GR Catholic Central Dominates in Repeat, O'Grady Pulls Away for Medalist Honor

By Tom Lang
Special for MHSAA.com

October 19, 2024

BATTLE CREEK – It was tough enough for the competition to gain ground on defending champion Grand Rapids Catholic Central with its massive lead after shooting a first-round 331 on Friday.

Then the Cougars did even better in Saturday’s final round with a 321 to blitz the field in the Lower Peninsula Division 3 girls golf championship, played at Bedford Valley Golf Club.

Catholic Central finished with a two-day total of 652, well ahead of runner up Detroit Country Day, which had 717 strokes. Williamston, the team runner-up last year, recorded a 722 for third place, and Goodrich, which came in ranked No. 2, took fourth place at 727 ahead of Grand Rapids South Christian at 730.

GRCC coach Kim Napieralski, who also coaches the successful boys’ team in the spring, said winning by such wide margins – like the team’s 34-stroke win at its Regional (in a single round) – does not get boring.

“Truly, it doesn’t matter how much you win by, it’s how well the girls played,” she said. “The score is going to be there if the girls all play well. Every shot has to be played well.”

Both Napieralski and junior Kelsey Preston admitted there was some serious focus needed to complete the repeat.

“We knew we had a job to do,” Napieralski said. “Winning last year was the first in school history for our girls golf team. Winning this year for back-to-back is really something else. It was awesome to be able to do that, but we went into it very humble. We knew we had a good team, but we don’t have anyone that goes super low, so we all have a good solid score. That’s what was important. Every shot. Day one we did well. Day two, we have to do the same thing. It’s not ‘sit back and relax.’ It’s go all the way.

Grand Rapids Christian’s Lillian O’Grady lines up a putt.“The coaches make sure they stay humble,” she added with a laugh. “Since we have no individuals who go super low, they all know we have a job to do, and all have to perform on the same day.”

Preston – if that name is familiar, she’s the younger sister of the reigning 2024 Mr. Golf, Will – led the team with an 81-76-157, good for third place individually.

“I think it’s great we were able to put this together and go back-to-back,” Preston said. “We’ve been working for this even since last season – and I’m very proud of our team and everything we’ve accomplished.”

Preston said it was hard to avoid the conversation of successfully repeating after the program’s first championship.

“It was definitely hard – we mentioned it quite a few times and some people were saying don’t jinx us,” she said. “But I just think the confidence really helped us get to where we are today.”

She agreed the team was able to react humbly in practice and in spirit, giving credit to parents, the school culture and, “Our coaches kept us in check, from over-celebrating and that being overly-confident could get us into bad situations.

“This was definitely a team effort, and everyone contributed,” Preston said. “It wasn’t just one person. It’s really huge for our school winning the title last year and making it here for back-to-back.”

Also scoring for the Cougars were senior Ava Wisinski and junior Sofia Piccione tying for seventh overall at 164 (84-80), and junior Margaret Deimel tying for 12th with 167 (82-85).

The Cougars take a team photo as champions for the second-straight season.Medalist Lillian O’Grady was the only golfer under par (-2) during the final round. She closed out a 145 (75-70) for a nine-stroke win over second place Averie Pumford of Freeland. O’Grady was the runner-up in 2023 and has one more season ahead of her at Grand Rapids Christian.

“Going into the summer I definitely grew a lot in my game, and I knew with some seniors graduating I had a pretty good chance to win this year,” O’Grady said. “I held onto that confidence all year and had a good season leading up to this weekend, so just putting it all together at the end felt good.”

Her team did not make it out of Regionals, but “I did have (teammate Kiera Bishop) here, and that was pretty great. Having the full team would have been a lot better, but it worked out. I think we were in one of the hardest Regionals, that if we’d been placed in other Regionals would we have won; but we have next year.

“This weekend I was able to hit a lot of greens,” she added. “Today I hit all 18 greens (in regulation), which I don’t think I’ve ever done before. So, it was great staying consistent with that, and my putting was good too – getting it close to the hole and making the two putts.”

