Preview: Next Wave of Champions
October 15, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
First-time champions are expected to dominate this weekend’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Girls Golf Finals.
East Kentwood, South Lyon, Spring Lake and Kalamazoo Hackett are ranked first in Divisions 1-4, respectively, by the Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association. None has won an MHSAA team title.
Three divisions are guaranteed to crown first-time individual champions as well; Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood’s Cordelia Chan is back seeking a repeat in Division 3, but last season’s winners in the other three divisions all graduated.
See below for some details behind the favored teams in each division, plus other individuals who could make runs this weekend. Click for qualifiers and Regional results from all four divisions and Finals results as they are reported.
LP DIVISION 1 at Battle Creek’s Bedford Valley
Top-ranked: 1. East Kentwood, 2. Lake Orion, 3. Farmington Hills Mercy
Five teams posted Regional scores of 340 or lower, including the three above and with No. 4 Dearborn posting the lowest of last week at 334 despite playing only four golfers. Plymouth is the reigning back-to-back champion and ranked No. 9 despite four of its top five returning from last season’s winner. Troy and Davison also took turns among the top three this fall, Troy in the top spot for two weeks before moving to No. 5.
East Kentwood: The Falcons are favored to win their first MHSAA team championship with their top four back from last season’s team that finished sixth but only three strokes out of fourth place. Senior Sarah White and junior Mackenzie Keenoy finished first and second, respectively, at the Regional at Blythefield Country Club. White tied for sixth individually at last season’s LP Division 1 Final and also as a sophomore, and was Division 1 runner-up as a freshman individual qualifier.
Lake Orion: The Dragons own one MHSAA team title, from the 2007 spring season, and all five starters this weekend played on last season’s 10th-place finisher. Balance is a strength – juniors Lauren Danielson and Megan Miller were the team's highest Regional placers at Lapeer Country Club, tying for third, but two teammates tied for seventh and all five golfers shot 84-90 as Lake Orion won by 17 strokes.
Farmington Hills Mercy: The 2012 runner-up is seeking its first team title since 2001 after not qualifying for the Finals last season. Senior Erica Heath – a member of that 2012 lineup – did play at the 2013 Final as an individual qualifier and leads a team that stormed back into the final weekend with a 335 to win the Regional at Dunham Hills Golf Course. She and junior Julia Shaw tied for second at the Regional, while all five Mercy players shot 82-88 and finished among the top 12.
Other individuals of note: Last season’s Final runner-up Dearborn senior Elayna Bowser shot a 74 to win the Regional at Sanctuary Lake as her team posted that Division 1-best team score. Plymouth senior Sydney Murphy returns as the reigning champ’s top player after finishing ninth individually last season, and junior Samantha Kellstrom leads Saline after finishing 10th a year ago. Traverse City Central senior Amelia Pezzetti finished fourth in Division 2 in 2013. A handful of others broke 80 at their Regionals; senior Madison Renko with a 78 to follow teammate Bowser for Dearborn, Troy juniors Jennifer Cui (75) and Naomi Kim (79), Ann Arbor Skyline sophomore Jami Laude (79) and Brighton senior Jennica Long (79).
LP DIVISION 2 at Michigan State University’s Forest Akers West
Top-ranked: 1. South Lyon, 2. Midland Dow, 3. Birmingham Seaholm.
Seaholm won its third title in nine seasons in 2013, by a stroke over Okemos. With the Chieftains graduating individual champion Elle Nichols in the spring, last season’s third-place Dow and fourth-place South Lyon are expected to move up in the standings and challenge the Maples while both seeking their first MHSAA team championships.
South Lyon: Three starters return from last season’s fourth-place team, including senior Caroline Harding, who tied for eighth individually. She’s one of three sisters among the team’s top five; freshman Elizabeth carded the team’s low score of 83 to win the Regional at Pine View Golf Course, while Caroline was tied for second and junior Priscilla Harding tied with senior teammate Alex Bernas for fourth place overall.
Dow: The Chargers posted the low Regional score in Division 2, best by six strokes, and are keyed by sisters Stephanie and Alexis Carras, after Stephanie finished third at last season’s Final and teamed with now-graduated older sister Kharissa to lead Dow to a third-place team finish. Senior Madison Bowen, junior Alexie Flaminio and sophomore Caroline Szabo also rounded out last season’s lineup, and all five players finished among the top eight at the Regional at Flint Elks Golf Club – Stephanie Carras winning with a 76.
Seaholm: Senior Jamie Greene and juniors Allegra Cunningham and Jordan Michalak also scored at last season’s Final, with Greene tying for eighth among individuals and Cunningham and Michalak both finishing just a stroke outside the top 10. The Maples won their Regional at Edgewood Country Club by 23 strokes, with Michalak finishing first, Cunningham second and Greene fourth.
