Standout Pair Cards Personal Bests to Lead Mercy's Repeat Title Charge
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
October 21, 2023
EAST LANSING – Farmington Hills Mercy might have had a lead going into the second round of the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Girls Golf Final at Forest Akers East, but longtime head coach Vicky Kowalski had quite a quandary.
Kowalski didn’t have her No. 1 player, junior Maeve Casey, available to play.
Casey shot a team-best 73 and was in second place individually after the first day, but wasn’t even in the state for the second day.
“She’s a Triple AAA hockey player for Little Caesars,” Kowalski said. “She got on a plane last night to go to a hockey tournament (in Minnesota). We had to put a sub in.”
But not even not having its top player couldn’t stop Mercy from achieving some program history.
Thanks to other players stepping up, Mercy won its fourth Finals title overall and repeated as champion for the first time in Kowalski’s 47 years as head coach.
The Marlins finished with a two-day score of 636, 17 shots ahead of Catholic League rival Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood.
Mason was third with 657.
The Marlins entered the day with an 8-shot lead over Cranbrook. The Mercy player who made up for the loss of Casey the most was senior Abby Slankster, who shot a 2-under-par round of 70, a round Kowalski said was her all-time best.
Kowalski said junior Macy Morphew also shot her best score, contributing an 81 to the cause.
Junior Lila Polakowski shot a 79 and senior Brinley Nay added an 89 for Mercy during the second round.
“I’m just so happy that our girls played so well today,” Kowalski said.
In outlasting Cranbrook, Mercy capped off a season that featured a lot of back-and-forth between the two teams.
“Some of the tournaments we went to, we’d be ahead, and some they’d be ahead,” Kowalski said.
Cranbrook moved up to Division 2 this year after winning the Division 3 championship in 2021 and finishing runner-up last year.
Sophomore Sydney Behnke led Cranbrook with a two-day total of 156 (75-81), while senior Mackenzie Behnke was right behind at 157 (79-78).
“When we moved up to D2, we thought we would be able to compete,” Cranbrook head coach John Minnich said. “We did compete. It was not the finish we hoped for. Mercy beat us at the Catholic League championship, and they beat us at Regionals. They’ve been just a little bit better than us all year.
“I’m really proud of my team. They played great.”
Also playing great was Coopersville senior Lauren Davis, who was the medalist with identical scores of 70 for a two-day total of 140 in chilly and rainy conditions.
Davis finished four shots ahead of Dexter sophomore Avery Manning.
“My putting was super solid,” Davis said. “That was the biggest help for me.”
Davis capped off her career winning it all after finishing fifth last year.
“My state tournaments have been weird,” she said. “My first year we had only one day (because of a COVID-19 format change). My second states’ year I was playing great and was at the top, but then on my third-to-last hole I had a 10. Last year, I had one bad round. It’s good to put it all together this year.”
PHOTOS (Top) Farmington Hills Mercy's Abby Slankster drives during Saturday's second round at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final. (Middle) Coopersville's Lauren Davis celebrates her medalist honor. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
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.
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.
“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.
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.)