ago – although senior Amanda McCafferty played on the team that finished fifth in Division 1 in 2011. She and all four teammates shot 90 or better and posted the best Regional score (333 at Dearborn Country Club) in Division 1, with sophomore Naomi Kim (78) placing fifth and sophomore Jennifer Cui (79) sixth individually.
Plymouth: The reigning champ comes into the weekend with three of its top five from last season’s championship run – junior Sydney Murphy, sophomore Katie Chipman and senior Kayla Whatley – and all three finished among the top eight individuals at the Regional at the University of Michigan. The Wildcats were ranked 10th only two weeks ago, but shot the second-lowest Regional score (335) in Division 1.
Saline: The Hornets finished second to Plymouth at the U-M Regional, but by only four strokes and should be similarly dangerous this weekend. Regional medalist Emily White, a senior, tied for sixth at last season’s Finals in leading Saline to a seventh-place team finish. Sophomore Samantha Kellstrom and senior Stacy Cruze followed White as the next best shooters during that Finals run, and they finished third and 18th, respectively, at last week’s Regional.
Other individuals of note: Holt’s Pader Her finished just four strokes off the individual lead at last season's Final. She shot a 69 at her Regional last week at East Kentwood to win by seven strokes over the Falcons’ Sarah White, who tied with Saline’s White and Grosse Pointe South’s Lily Pendy for sixth at last season’s Final. Grosse Pointe South certainly could be in the hunt as a team, led by seniors Pendy and Tenley Shield, who finished first and tied for third, respectively, at the Dearborn Regional; Shield finished fifth at last season’s Final. Troy Athens senior Jennifer Yang, Ann Arbor Skyline freshman Jamie Laude and Dearborn junior Elayna Bowser joined all of those players in shooting 76 or better at Regionals.
Division 2 at Michigan State’s Forest Akers East
Top ranked: No. 1 Birmingham Seaholm, No. 2 South Lyon, No. 3 Okemos.
Seaholm was the last team to win a Division 2 title before Mona Shores won the last four keyed by an incredible class that graduated in the spring. South Lyon and Okemos are ranked next, and both are seeking their first finishes among the top two at an MHSAA Final.
Reigning individual champion: Elle Nichols, Okemos.
Birmingham Seaholm: Strength throughout the lineup and consistency make Seaholm tough to catch off its game; the Maples finished fourth at the 2012 Final despite no individuals among the top 10, and four of those players will be starting again this weekend. All five from this season’s lineup finished among the top 11 at the Regional at Holly’s Heather Highlands, led by senior Megan Lam and sophomore Jordan Michalak shooting 80 and tying for third. Lam missed the individual top 10 at last season’s Final by only four strokes.
South Lyon: Two starters are back from last season’s team that tied for fifth at the Final, and they were two of the team’s top shooters as it carded a 329 to win the Regional at Ypsilanti’s Pine View Golf Course by 51 strokes. Three-year starters Caroline Harding (a junior) and Allison Ranusch (a senior) finished first and fourth, respectively, individually at the Regional, and all five in the lineup finished among the top eight (sophomore Priscilla Harding followed Caroline among the team’s best, in third place).
Okemos: With another individual win this weekend, senior Elle Nichols can join Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Katie Loy (1993-95) as the only three-time Finals champions in Lower Peninsula girls golf history. Nichols won a three-player tie-breaker to claim the title last year, when she led the Chieftains to third place as a team along with returnees Sydney Williams and Jessica Kim among others. All five of this season's starters finished among the top 20 at the Regional at Mason’s El Dorado, with champion Nichols followed by tied-for-sixth senior Carly Bullock.
Other individuals of note: One more from last season’s top 10 also will play this weekend; Fenton senior Samantha Moss finished fourth at the Final and is coming off the Regional title at Heather Highlands. Midland Dow senior Kharissa Carras shot a 75 to win her Regional at Midland’s Currie West, and Traverse City Central junior Amelia Pazetti finished only one stroke back at that tournament.
Division 3 at The Meadows at Grand Valley State
Top ranked: No. 1 Detroit Country Day, No. 2 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood, No. 3 Grand Rapids South Christian.
Given its prowess in other sports, it might surprise to find out Country Day has never won an MHSAA girls golf championship – although the Yellowjackets, in tying for third, came within four strokes of earning their first last season. Runner-up Cranbrook-Kingswood was only two strokes back of champion Forest Hills Eastern, and South Christian usually is in the hunt – the Sailors have finished first or second in five of the last seven Division 3 Finals.
Detroit Country Day: The top three and fifth shooter from last season’s close Finals call all are back in the lineup this weekend, led by senior Ellie Miller – who tied for seventh individually and was runner-up at last week’s Regional at Pontiac’s Fieldstone. The other three returnees from 2012 – senior Monika Hedni, junior Nicole Junn and sophomore Simran Brar – all finished among the top 11 at the Regional as Country Day edged Cranbrook-Kingswood by a stroke.
