Kingsford, Marquette's Luke Land Fantastic 1sts, Negaunee's Niskanen Repeats
By
Jack Hall
Special for MHSAA.com
May 31, 2023
HARRIS – There's a first time for everything.
That old saying was certainly proved true Wednesday afternoon during the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 1 Girls Golf Final at the steamy Sage Run Golf Course.
The firsts? A U.P. championship for Kingsford High School, and a hole-in-one for Marquette junior Abigail Luke.
The Flivvers took home the team trophy for the first time in school history by topping the leaderboard with 412 strokes, seven clear of second-place Escanaba (419) and 22 ahead of third-place Negaunee (434).
It was a dream come true, said junior Bryonna Sanders, who was the individual runner-up shooting a 99.
“It feels pretty awesome,” Sanders said. “We came out here yesterday (for practice) and we put out a full effort. I think with our team spirit and pushing each other, we did pretty well.
“I didn't really have a game plan, but I went off with my nine-hybrid on every hole. … My driver wasn't hitting it today. Just have to wing it, and golf does its thing!”
Luke’s hole-in-one came midway through the front nine.
“It's crazy,” Luke said. “I was really upset about my last couple holes, but then I made a hole-in-one! It was just tears of joy. I haven't done it before. I was 99 yards away, and so I took my 50-degree (club) which I knew could go 95. And then I rolled it in. I could see it right from where I was! I was speechless when it happened.”
Luke ended up shooting a 101, which tied her for fourth with Escanaba freshman Kamrie Scott. Eskymos senior Sierra Scott was one stroke further back at 102.
The repeat medalist was Negaunee senior Rachel Niskanen, but she wasn't thrilled about how she got to her victory this time – even though she won by seven strokes over Sanders in firing a 92. Niskanen has routinely shot in the 70s and 80s all spring long.
“Honestly, it was a really rough day out there for me,” Niskanen said. “I was having a hard time hitting my irons, and it was probably one of the worst rounds of my whole spring season. But, I mean, a win's a win, I guess!
“I had a lot of fun with Negaunee golf. They do a really good job, putting on tournaments. Overall, I shot pretty well this season, mostly pars and birdies. But today was just a rough day.”
Kingsford had three of the top 10 individual finishers, with Grace Maki (tied for sixth, 102) and Ella Rizzo (tied for 10th, 105) joining Sanders at the top of the leaderboard.
In all, there were nine schools and 47 golfers playing in the event, which took roughly five-and-a-half hours.
Marquette finished fourth, followed by Menominee, Calumet, Sault Ste. Marie, Houghton, and Westwood.
PHOTOS (Top) Kingsford celebrates its first Upper Peninsula Finals team championship Wednesday at Sage Run. (Middle) Sault Ste. Marie’s Liliana Gutierrez putts during her Division 1 round. (Below) Marquette’s Abigail Luke. (Photos by Jack Hall.)
Bark River-Harris Takes Championship Steps with Team, Individual Sweep
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
May 29, 2024
CRYSTAL FALLS --- Bark River-Harris went home from last year’s Upper Peninsula Division 2 Girls Golf Final with some hardware. Just not the kind the Broncos wanted.
After finishing third the year before, they earned the runner-up trophy at the 2023 championship tournament, and Ava McDonough also took home a runner-up finish.
This year at Young’s Golf Course, the Broncos won the team title and McDonough took the medalist honor.
“It’s pretty great. We’ve been working for it for three years now, and it feels really good to finally accomplish it,” she said. “Last year we got second. I got second individually.
“I mean second’s good, but first is better.”
It was really good for the Broncos’ entire team, which won their first U.P. title since claiming back-to-back Division 3 championships in 2014 and 2015. They finished a dozen strokes fewer than runner-up West Iron County (451). Norway was third, Stephenson fourth and Munising fifth.
“It’s amazing,” Broncos coach Matt Sly said. “I’ve been with these girls now, this is our third year. We took third three years ago, second last year. They worked really hard this year, and they were able to do it.”
McDonough carded a 101 to earn the medalist honor.
“My drives were pretty good, and my chipping I did good,” she said. “My putting was not very good. That was the only thing that really killed me. Otherwise, it was all pretty good.”
Sly said she's been playing well this entire season.
“She’s just an all-around good player,” he said. “She’s good off the tee, she has good short game and she was able to put it all together today.”
McDonough finished just one stroke ahead of teammate Ella Boney, who was runner-up with a 102.
“She played exceptionally well today,” Sly said of Boney. “She was several strokes better than her average.”
Munising’s Jailen Hancock and West Iron County’s Addison Franzene both carded 105 to tie for third. The Wykons’ Kya Dallavalle finished fifth with a 108.
McDonough said improvement over the last year has been about hard work, practice, helping each other out and not getting down when things went badly.
“Four of the five are seniors,” Sly said of McDonough, Boney, Zailey Cortez – who placed 13th – and Melody Racicot. Sophomore Dakota Bridges took 16th. “They’ve been waiting for this for a while.”
PHOTOS (Top) Bark River-Harris Ava McDonough tees off on No. 17 at Wednesday's Division 2 Final at Young's Golf Course. (Middle) West Iron County's Kya Dallavalle putts on No. 17. (Photos by Jason Juno.)