Other individuals of note: Okemos junior Jessica Kim was the team’s second-lowest scorer at the 2013 Final, where she finished sixth overall. A number of others who played at last season’s Final impressed at Regionals and should contend for a top-10 spot; among a few to consider are Flushing junior Brooke Thomas, Detroit Renaissance junior Nia Little, St. Joseph senior Hannah Grall, Auburn Hills Avondale senior Mackenzie Blomberg and Muskegon Mona Shores senior Rylee George. George was a sophomore on Mona Shores’ 2012 championship team.
LP DIVISION 3 at Michigan State University’s Forest Akers East
Top-ranked: 1. Spring Lake, 2. Detroit Country Day, 3. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood.
Country Day won its first MHSAA girls golf championship in 2013 on a tie-breaker ahead of Cranbrook-Kingswood, which finished runner-up for the second straight season and last won a team title in 2006. But expected to finish ahead of both is Spring Lake, which is seeking its first MHSAA championship but finished third in 2013. Many will be rooting on Grand Rapids South Christian, which posted the third-lowest LP Division 3 Regional score (357) a day after the unexpected death of coach Rod VanDyke (click for more from the Grand Rapids Press). And last season’s Division 4 champion, Grosse Ile, is in Division 3 this weekend with three starters from last season’s title winner.
Spring Lake: The Lakers return four of their five from last season’s Final; sophomore Anna Kramer finished fourth individually in her first MHSAA championship tournament, and senior Ginnie Olszewski was three strokes shy of the top 10. Spring Lake dominated its Regional at Katke Golf Course, finishing 29 strokes ahead of the field with Kramer taking individual honors with a 77. All five players finished among the top 10.
Country Day: The Yellowjackets return three of last season’s top five, and senior Nicole Junn finished three strokes outside the top 10 individuals last season. Country Day finished ahead of No. 9 Warren Regina but second and just a stroke behind Cranbrook-Kingswood at their Regional at The Emerald. Junn was third at the Regional, leading four players who finished among the top seven places while all shooting 87-92.
Cranbrook-Kingswood: Three of the Cranes’ top five from last season also are back, led by individual champion Chan, who added last week’s Regional title to her achievements by shooting a 79. Junior Molly Wiener and senior Gabby Shuert also started at last season’s Final and finished ninth and 10th, respectively, at the Emerald as all five Cranbrook-Kingswood players scored among the top 20.
Other individuals of note: In addition to Chan and Kramer, three more from last season’s Final top 10 will play this weekend – Ada Forest Hills Eastern senior Henna Singh (tied for sixth in 2013), Lake Odessa Lakewood junior Emily Barker (ninth) and Wayland junior Ali Martus (tied for 10th). Carleton Airport sophomore Olivia Reed missed the top 10 last season by two strokes but last week shot an 82 to win the Regional at West Shore Country Club. Regina junior Lucy Cornwell shot an 81 to finish second to Chan at The Emerald.
LP DIVISION 4 at The Meadows at Grand Valley State University
Top-ranked: 1. Kalamazoo Hackett, 2. Macomb Lutheran North, 3. Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian.
Division 4 was added in the Lower Peninsula six seasons ago, and Grosse Ile and Lansing Catholic have combined to win the first five titles – but neither will be playing at this tournament this weekend. NorthPointe Christian was the runner-up a year ago, finishing two strokes back of Grosse Ile, while Hackett was fifth after finishing second in 2012. No. 6 Flint Powers Catholic and unranked Jackson Lumen Christi are the only teams in the field that have won MHSAA titles in any division or class of girls golf. No. 4 Harbor Springs shot a Division 4-low Regional score of 352, and No. 5 Grand Rapids West Catholic also was impressive at 366.
Hackett: The Fighting Irish return five starters from last season’s Final, where now-junior Lizzie Stull tied for seventh individually. Senior Carrie Radomsky also was on the 2012 team that finished third. Stull finished second at the Regional at Silver Lake Country Club with a 79, and junior Rebecca Radomsky was sixth as all five Hackett players finished among the top 13 places and the team edged No. 5 West Catholic and No. 3 NorthPointe Christian.
Lutheran North: Four of its Regional starters last week helped last year’s Mustangs to an eighth-place finish, and all five finished among the top nine at the Stoney Creek Golf Course Regional. Senior Katie Humphreys was first, sophomore Sydney Martens was second and freshman Serena Nguyen came in third as the team won by 29 strokes.
NorthPointe Christian: Last season’s Final individual runner-up Monica Koert graduated, but NorthPointe is back with three of the golfers who filled last season’s lineup behind her, led by senior Molly Antor – who won the Silver Lake individual championship with a 73. Senior Allison Starr was third at the Regional, and with junior Jessica Zylstra also bring last season’s championship tournament experience to this lineup.