At just 5-feet tall, O’Grady still packs a powerful punch, with an average drive of about 225-230 yards.

“I really work on my strength,” she said. “And if you have the right mechanics, you can hit it well no matter what size you are.”

Click for full results.

PHOTOS (Top) Grand Rapids Catholic Central’s Margaret Deimel follows a drive during Saturday’s second round at Bedford Valley. (Middle) Grand Rapids Christian’s Lillian O’Grady lines up a putt. (Below) The Cougars take a team photo as champions for the second-straight season. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)

St. Francis Sophomore Building Up to Possible Multi-Sport Championship Story

By Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com

October 7, 2022

Although there are plenty of races run on golf courses across the state, it is unlikely anyone would win both high school golf and cross country events on the same golf course.

The odds aren’t very good either that an athlete will capture an MHSAA Finals championship in both sports.

The chances must be even slimmer still for that athlete’s teams to sweep both titles in the same season.

Meet Grace Slocum, a golf and cross country standout at Traverse City St. Francis High School. Don’t bet against her work ethic and talent. Her coaches say both are second to none.

The odds of her capturing golf and cross country first place on the same golf course, winning an individual state championship in both golf and cross country in the same season and helping – if not leading – the Gladiators to team state titles in the same season cannot be calculated. 

There might not be a need to do any speculating. Her coaches and teammates can’t wait to see what she accomplishes yet this season and throughout her career. Slocum is only a sophomore. 

Her school is undergoing some re-modeling right now. A bigger trophy case perhaps should be under consideration.

She’s been accumulating hardware at golf events away from her high school team for some time. Now, she’s winning high school championships. This week, she won a golf Regional title and led her team to a second-place finish qualifying the Glads for the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Final to be played Oct. 14-15 at Grand Valley State University. St. Francis shot a 400 to trail only champion Harbor Springs – one of the strongest golf programs in the state – which finished with a 383.

Slocum finished ninth at the Finals last year as a freshman, and the Glads wound up 13th. Craig Ardery, who is in his 20th season as the St. Francis girls golf coach, is hoping his team cracks the top 10 this time.

Slocum stands next to a flag during last season’s MHSAA Girls Golf Finals. When the Golf Finals are over, veteran St. Francis cross country coach Julie Duffing will have Slocum dedicated to running – and the Glads have their eyes on a team championship again after winning LPD3 titles in 2015 and 2016. They were third last year and have ridden consecutive conference and Regional successes to the Finals every year since 2015 – the year Duffing became head coach.

That was also the year her daughter, Katelyn, was a freshman on the Glads team. Julie Duffing's role didn’t change a whole lot with the new title. Prior to joining St. Francis as an assistant track coach in 2013, she had coached at Kingsley for 17 years. The Stags regularly finished among the top 10 in boys and girls cross country during her tenure.

The last year the Glads girls did not qualify as a team for the Finals was 2014 – also the year Holly Bullough won the first of her two individual Finals championships. 

Today, the Glads are still feeling some sting from missing out on second place last year by just a few points to Kent City.

“The plan was to come back with a vengeance this year,“ said Duffing, who enjoyed a prep running career herself at Tawas and competed in track & field and cross country at Saginaw Valley State University. “Last year being third, and only two points separated second and third, was a little bitter.”

Slocum’ s twin brother, Josh, also plays golf for the Glads and runs cross country. He’s recovering from a summer injury but ran a personal record last week in his first race of the season. He was the top finisher too for the team ranked second in LPD3.

The St. Francis girls, ranked number one in LPD3, will soon have Slocum dedicated to cross country.  She’ll be with the Glads for their last three scheduled meets including the Regional in East Jordan and the Final on Nov. 5 at Michigan International Speedway.

Hart won the LPD3 girls championship last year and is currently ranked fourth. The Glads have run against the Pirates twice this season, winning one of the matchups.

