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."

Iron Mountain golfHost 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.

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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.)

Manistique Celebrates 2nd-Straight Finals Medalist, 1st Team Title Since 2015

By Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com

May 31, 2023

NORWAY – After finishing runner-up to her teammate by one stroke last year, it was Nora Cunningham’s turn to be an Upper Peninsula Finals champion.

But more important to her was the fact that she and Macy Green, last year’s UP Division 2 medalist, led Manistique to a team championship Wednesday at Oak Crest.

“It feels really good,” Cunningham said of her individual achievement. “Above all, though, I think the team win definitely feels the best. Last year we ended up good individually, but the team win was our ultimate goal, so it was nice to get that this year.”

Manistique finished with a score of 455 for its first UP Finals title since 2015, and after the Emeralds finished fifth last spring. Bark River-Harris was runner-up with a 501.

Bark River-Harris’ Ella Boney hits out of the sand during her UPD2 Final round. Cunningham – who tied for second individually in 2022 – shot a 101 this time to finish three strokes ahead of Bark River-Harris’ Ava McDonough. Green and Manistique teammate Maddy Maline both carded 107s.

Oak Crest played tougher than it looked, Cunningham said. There’s a lot of trees, and she lost balls in the rough. She had a couple of rough holes, carding an 8 and a 9, but kept them to a minimum.

“I think I had really consistent drives, and then I just tried to take it hole by hole and not get too frustrated,” she said. “I had some rough holes, but I just bounced back from them.”

Her game is even better than it was last year. 

“Nora has added an extreme amount of distance off the tee,” Manistique coach Tim Noble said. “She’s really hitting drives past most everyone else. And it’s allowed her short game to flourish because she doesn't have to hit those mid irons like she used to.”

It had to be a happy ride back to Manistique after a hot day on the golf course. The boys team also won the UPD2 title, and the Emeralds’ Ryan McEvers was medalist.

Pretty much all the hardware went to Manistique.

Macy Green tees off for the Emeralds.“It is excellent that we both have the U.P. title, really good for the town of Manistique,” Noble said. “One of our better sports; we usually do pretty well in golf.”

He said he knew a team sweep was possible, but he had more confidence in the girls thanks to Cunningham and Green, who had great days both last year and this year.

“It’s nice to see Nora and Macy really have some success,” Noble said. “Macy picked it up as a sophomore, she learned to golf (after being a really good softball player). Nora’s going for college golf. It’s nice to see her go out on top.”

Cunningham signed to golf at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio.

Bark River-Harris’ Ella Boney and West Iron County’s Kya Dallavalle both finished with 115s to round out the top five.

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PHOTOS (Top) Manistique’s Nora Cunningham tees off during her round Wednesday at Oak Crest. (Middle) Bark River-Harris’ Ella Boney hits out of the sand during her UPD2 Final round. (Below) Macy Green tees off for the Emeralds. (Photos by Jason Juno.)