Kennedy Repeat Keys Marian Title Sweep
October 19, 2019
By Steve Vedder
Special for Second Half
ALLENDALE – Shannon Kennedy had no trouble sleeping the night before her drive for a second MHSAA Finals title in three years.
The Bloomfield Hills Marian junior held a two-shot lead after the first round of the Lower Peninsula Division 3 championship at The Meadows. But instead of fretting over the many pitfalls which cause golfers to stumble, Kennedy promptly sealed her title Saturday with an even-par round of 73, including a clutch birdie on No. 18.
"I slept pretty well," said Kennedy after finishing with a two-day total of 143, three shots better than Flint Powers Catholic two-time all-stater Jolie Brochu. "You just have to go out and play your game. I felt like I was going to win."
Kennedy's individual championship sparked Marian to the team title, its first. The Mustangs finished with a 689, three shots better than reigning champ Powers. Marian shot a 335 the first day to lead the Chargers at that point by 11 shots.
Kennedy also had won the Division 2 championship as a freshman and finished third a year ago. She said she was confident the team would be in the hunt for a championship with a chance at upsetting a Powers team which lost only one golfer from 2018. After Marian captured the Catholic League championship late in the season, Kennedy said a whisper about winning a state crown grew into a real opportunity.
"We always knew it was a small possibility. We didn't talk too much about it until we got here and we thought, 'Hey, we can do this thing,’" she said.
Marian co-coach Cathie Fritz agreed with Kennedy that winning this weekend was a possibility. Fritz and co-coach Leon Braisted teamed up to win five Finals titles with five second-place finishes at Birmingham Seaholm until moving to Marian four years ago.
"We've got girls who work hard," Fritz said. "Marlo Hudson is our only senior, Shannon has worked hard the last 12 months and we've got multiple juniors who we knew would keep us in the hunt."
Marian's three juniors – Lauren Sass, Laura Emerson and Sarah Kuredjian – all broke 100 on Saturday. Hudson had rounds of 79 and 91.
Detroit Country Day finished third with a 711, Marshall was fourth at 712 and Big Rapids rounded out the top five with a 731. Powers entered the tournament ranked No. 1, while Marian was second and Big Rapids – which has four top-10 finishes since 2016 – was No. 3.
Other top individuals this weekend included Marshall's Karlee Malone, who was third with a 153. Madeline Blum of Marysville was fourth with a 160, and three golfers tied for fifth at 163: Haslett's Sydney Dausman, Grand Rapids Christian's Ryann Breslin and Big Rapids' Hope Thebo.
Braisted said Kennedy's individual title was no surprise to him.
"It's not about her; she's very humble," he said. "She's that precise. It's important to her to win, but she really wanted the team to win."
Powers coach Jim Snow said there is often a small gap between high expectations and actually winning a championship.
"Golf is a funny game. You don't always win just because you're favored," he said. "There can be weird bounces or a putt won't fall. To win a championship, things have to fall into place. That's just the nature of the business. You have to be precise and if you're not, you don't win.
"We played hard and just lost to a good team."
PHOTOS: (Top) Marian’s Shannon Kennedy follows through on an approach during Friday’s first round of the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final. (Middle) Powers’ Jolie Brochu follows one of her drives. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
St. Francis' Slocum Dazzles, Kalamazoo Christian Completes Spectacular Rise
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
October 19, 2024
EAST LANSING — High school basketball season may not have started yet, but Traverse City St. Francis senior Grace Slocum might have recorded the best slam dunk of the prep sports season thus far during the second round of the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 Girls Golf Finals.
Playing the par-4 sixth hole at Forest Akers West, Slocum hit a long drive down the fairway and said she faced a second shot from roughly 40 yards out.
Taking out a 56-degree wedge, Slocum hit an approach that didn’t touch one blade of grass on the green. The ball went straight into the hole on the fly for an eagle.
LeBron James probably couldn’t have dunked it any better on the basketball court.
“I’ve had eagles before, but I’ve never dunked one quite like that far,” Slocum said. “It just went right in.’
It was the signature shot during a brilliant round for Slocum, who shot a 3-under par round of 69 on Saturday to earn the individual title. Slocum followed a 75 on Friday’s first day with the 69 for a total of 144, in the process preventing potential history.
Ann Arbor Greenhills senior Mia Melendez was aiming to become the first Lower Peninsula golfer to win four Finals individual titles. But a combination of her being just a bit off and Slocum’s terrific play thwarted those aspirations.
Melendez ended up third with a two-day total of 156 (81-75).
“I play with Mia all the time in the summer, and she’s an amazing person and an amazing golfer,” said Slocum, who was competing in her fourth Final and has committed to play in college for Wisconsin. “She’s played amazing the past three times. Of course, she didn’t play as well the past few days. But it’s golf, and I’m really excited to have won it.”
Brooklyn Columbia Central senior Logan Bentley was second behind Slocum with a total of 149 (74-75).
In the team competition, Kalamazoo Christian made history by winning its first Finals championship in girls golf.
After finishing as runner-up last year, the Comets took the next step with a two-day score of 732 (367-365).
“I think it started with this particular team four years ago with the freshman class that we had at the time that are seniors today,” Kalamazoo Christian head coach Mike Schield said. “We knew we were going to have an opportunity with them if we did our job to encourage them to keep playing and keep participating. Just to keep looking for ways to improve. They all stuck to it, all four of them. Two of them who played today in the top four were beginners four years ago. They’ve had quite a trajectory.”
Kalamazoo Christian was led by senior Jordyn Bonnema, who shot a two-day score of 157 (78-79) to place fourth individually. She was followed by senior Kennedy Gernaat, who finished with a 181 (88-93) to tie for 10th.
“Kennedy and Jordyn just bring a ton of leadership and experience to this team and really led the way this season and last year,” Schield said. “Just the entire process. It was fun to watch.”
The Comets slept Friday night on an eight-stroke lead over Lansing Catholic and a nine-shot advantage on Brooklyn Columbia Central, and didn’t flinch the second in pulling away from the field.
Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian was runner-up with a final total of 748 (381-367), securing second place over Columbia Central (376-372) via the fifth-golfer tiebreaker.
Lansing Catholic was two shots behind in fourth place with a 750 (375-375).
“We just felt really comfortable this whole weekend,” Schield said.
PHOTOS (Top) Traverse City St. Francis’ Grace Slocum follows through on a swing during Saturday’s second round at Forest Akers West. (Middle) Kalamazoo Christian’s Scarlett Hindbaugh watches the flight of one of her shots. (Below) Columbia Central's Logan Bentley watches one of her putts during her runner-up finish.(Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)