Last year as a freshman, Slocum missed several cross country races but finished 29th at the Final. Sophia Rhein, despite running injured, finished 31st. Betsy Skendzel, 10th, was the Glads’ top finisher. Reilly Duffing was 52nd, Mary Masserant was 62nd and Maddie Gallagher was 84th.

Rhein is the only senior this year among the six returnees. Add stellar freshman Paige Ritchie, and the Glads are ready to contend.  Other members of the team looking to compete are senior Cora Garrey, junior Margot Haggerty, sophomores Katie Harrand and Maya Padisak, and freshmen Lucy Noggle, Olivia Padisak and Sarah Trojanowski.

“We did beat Hart at Benzie, and everybody was super excited about that,” Duffing noted. “And then we lost to them this last weekend.

“We didn’t have Grace this last weekend,” she continued. “We just didn’t have a great weekend.”

The loss to Hart can only help the Glads as they prepare for the postseason.

“I told the girls it’s OK. … Let’s have our bad races now,” Duffing said. “Let’s get them out now, and then we don’t have to worry about having another one.”

Slocum and twin bother Josh, left, are both golfing and running cross country for the Gladiators this fall. Slocum, whose favorite sport is golf, considered focusing exclusively on golf this fall. The pressures of two sports at one time with homework demands and school absences were weighing on her as the fall season began.

Duffing was prepared as the possibility was contemplated, having known Slocum for some time through her daughter’s close friendship and all the years they played hockey together. At the top of Duffing’s mind was – and is – Slocum’s happiness.

Duffing came up with a convenient plan for Slocum to follow and participate in cross country. The running Glads were thrilled with it.  As a smaller school, the coach knew the importance of flexibility for student-athletes.

“I just looked at her and said, ‘You have a spot on the team no matter what,’” Duffing said. “‘You come when you can – we’ll work with you.’

“‘You don’t golf on Saturdays,’” Duffing recalled telling Slocum. “‘So race on Saturdays, and when you can get some runs in (during) the week, great.”

Knowing Slocum would be in the Glads’ top five whether she practiced regularly or not, the team set its sights on repeating as conference champs and moving through the Regional to the Final.

“I think our job with Grace was to keep the pressure off her and keep her happy,” Duffing noted. “I want her smiling, and I want her to have fun.

“It’s a team sport with a lot of really high goals, and she is part of those,” Duffing continued. “I just want her to be a part of it.”

The two worked out a schedule for training that focused on Sunday running as all the other pieces fell in place. They lost a few Saturdays so Slocum could golf on the courses where the Regional and Final were scheduled.

Slocum will wrap up her golf season next Friday and Saturday in Allendale. She’ll then run Oct. 22 in the Northern Michigan Cross Country Championship at Gaylord – on a golf course at the Otsego Club – and then is expected to help the Glads at the Regional on Oct. 29 before going after the Finals championship.

As she moves through her high school career, Slocum likely will shatter every single golf record at her school — if she hasn’t already. She’s been the team’s top golfer since joining the program a year ago. Before her victory Tuesday, only one other St. Francis golfer had won a girls golf Regional title.

“She’s the number one golfer in my history of girls golf,” Ardery said.  “She’s hitting a bar that will be difficult for other golfers to meet.

“The girls before her know about her, and they are very pleased to have their records broken,” he continued. “It’s pretty impressive what she’s been able to do.”

Slocum is nearing the mid-point of her high school career. It would be difficult to bet against her possibly winning golf and cross country races on the same course – or team and individual Finals championships during the same season.

“She has the lowest scoring average of any golfer I’ve coached, and she’s only a sophomore,” Ardery said. “It’s real early in the story.”

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) Grace Slocum (908) and Traverse City St. Francis teammate Grace Skendzel round a corner during a race this fall. (Middle) Slocum stands next to a flag during last season’s MHSAA Girls Golf Finals. (Below) Slocum and twin bother Josh, left, are both golfing and running cross country for the Gladiators this fall. (Top two photos courtesy of Jessica Slocum; bottom photo by Tom Spencer.)