Seaholm Sweeps in Team Title Repeat
October 18, 2014
By Tom Kendra
Special to Second Half
EAST LANSING – It certainly wasn’t the first time Birmingham Seaholm senior Jamie Greene had shot par in a tournament.
But given the magnitude of the stage at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final, and the bitter cold and gusty playing conditions on the already-challenging Forest Akers West course, Greene’s sterling, even-par 72 is certainly the round of her life.
At least so far.
Greene’s career round, which was three shots better than anyone else in the field Saturday, helped defending champion Seaholm increase its big lead over the final 18 holes for a 660 team total and a dominating 37-shot victory over runner-up South Lyon.
“It’s just a great way to end my high school career,” said Greene, who will play golf next year at Seton Hall University in New Jersey. “We really, really wanted to win as a team, and being state medalist has been a goal of mine for a long time.”
South Lyon, led by the sister trio of senior Caroline Harding (159), junior Priscilla Harding (169) and freshman Elizabeth Harding (179), placed second at 697. St. Joseph took third at 707, followed by Okemos (721) and Midland Dow (722).
Greene, the lone senior among Seaholm’s top five players, rallied past junior teammate and first-round leader Allegra Cunningham for medalist honors.
Caroline Harding, who will play college golf on this same Forest Akers course for Michigan State, placed third at 159. Midland Dow sophomore Stephanie Carras was fourth at 162, and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central senior Evon Shay took fifth at 164.
“I’m thrilled with Jamie Greene,” said Cathie Fritz, Seaholm’s co-head coach along with Leon Braisted. “She was disciplined, she played everything to the nines. I am thrilled that it finally came together for her within her high school career.”
The 1-2 punch of Greene and Cunningham gave the Maples, who each wore maroon maple leaves on their cheeks for the Final, a decisive edge on the rest of the field. But a steady finish by the Maples’ supporting cast ensured that no other team would catch them from behind.
Cunningham was second for the Maples at 157, six strokes behind Greene. Rounding out the scoring for Seaholm were juniors Jordan Michalak (167), Annie Trotta (185) and Cate Joelson (187).
“This turned out so much better than we hoped. We knew our one, two and three players would play strong, but we are thrilled our fourth, fifth and sixth players really rallied,” Fritz said. “They really rallied, they had never played in this cold of weather, or this soft of a course, but they came through for us today.”
While the end result was the same as last fall, Seaholm’s route to the title could not have been more different.
The Maples needed a near-miraculous Saturday rally last year, charging from 17 shots back after the opening round to nip Okemos by one stroke. This year, Seaholm found itself in the opposite position with a 15-shot lead going into the final round.
Recalling their own charge from a year ago, the Maples proved to be unflappable front-runners this time, with the highest score out of the Seaholm five a respectable 93.
Birdies were an extremely rare commodity on both days of the 36-hole stroke play tournament, with a steady wind of about 15 mph blowing out of the northwest. But Greene was able to make a pair on Saturday – on the par-3 7th hole and the par-5 13th hole – en route to her even-par score.
Greene attributed her stellar round to her year-long focus on course management and her positive attitude about the weather.
“I enjoy playing in bad weather, because it keeps me focused,” said Greene, who is a member at Detroit Golf Club. “I left my driver in the bag most of the day, and I was hitting my 4-iron off the tee. The best part of my game today was my iron shots into the greens.”
With the back-to-back titles for Seaholm, which now has four MHSAA girls golf titles in school history, only two schools have won Division 2 championships since 2008. Mona Shores won four consecutive from 2009 to 2012, and now the Maples have won the past two.
Fritz said her team will be motivated to pursue a “three-peat” next fall with a solid, large nucleus of players returning.
“We have 40 players over four teams, with only one key senior,” Fritz said. “We will build all year long. We’re going to push hard.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Birmingham Seaholm poses with its championship trophy after repeating as winners of the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final; individual medalist Jamie Greene holds the trophy. (Middle) Seaholm’s Allegra Cunningham, also the individual runner-up, watches a shot Saturday. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com).
Montague Repeats to 'End Era,' Greenhills Freshman Begins Another in Finals Debut
By
Scott DeCamp
Special for MHSAA.com
October 17, 2021
EAST LANSING – The Lower Peninsula Division 4 Girls Golf Finals this weekend at Michigan State University’s Forest Akers East featured competitions within the competition. Head-to-head battles came to a head on Saturday.
While Montague went down to the wire in edging Lansing Catholic and repeating as team champion, Ann Arbor Greenhills freshman Mia Melendez outdueled Michigan Center senior Kamryn Shannon for the individual title in a showdown that came down to the final hole.
Montague and Lansing Catholic both shot 675 over the two-day event, but the Wildcats held the upper hand by virtue of the fifth-score tie-breaker. Jackson Lumen Christi finished third (701), followed by Adrian Lenawee Christian in fourth (706) and Remus Chippewa Hills fifth (722).
The Wildcats, who ran away with the title last year in defeating runner-up Lansing Catholic by 27 shots, featured five players under 90 each of the two days this weekend.
“I can’t believe that,” Montague coach Phil Kerr said. “I’m so proud of them. I’m not surprised, but still under these conditions, you’ve got to show up and compete and these girls did.”
Shannon held a two-shot lead over Melendez following a 2-under 70 on Friday, but Melendez made several clutch putts Saturday to make her move during what amounted to a head-to-head match. Melendez chipped in for par on their final hole to wrestle away the medalist honor, while Shannon settled for bogey.
Melendez shot 71 on Saturday for a two-day total of 143, one shot better than Shannon’s 144. The newly-crowned champ called the round “intense.”
“There was a lot of, like, moments where I knew that I had to make a putt and then she had to make a putt, too, so we were just going back and forth,” Melendez said. “It was a lot, and both of us had to make a lot of big runs going next to each other.
“This particularly means a lot because it’s the state championships, and it’s always been my goal to win something like this because everybody’s going to see it and it’s a pretty big deal.”
Lansing Catholic’s Amanda Meiling finished third at 159, followed by teammate Sailor Somerville, Lenawee Christian’s Lauren Swiggum and South Haven’s Sydney Barnes all tied for fourth (164).
Montague seniors Orianna Bylsma and Gabby Moreau, who were key contributors on last year’s title team, led the Wildcats with top-10 finishes: Bylsma in seventh (165) and Moreau 10th (168).
Traverse City St. Francis’ Grace Slocum placed eighth (166) and Brooklyn Columbia Central’s Logan Bentley ninth (167).
“I’m so proud of the seniors – it’s definitely the end of an era. Ori and Gabby have been through all of it,” Kerr said. “(Their) freshman year, we were nobody. Sophomore year, it was the biggest deal that we made state and then got fourth. They won state (last year), they backed it up (this year).
“Ori shot 79 today, Gabby shot 80 yesterday – a PR by four strokes, at state. They’re just warriors. It didn’t matter what they did all year, it didn’t matter what they did last week, I knew when we showed up that those two were going to perform.”
Six years ago, Montague did not even have a girls golf team. Before last year, the school had never won a Finals title in a girls sport.
Now, the Wildcats have two championships in as many years in girls golf.
“I didn’t even play golf five years ago. I hadn’t even touched a golf club in my life five years ago today,” Moreau said. “And if you would have told me, ‘You’re going to win a state championship,’ I would have said, ‘I don’t play football.’
“I couldn’t have even imagined this. This is so surreal.”
PHOTOS (Top) Montague’s Orianna Bylsma follows her approach shot Saturday at Forest Akers East. (Middle) Ann Arbor Greenhills’ Mia Melendez lines up a putt during the second round. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)