Cranbrook-Kingswood: The Cranes obviously hope to reverse that Regional finish and also return to the Final with heavy hitters in senior Greer Clausen and junior Cordelia Chan – Chan tied for second individually last season and Clausen was sixth. Chan won the Regional at Fieldstone and Clausen was third, with all five in the lineup tying for 21st or better.
Grand Rapids South Christian: Only one starter is back from the team that finished sixth in Division 3 in 2012. But senior Megan Wierenga was the team’s low scorer last season and also was a starter on the runner-up team in 2011. She won the Regional at Byron Center’s Railside Country Club by a stroke, with senior Grace Elenbaas tying for seventh and sophomore Nicole Hoekwater tying for ninth.
Others individuals of note: Forest Hills Eastern junior Henna Singh is the lone holdover from last season’s MHSAA champion team, and she was the leader of that group coming in fifth individually. She won the Regional at Cedar Springs’ Cedar Chase by four strokes last week. Hastings senior Kylie Nemetz tied for seventh individually at the 2012 Final and is back as an individual qualifier. She and senior teammate Katie Brown both finished among the top seven at Railside.
Division 4 at Battle Creek’s Bedford Valley
Top ranked: No. 1 Flint Powers Catholic, No. 2 Grosse Ile, No. 3 Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian.
After failing to make the Finals last season, Flint Powers is the favorite to unseat three-time reigning champion Lansing Catholic, to which the Chargers finished runner-up in 2011. Grosse Ile is playing for its third title in five seasons – the Red Devils won Division 4 in 2009 and Division 3 in 2011 – and NorthPointe is seeking its first top-two Finals finish after missing second place by three strokes last season.
Flint Powers: Senior Kristen Wolfe did make last season’s Final as an individual qualifier and missed the top 10 by two strokes. She finished second at the Regional at Bay City Country Club, with senior Morgan Zloto third and junior Reanna Barth tied for sixth. Zloto joined Wolfe in scoring for the 2011 team that finished second at the Final.
Grosse Ile: Back in Division 4 after also tying for third in Division 3 a year ago, Grosse Ile can boast three of its top five from that contender led by seniors Emily Bargardi and Katherine Kuzmiak. Bargardi finished second at the Regional at Grosse Ile’s West Shore Country Club, and Kuzmiak – who tied for seventh individually at the 2012 Division 3 Final – finished third at the Regional as all five Red Devils placed among the top eight.
Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian: Monica Koert finished seventh individually at last season’s Division 4 Final and leads three returning starters. She finished first and juniors Molly Antor and Allison Starr finished third and seventh, respectively, at the Regional at Eastern Hills in Kalamazoo as the team beat last season’s Finals runner-up Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Central by 11 strokes.
Other individuals of note: Lansing Catholic senior Jacqueline Setas will close out a career that’s included three team championships and three individual finishes of fourth or higher. She faced Muskegon Catholic Central’s Aya Johnson in a tie-breaker for first last season before finishing runner-up, and will be the heavy favorite to end her high school career with a medalist honor. Farwell junior Bria Colosky and Hanover-Horton senior Megan Klintworth were two of three who tied for ninth individually at last season’s Final, and both are coming off strong Regional finishes; Klintworth won at Jackson’s Cacades Golf Course, and Colosky finished runner-up at Manistee National to Maple City Glen Lake freshman Nicole Cox.
PHOTO: Okemos’ Elle Nichols poses with an MHSAA trophy after winning the individual championship at the 2011 Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final. She finished first in Division 2 last season as well. (Click to see more from High School Sports Scene.)
Preview: Sending Out Standout Seniors
October 13, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Michigan will say good-bye to an accomplished senior class during this weekend’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Girls Golf Finals.
Competing for the last time are a pair of standouts who have combined for three individual championships, more who have finished in the hunt two and three seasons, plus a number of others who have been part of multiple team championships or had their teams in contention multiple times in the past.
See below for golfers to watch at all four MHSAA Finals this weekend. Play begins at 10 a.m. both days, and come back Saturday evening for coverage of all four championship tournaments on Second Half. Click for a list of all Finals qualifiers and all Regional scores from last week.
LP Division 1 at Michigan State University’s Forest Akers East
This again is forecast as a close race. The top eight teams last season finished within 15 strokes of each other. Then-unranked Traverse City West came from fourth place and five strokes back last season to win the championship over Rochester on a fifth-player tie-breaker – and most of their lineups are back for a rematch.
Top-ranked: 1. Rochester, 2. Traverse City West, 3. Brighton.