Other individuals of note: Four more of last season’s individual top 10 also will play, topped by 2013 third-placer Nichole Cox (77); the Maple City Glen Lake sophomore last week won the Regional at Mistwood. Farwell senior Bria Colosky was second at that Regional (80) and tied for 10th at last season’s Final, as did Hillsdale Academy junior Madi Reed, the Regional champion last week at Calderone Golf Club. Frankenmuth sophomore Meg Watkins (87) won the Regional at Twin Brooks Golf Course after two playoff holes and coming off a sixth-place Final finish in 2013; she defeated Freeland Tori Argyle in the playoff. Harbor Springs’ Regional-best team score was keyed by an 81 by senior Abbey Detmar, who finished third individually at Mistwood and was her team's second-lowest shooter last season when the Rams finished sixth at the Final.
PHOTO: Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood’s Cordelia Chan attempts to sink a putt on the way to winning last season’s Lower Peninsula Division 3 individual championship.
Grand Blanc's Brody Medalist For Second Time, Adams Dominates Div. 1 Field
By
Tom Lang
Special for MHSAA.com
October 15, 2022
BATTLE CREEK — Grand Blanc senior Kate Brody said it was at least twice as good winning two state championships in girls golf than just having the 2020 title as a sophomore on her resume.
Coming in this season and into the postseason as the favorite – after taking third as a freshman and fourth in her junior year – Brody won her second MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 title as medalist, with a two-day, one-over-par 145. She is heading to Wisconsin to play her college golf.
Brody finished one shot ahead of East Kentwood’s Elise Fennell, and four better than Grace Wang of team champion Rochester Adams and Jessica Jolly of Rockford who tied for third. The two-day tournament was played at Gull Lake View’s Bedford Valley.
“When Elise birdied three of her last four holes, I knew on the last hole I was only one stroke ahead, so I was happy that we were playing together; not so much because of (tracking) the score but she’s one of my really good friends and I like playing with her, we get along well,” Brody said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better way for my high school career to end.
“In my opinion I think I came in as the best player in this field and I’ve worked so hard for (a championship) to not happen, so I wasn’t expecting this but it was my overall goal for sure.”
Brody was pushing the thoughts of it being her last high school tournament out of her head.
“I think it will hit me later that this was my last high school event,” Brody said, “but I think I have too much excitement to be sad about that part right now.”
Weather is almost always a factor in mid-October for MHSAA finals, but Brody said the competitors are used to it all.
“I think this weekend was about making pars, as many pars as you can and staying in play,” she said. “Staying focused mentally because you’re going to have some bad shots, but I think staying strong mentally was the biggest factor this weekend. We’re all used to playing in this weather, it happens every year at the state finals, so it’s whoever handles it the best.”
Rochester Adams somewhat surprised the field, but not themselves, with a commanding win over four-time defending champion and No. 1-ranked Northville and No. 2 ranked Brighton.
The Highlanders came in ranked No. 3 and showed what they could do, enroute to an unexpectedly-commanding win – its first in the history of Adams girls golf.
Adams led after the first day at 312, ahead of Brighton (327), Rochester (334) and Northville (342) – but Adams blew that margin wide open to win the state title by 47 strokes over the runner up Brighton (676) and by 52 over cross-town rivals Rochester (681). Northville was fourth and Rockford took fifth.
“These girls were laser-focused,” said sixth-year Adams head coach Jeff Kutschman. “They were loose, they were ready to play. They were able to come out and just play one stroke at a time. They didn’t start the round thinking about how they wanted to finish. They started the round thinking about how they want to hit the next shot. And that’s hugely important in golf.
“Brighton is outstanding, Northville is outstanding, Rochester and Rockford too, and there’s a bunch of other really good teams,” he added. “I did not expect that (margin) at all.”
Adams had three golfers finish in the top six: senior Grace Wang took T-3 (at 5-over par 149), Katie Fodale was fifth and Laura Liu was T-6.
“We set up our goals to start the season and took it one tournament at a time; we were not just thinking about the end (of the season),” Wang said. “Being able to win states is awesome as a team, and in the beginning, we knew we had the potential to do it, but I think we had to put in the work, use the mindset that we needed and work it together as a team.”
Initially, Kutschman wasn’t able to describe the program’s first state championship, but eventually said: “Just amazement, excitement, shock, and just admiration for these girls that went out there and did it.”
PHOTOS (Top) Rochester Adams' Laura Liu putts at the 2022 Division 1 Finals. (Middle) Grand Blanc's Kate Brody after her second MHSAA medalist finish. (Below) 2022 team champion Rochester Adams. (Photos by Liv Alexander.)