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.)
Medalist Husing Leads Iron Mountain to Title Sweep
By
Matt McCarthy
Special for Second Half
June 2, 2021
GAASTRA — Iron Mountain's Reidet Husing shot a tournament-low 99 on Wednesday to capture the medalist honor and lead the Mountaineers to the team title as well at the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 2 Girls Golf Final at the George Young Recreational Complex in Iron County.
The Mountaineers as a team shot 469, nearly 30 strokes lower than runner-up Munising, which carded a 495. The team title was Iron Mountain’s sixth and first since 2016.
Husing, a sophomore and multi-sport spring athlete, is primarily a soccer player for the Mountaineers.
"It feels pretty good to come here and win," she said. "The greens were really fast and hard to judge, but I think I played pretty good."
Host West Iron County was third with a 518, as the Wykons were led by Madison Berutti, who tied Jenna Matson of Munising with a 104 for the individual runner-up honor.
Iron Mountain's Natalia Brown finished eighth with a 119, two shots better than teammate Lily Verette who carded a 121 for a ninth place finish. Bella Rosenthal shot a 130 and Lulu McCash carded a 152 to round out the Mountaineers lineup.
Maizy Brown of St. Ignace with 105, Hannah Larson of Bark River-Harris with 109, Peyton Cole of Stephenson at 110 and Kya Dallavalle of West Iron at 116 finished fourth through seventh, respectively. Logan Peters of Munising shot a 122 to round out the top 10.
Stephenson's 530 was good enough for a fourth-place team finish, followed by Bark River-Harris with a 539, Hancock with a 548 and Pickford with a 549.
PHOTOS: (Top) Iron Mountain's Reidet Husing stands atop the Upper Peninsula Division 2 standings Wednesday at George Young Recreational Complex. (Middle) Mountaineers teammate Natalia Brown follows through on a putt. (Photos by Matt McCarthy.)