Rochester: The Falcons have to be favorites again after shooting an incredible 289 to win their Regional at Twin Oaks in Oakland Township. All five golfers finished among the top seven individuals last week – senior Brooke Busse shot a 69 to finish first and senior Veronica Haque and freshman Savannah Haque tied for second at 72 – and Busse, Veronica Haque, senior Erica Yang and junior Keri Yang made up the top four of last year’s Finals lineup. Veronica Haque tied for fifth individually at last year's Final.
Traverse City West: The Titans haven’t surprised anyone this fall, with last year’s top four Finals scorers back in the lineup and all five at last week’s Regional at The Meadows finishing among the top 10 individuals. Sophomore Anika Dy was first with a 70 and senior Hunter Kehoe was second at 76 as West shot a 309 to win the Regional, and Dy should be in the mix for the individual medal this weekend after finishing second to Brighton's Julia Dean by a stroke in 2015.
Brighton: The Bulldogs have remained elite even without reigning Miss Golf Dean topping the lineup; she was injured before the season according to a report by the Livingston Daily Argus & Press and did not return. But sophomore Annie Pietila, junior Heather Fortushniak and sophomore Autumn Blaney also were in the lineup at last season’s Final when the team finished ninth. Brighton repeated as Regional champion at Hartland Glen shooting a 314 with Pietila the individual medalist at 71 and Fortushniak third at 76 as all five players finished 14th or better. The Bulldogs finished second by a stroke to No. 8 Novi at the Kensington Lakes Activities Association tournament Monday and will have no problem playing with the best.
Other individuals of note: All but one of the 11 players who finished tied for 10th or higher are back. Lake Orion senior Moyea Russell led her team to a Regional championship at WestWynd in Oakland Township with a first-place 77, and she's coming off a tie for third at last year's Final with Rochester Hills Stoney Creek senior Lauren Ingle, who finished fourth last week at Twin Lakes behind the three Rochester leaders. Five more top-10 finishers from 2015 also are back this weekend – North Farmington junior Alana Jones, Davison senior Kamryn Johnston and Novi senior Alexa Hatz all tied for seventh last year, and Grand Blanc senior Cammi Lucia and Ann Arbor Pioneer junior Katie Mina-Lee tied for 10th. Saline junior Catherine Loftus and Farmington Hills Mercy sophomore Mia Sooch also were Regional champions last week.
LP Division 2 at The Meadows at Grand Valley State University
Top-ranked: 1. Midland Dow, 2. South Lyon, 3. St. Joseph.
After finishing second to Birmingham Seaholm by 13 strokes last season – but ahead of the rest of the field by 15 – Dow is considered the favorite after another dominating season in the mid-Michigan area. South Lyon was third and St. Joseph fifth last season and they could make this a little closer than a year ago, when Seaholm led Dow by just two strokes after the first round before breaking away.
Midland Dow: This will be the final high school run for senior Stephanie Carras, who finished second individually at last year’s Final, fourth as a sophomore and third as a freshman. She finished second at the Regional at Greenville’s Bowen Lake to junior sister Alexis Carras, who shot a 70, and senior Caroline Szabo came in fifth that day. Alexis Carras tied for third at last season’s Final, and senior Morgan Deiters, 16th at the Regional last week, also played in the Finals lineup in 2015.
South Lyon: The Lions also return three players from last season’s Finals lineup, led by junior Elizabeth Harding, who finished second at the Regional at Mason’s El Dorado and 10th in Division 2 in 2015. Junior Sophie Yergin and senior Mya Price also are back from last season, and Price is the only player in the top five graduating next spring. South Lyon won its Regional by four strokes with all five players finishing among the top 21, with Yergin next best in 10th.
St. Joseph: The Bears will bring to Allendale one of the most experienced groups in any division, with five players who got in swings at the 2015 Final (senior Kaylee Sharai and junior Katie Schmidt both played one round in the fifth spot). Sophomore Cailey Rooker, junior Maddie Wright and Sharai (tied for third) took the top three places, respectively, at the Regional at Battle Creek’s Cedar Creek last week, and Rooker finished just a stroke outside the top 10 at last year’s Final.
Other individuals of note: Muskegon Reeths-Puffer sophomore Karina VanDuinen won Division 2 last season as a freshman, edging Stephanie Carras by two strokes, and is back after helping her team to a runner-up Regional finish while finishing third individually at Muskegon Country Club. Flushing senior Kerrigan Parks was first and Bloomfield Hills Marian junior Alexandra Robb tied for third at the Flint Elks Club Regional after coming in fifth and tied for sixth, respectively, at the 2015 Final. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern sophomore Kay Zubkus was the Regional medalist in Muskegon with a 79 and Walled Lake Western senior Shana Murphy won at El Dorado with a 71. Farmington senior Elle Greenlee won the Regional at Monroe Country Club with an 83.
LP Division 3 at Battle Creek’s Bedford Valley
Top ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 2. Flint Powers Catholic, 3. Spring Lake.
