#TBT: Warner's 136 Tops Leaderboard

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

September 4, 2014

Shannon Warner became a high school golf legend at Livonia Churchill with back-to-back MHSAA Finals championships during the springs of 2006 and 2007. 

Few since have approached her incredible scores shot during those title runs at Michigan State University. 

Warner's two-round 136 at Forest Akers East in the 2006 Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final remains the lowest 36-hole Finals score in MHSAA history, one stroke better than Whitehall's Laura Kueny on that same course in LP Division 3 in 2005. Warner's score also remains five strokes lower than the next lowest in LP Division 1 and Class A history, scores of 141 shot by Rochester's Amy Meier in 2008 and Grandville's Stacy Snider in 1998. Warner's rounds of 67 and 69 in 2006 rank first and tied for third, respectively, in LP Division 1 Finals history for 18 holes. 

An individual Finals qualifier in 2006, Warner won by 11 strokes over Meier, Lake Orion's Darby Peters and Grand Blanc's Ashley Bauer. Warner also was an individual qualifier in 2007 when she shot a 145 at Forest Akers West to best Meier by five strokes. Warner's 145 ranks as the fifth-lowest 36-hole Finals score in LP Division 1/Class A history. She then made the 2007 fall Finals with her team (the first LP Girls Golf Finals played in the fall), tying for fifth.

Warner played her first three collegiate seasons at Michigan State University and finished her college career in 2012 at Eastern Michigan University, earning first-team all-Mid-American Conference honors as a senior. She won the Golf Association of Michigan Women's Championship in 2013 and made the match play semifinals of the GAM Women's Amateur Championships last month. 

PHOTO: Livonia Churchill's Shannon Warner, then a sophomore, watches a shot during the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final at Forest Akers East. 

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.

Cedarville/DeTour's McKenna Smith follows an approach shot. “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.”

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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.)