Gladiators Finish Short Spring #1 Again
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
May 30, 2019
GLADSTONE – Poor weather may have limited the Ontonagon girls’ time on the golf course this spring.
But the Gladiators made any opportunities to prepare pay off as they repeated as Upper Peninsula Division 3 champions Wednesday at Irish Oaks Golf Course.
Ontonagon's girls finished with 418 strokes, followed by Cedarville at 429 and Powers North Central with 438.
"Our girls have been shooting around 105," Ontonagon coach Adam Spaulding said. "We knew what they brought to the table. We were beating some D-1 schools in our three meets. We knew we could compete.”
Three Ontonagon golfers bettered that 105, while the fourth scorer shot 108. Senior Whitney Rule led the way with a fifth-place 102.
This marked the second straight runner-up finish for the Cedarville girls.
"The girls did good today," said Cedarville coach Rob Freel. "Runner-up, we'll take that any day. We have no seniors on either team (girls or boys), which is encouraging.
“I'm real happy with how our girls played. I'm proud of all the kids."
Cedarville junior Lily Freel regained her individual title with an 85, a comfortable 12 strokes ahead of North Central sophomore Jadie Linder. Mackinac Island junior Makenna Horricks and North Central sophomore Ava Eichhorn shared third place at 100.
"There were some rough holes," said Lily Freel, who was runner-up last year after winning the tournament as a freshman in 2017. "I had quite a few bogeys. I just kept telling myself to do the best I can and focused on the next shot. I birdied the last hole on both nines. It felt great to finish strong and win it. I was kind of disappointed last year, but that just made me work harder."
Linder was happy to be runner-up after placing third a year ago.
"The last two years have gone pretty well," she said. "The back nine went pretty rough today. I struggled with my short game. I couldn't hit my irons. Then, I figured out my irons on the front nine and started feeling better about the way my game was going.
“Lily had a phenomenal round. It means a lot to me to take second."
Rock Mid-Peninsula junior Kennedy Englund, Mackinac Island sophomore Ella Cowell and Cedarville sophomore Lauren Miller all tied Rule for fifth at 102.
PHOTOS: (Top) The Ontonagon girls golf team is pictured together after winning the Upper Peninsula Division 3 title Thursday at Irish Oaks in Gladstone. (Middle) Cedarville’s Lily Freel. (Photos by Austin Hemmingson.)
Banner Day For Lutheran North Golfers
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
October 15, 2022
EAST LANSING - With his team tied with Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood after the first round of the MHSAA Division 3 Girls Golf Finals, Macomb Lutheran North coach Alex Schlump didn’t need to deliver a big pep talk to his team going into the second and last day.
Instead, it was just a simple message he’s preached to his team all year.
“The focus was to play your own game,” Schlump said of what he told his girls. “We had to be mentally stronger than everybody else and we knew we were. That’s been our strength all season long, whether it’s been playing in the rain or playing in 40-degree weather.”
That mental strength was the difference for Lutheran North, which captured its first state title since 2017 on a chilly and windy day at Forest Akers East.
After Cranbrook and Lutheran North shot identical scores of 336 on the first day, Lutheran North was six shots better on the second day, shooting a 332 to finish with a final total of 668.
Cranbrook finished as the runner-up with a final score of 674, while Grosse Ile, which entered the day three shots back, took third with a 677.
Grand Rapids South Christian (682) and Grand Rapids Catholic Central (695) rounded out the top-5.
Leading the way for Lutheran North was junior Lauren Timpf, who followed up a first round score of 70 with a 72 in the second round to finish as the medalist with a 2-under par score of 142.
“I have played this course many times, and just coming into the week, I tried to give myself as many birdie opportunities as I could,” Timpf said. “Just take advantage of the short par-5 and getting there in two. Just really playing aggressive to get those birdie opportunities.”
Flanking Timpf was sophomore Saige Rothey, who tied for 13th with a two-day total of 163 (78-85).
Grosse Ile senior Lily Bargamian was the individual runner-up, finishing seven shots behind Timpf with a 149 (75-74).
Charlotte senior Hannah Robinson was third with a 150 (75-75), while Grand Rapids Catholic Central sophomore Ava Wisinski and Grand Rapids Christian freshman Lillian O’Grady tied for fourth at 153.
The highest finisher for runner-up Cranbrook was junior Mackenzie Behnke, who tied for ninth at 160.
Cranbrook was the defending state champion, but head coach John Minnich wasn’t unhappy at all to at least come away with a runner-up trophy given he called it a rebuilding year for his squad with no seniors.
“We play in the same conference in the Catholic League that Lutheran North plays in, and we’ve played them several times this year,” Minnich said. “Every match and every tournament we’ve played with them has been neck-and-neck. To be honest, they’ve had more firepower than we’ve had all year. Our players were more consistent though. We didn’t make the big numbers. We didn’t avoid them this tournament. We made a few too many big numbers.”
In the end, that proved costly for a Lutheran North team that beat out several larger schools to win the Macomb County championship earlier in the year, and now has another state championship trophy to add to its case.
“We knew we had so many good players and talent coming back,” Schlump said. “We have a team that’s mentally strong,” he said. “That is something we knew we could do with the group of girls we had.
PHOTOS (Top) Lauren Timpf wins her second consecutive MHSAA medalist honors. (Middle) Division 3 team champions, Macomb Lutheran North. (Photos by James Traynor.)