Spring Lake repeated as champion last season by an incredible 70 strokes over runner-up Goodrich at Forest Akers West with a 325 first round and 336 second. But Cranbrook Kingswood finished second three straight seasons from 2012-14 and should make a run at its first title since 2006. Powers didn’t make the Final at all in 2015, but is expected to push the Cranes for a first championship since 2008.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood: Juniors Kate Cao and Carmen Chan are the only returnees from last season’s Finals five, but they tied for the Regional championship at Fieldstone in Auburn Hills with 78s as all five Cranes finished among the top 12 places last week. Cao and Chan also were starters on the team that finished Division 3 runner-up in 2014.
Flint Powers Catholic: The Chargers won their Regional at Warwick Hills in Grand Blanc ahead of No. 4 Pontiac Notre Dame Prep and No. 5 Goodrich, placing four among the top eight and all five among the top 15. Although Powers missed the Finals last fall, seniors Madison Zloto, Lizzy Marlinga and Ameila Gavulic all started for the team that finished eighth in Division 4 in 2014.
Spring Lake: A team that got a taste of winning big at last year’s Final also did so last week at the Regional at White Lake in Whitehall, finishing 56 strokes ahead of the field with senior Anna Kramer taking first, junior Madelyn Nelson and senior Jaedyn Shelton tying for second and all five golfers finishing among the top 11. Kramer is the reigning individual Division 3 Final champion, and she also took second as a sophomore and fourth as a freshman.
Other individuals of note: Four more top-10 finishers from last season will join Kramer again this weekend. Notre Dame Prep sophomore Danielle Staskowski was fourth at the 2015 Final and won the Regional last week at Warwick Hills, where she was followed in second by Goodrich senior Sydni Harding – who also followed Staskowski in fifth last season at Forest Akers West. Detroit Country Day senior Mallika Brar was eighth last season and finished third at Fieldstone, and Plainwell senior Madison Tran was ninth last year and won last week’s Regional at Marshall Country Club. Hastings senior Jackie Nevins also comes into this weekend as a Regional champion after winning by six strokes at Stonewater in Caledonia, and Adrian senior Ashley Rincon won her Regional at Hankerd Hills in Pleasant Lake by two strokes.
LP Division 4 at Michigan State University’s Forest Akers West
Top-ranked: 1. Macomb Lutheran North, 2. Kalamazoo Hackett, 3. Livonia Ladywood.
Hackett has claimed the last two Division 4 championships and is expected to be in the mix again this weekend – although last season’s runner-up Lutheran North is the favorite. Those two cleared the rest of the field last year by 29 strokes – Hackett by 38, winning by nine – but the standings could be closer this time with more experienced standouts returning.
Macomb Lutheran North: All three players who finished among the individual top 10 at last season’s Final are back to lead the lineup this weekend after Lutheran North won the Regional at Heather Hills in Romeo by 20 strokes over Ladywood. Senior Sydney Martens won the Regional, while junior Serena Nguyen was third and sophomore Kaity Rittner was sixth as all five players placed among the top nine. Nguyen was fourth, Martens ninth and Rittner 10th at last season’s Final at Forest Akers East.
Kalamazoo Hackett: Similar to Lutheran North, Hackett brings back a powerful trio from 2015. Senior Naomi Keyte won the Regional at Silver Lake Country Club in Rockford, with junior Molly Clark third and sophomore Emily Stull fourth. Keyte was third and Stull tied for sixth at last year’s Final, and Stull was ninth as a freshman in 2014 with Keyte joining her in that championship lineup as well.
Livonia Ladywood: The Blazers bring back four players this weekend who helped the team finish fourth a year ago – and 26 strokes ahead of third-place and No. 6-ranked Almont at the Regional last week. Seniors Jordyn Rioux (second place) and Lydia Cranmer (fourth), junior Gabriella Scopone (ninth) and sophomore Evelyn Kruger (15th) carded scores at the Regional and were in the Finals lineup last year as well, Rioux missing the individual top 10 at Forest Akers East by a stroke.
Other individuals of note: Reigning champion Nichole Cox from Maple City Glen Lake will be playing her final high school event of a career that also has included the Division 4 championship as a sophomore and a third place as a freshman. Similarly, Frankenmuth’s Meg Watkins will cap her career after finishing second last season and sixth as both a sophomore and freshman. Cox shot a 79 at Manistee Country Club last week to win that Regional by eight strokes, and Watkins won her Regional by six strokes with an 85 at Brookside in Gowen. Lansing Catholic senior Abigail Meder won her Regional at Glenbrier in Perry, and Brooklyn Columbia Central sophomore Alissa Fish was the medalist at Devil’s Lake in Manitou Beach.
PHOTO: Lansing Catholic’s Abigail Meder attempts to send her ball out of the rough on the way to winning the Alma Invitational in September. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)