Strong Finishes Vault Lumen Christi to Top
June 10, 2017
By Butch Harmon
Special for Second Half
BIG RAPIDS – After coming up three strokes short of an MHSAA title last season, the seniors on the Jackson Lumen Christi boys golf team were determined to leave Big Rapids with a championship trophy this weekend.
That determination was put to the test on both days of the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final at Katke Golf Course, home of the Ferris State University golf teams. Turning in strong scores on the back nine both Friday and Saturday, Lumen Christi finished with a two-day total of 639 strokes. Hometown contender Big Rapids took the runner-up trophy with a 647 while Grand Rapids West Catholic, a team featuring three sets of twins, placed third with a 659.
The road to the title was anything but easy for Lumen Christi. While the Titans returned four seniors from last year’s runner-up squad, they faced challenges from the beginning of the season through their final holes of this spring.
“We had four seniors on this year’s team, and that always helps having that senior leadership,” said Lumen Christi coach Dave Swartout. “What is real amazing about this group is they never quit. We started poorly on both days, but the guys just kept plugging away and plugging away and plugging away. We really played well on the second nine on both days. These were long, six-hour days, and to do what they did on the second nines was just amazing.”
Senior Logan Anuszkiewicz led the way for the Titans as he shot rounds of 75 and 78 to finish in a tie for third individually with a 153 total. The team title was the first since 2012 for Lumen Christi, and for this group of seniors it was a goal they’d had since entering high school.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Anuszkiewicz said. “Four years in a row we’ve been close, and finally we did it.”
Fellow senior Phil Stuart was a testament to Lumen Christi’s tenacity. Stuart carded rounds of 81 and 82, but the scores were hard-earned.
“I shot a nine on number one (a par four) today so I didn’t start out strong,” Stuart said. “I wasn’t about to give up, so I kept grinding for the team. We really wanted this, so we all just kept grinding.”
One of Lumen Christi’s biggest obstacles came shortly before the season began when Luke Girodat, the Titans’ number one golfer, was hit by illness.
“Luke, our number one player, came down with mononucleosis before the season, and that put a crimp in things,” Swartout said. “He shot an 83 and an 84 for us this weekend, and that was with him feeling about 70 percent. He just never quit and kept grinding.”
“We just wanted this, that was it,” Girodat said. “We lost last year when we couldn’t finish on the back nine, and we were not going to have that happen this year.”
Senior Riley Hestwood turned in rounds of 85 and 81, believing all the time in his coach and teammates.
“Coach told us to keep going and keep grinding it out,” Hestwood said. “We believed in each other and our team and just kept grinding.”
Big Rapids, playing in the shadow of its high school just up the road, improved on a third-place finish from last year and also provided itself with a tangible goal heading into next season as the team will graduate just one player.
“First off, congratulations to Lumen Christi,” said Big Rapids coach Mark Posey. “They played two good days of golf. It always hurts and stings for a while, but we hope to move up one more spot next year. We have four guys coming back for next year.”
Tait Morrissey, that lone senior, fired rounds of 79 and 85.
“We sent Tait out with a second this year after a third last year,” Posey said.
Sophomore Pierce Morrissey finished in a tie for fifth individually with rounds of 77 on both days for a 154 total.
Charlevoix senior Matt Good came away with the individual medalist honor. Like the Lumen Christi team, Good needed to grind it out both days plus one additional hole as he and Tawas junior Daniel Shattuck both carded 150s for the tournament, forcing a playoff.
On the first hole of the playoff, both Good and Shattuck reached the green in three strokes. However, Good had a 4-foot putt while Shattuck faced roughly a 30-footer. Shattuck two-putted the hole and Good drained his on the first try to win the individual title.
“I just focused on my breathing and making good swings,” Good said. “I put in a lot of hard work, and it paid off.”
That hard work included countless hours working on short putts like the one that won him the title.
“I’ve spent thousands of hours dropping down a chalk line and practicing those 4-footers,” Good said.
He was two strokes off the lead heading into Saturday and started the final 18 slow, but came on strong on the back nine.
“I struggled at the start today,” Good said. “I started with a double and then bogeyed the next hole. I just kept grinding and trying to hang in there all day. I just tried to hang in there both days.”
For Good, hanging in there has been the story of his high school career, as he returned to the Finals this season for the first time since his freshman year.
“I struggled the last two years,” Good said. “I worked real hard over the offseason, and I had some really big goals this year and I achieved every one of them.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Jackson Lumen Christi’s Luke Girodat follows a shot during Saturday’s Division 3 Final. (Middle) Charlevoix’s Matt Good watches his approach on the way to winning the individual title. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
McGuire Emerges from Cancer, Amputation to Return to Golf Course, Soccer Pitch
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
June 3, 2022
A lot has happened since Dan Alto and MacKale McGuire first met eight years ago around the game of golf.
Alto was helping out at the Cadillac Country Club. McGuire was playing there in the junior golf program.
Today, Alto coaches golf at Cadillac High School, and McGuire serves as the captain preparing to lead the Vikings into the MHSAA Finals next weekend.
“Mac is an extremely polite, determined young man,” Alto said. “He is an outstanding student, which will serve him well as he attends college and pursues a career.
“With his work ethic, I have no doubt that Mac is going to find great success in whatever he decides to do.”
McGuire has plans to play golf at the next level as he moves on to Kalamazoo College in the fall.
Many might assume the last few years that have passed since Alto and McGuire first met have been a struggle — but not McGuire.
His left leg was amputated above the knee four years ago after a battle with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer.
McGuire is now preparing to walk at commencement. He looks back and sees only a varsity golfer, soccer player and theatre performer ready to take on the world.
“I just consider myself another person,” said McGuire, known as Mac to many. “I guess everyone has their differences.
“I guess mine is a more apparent kind of thing.”
McGuire learned to walk again with a prosthetic leg. He returned to golfing almost immediately and eventually played soccer and mastered downhill skiing. He’s been cancer free for more than five years.
When he steps on the golf course every day, he wants his teammates, coaches and opponents to see nothing more than a golfer. He’s seen all kinds of reactions to what others call a disability.
There’s no need to be politically correct around McGuire. In fact, he’d prefer you not be.
“Personally it (political correctness) just feels weird,” he said. “Just say it and get it over with.”
McGuire holds down the third golfing spot for the Vikings. He’s ready for some tough competition at the Finals after Cadillac qualified with a third-place finish at their Lower Peninsula Division 2 Regional.
“Mac is the kind of teammate coaches love,” said Alto, who with Brandon Bailey took over the Vikings golf program just as COVID-19 canceled the 2020 season. “He offers to drive younger teammates to practice when needed.
“He is never late for practice and leads by example … (and) always is happy for teammates that play well, even if he doesn't.”
McGuire’s tee shots get plenty of distance, but it’s the green game where he shines.
“I would say his true strength would be on the putting green,” Alto said. “He does a nice job of making the 5 to 6-foot putts that can save a round, and rarely three putts.”
Alto said McGuire is much more focused on his team’s success than his own.
“Like all golfers he wants to shoot a low score, but I get the feeling he wants to play well in order to help our team achieve goals more so than individual accolades,” Alto pointed out.
As a youngster, McGuire played a lot of soccer, basketball and golf. He really didn’t think soccer would be in his future when he made the decision to have his leg amputated in a Florida hospital.
“When I had the amputation, I didn’t even think it was a possibility I’d be able to play soccer,” he said. “I didn’t think soccer was in the question.”
He served as team manager for the Vikings’ JV soccer squad is sophomore season. One day, he was given the chance to play in a game.
“The coach just randomly told me to get out there and start playing,” he recalled. “I found out it was something I actually could do if I decided to work at it.
“I was able to play varsity my senior year.”
Paul King, who took over the Vikings boys soccer program in 2021, had met McGuire before he entered high school. He’s thrilled he had a chance to coach him on the soccer field.
“Mac isn't ever going to let his disability be an excuse,” King said. “He pushes himself to be better every day at practice, and he encourages others to do the same.
“If he gets beat, he never blames it on his disability. He just works harder so that it doesn't happen again.”
McGuire’s competitive nature has served him well, his coaches note.
“Mac is extremely competitive,” Alto said. “He puts in as much – or more – work as anyone on the team.
“He has a very strong desire to play well.”
Growing up with two younger brothers, McCoy and MacGill, has fueled the Cadillac senior’s competitive fire.
“It is who I am. I have two younger brothers I have to beat at everything,” McGuire said. “I have a love for competing, no matter what it is.”
The competitive drive will serve well as he heads off to K College, King said.
“Mac has been through a lot,” King said. “If he can overcome cancer, I don't see anything slowing Mac down.
“I am so proud of him and consider myself lucky for having the chance to get to coach him and get to know the amazing person he is.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. 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) MacKale McGuire prepares for a throw-in during a Cadillac soccer game. (Middle) McGuire sends a shot toward the green. (Below) Cadillac celebrates advancing to this season’s LPD2 Final. From left: Brandon Bailey, Davin Brown, MacKale McGuire, Ben Drabik, Noah Traviss, Harry Chipman, Conner Putman, Dan Alto and Mike McGuire. (Action photos courtesy of Paul King. Golf team photo courtesy of the Cadillac Country Club.)