Wind, Hail Can't Stop Repeat Champs
October 20, 2018
By Steve Vedder
Special for Second Half
ALLENDALE – Ignoring the worst actually brought out the best in Alissa Fish.
The Brooklyn Columbia Central senior thumbed her nose at woeful conditions to successfully defend her Lower Peninsula Division 4 girls golf championship Saturday at The Meadows on the Grand Valley State campus. Fish finished with a two-day total of 162 to outdistance runner-up Hillary Ziemba of Jackson Lumen Christi, who finished with a 167.
The brutal weather conditions featured frigid temperatures in the mid-40s, a bone-chilling high wind warning, bouts of thunder and lightning which caused a long delay and even sideways hail.
Not a problem, said Fish, who admitted she's never played in worse conditions after shooting a 5-over par 77 on Friday and an 85 on Saturday.
"It was pretty tough," she said. "You just have to get lost in your shot. If the wind is blowing in your face, you've still got to make the shot. You have to hit the ball like the conditions were normal.
"(Friday) I was satisfied with how I played. The weather was worse today, but I still expected to do better. I won but I left (some shots) out there."
While Fish successfully retained the individual title, Harbor Springs also won back-to-back team championships by shooting a two-day 362-368-730. Shepherd was runner-up with a 369-381-750. North Muskegon was third with a 381-373-754 and Kalamazoo Hackett, the tournament leader after the first day, was fourth at 359-398-757.
Harbor Springs coach Pete Kelbel agreed with Fish that the conditions were miserable. But his players, including four veterans from last year's club, were able to overcome the wind and rain. They also faced a tough field as North Muskegon returned all five players from last year's fourth-place finisher and was ranked No. 1 in the state. In addition, six of last year's top 10 individual placers returned.
"It was the worst two days weather-wise I've seen," he said. “My hats off to Grand Valley for their work. The course was wonderful, but you couldn't pay people to play today."
Kelbel said the goal of repeating actually began after winning the 2017 tournament. Four of the leading scorers returned this fall, including four-year varsity seniors Callie O'Neill and Madi Bezilla, who tied for eighth this weekend with 175s.
The Rams won seven of 10 tournaments they entered this season, losing only to reigning Division 1 champ Traverse City West and Shepherd.
"It's very hard to repeat, especially when the weather gets like this," Kelbel said. "We knew we had four girls back, so we knew we could be good. We were fortunate to have them back."
Kelbel said battling the conditions was as much mental as physical.
"It was a mental toughness thing," he said. "We have a shorter season, so we're playing when the courses open in the spring."
Fish said she didn't necessarily feel pressure in her bid to win back-to-back titles. Battling the weather was no help, but she said players have to overcome whatever conditions are presented. In addition to the two Division 4 titles, Fish was a three-time conference and Regional champ. Of the team's seven tournaments this season, she won six.
"It's not always about winning; it's about wanting to play well,"' she said. "You have to get lost in the moment. Pressure makes it more fun – I like pressure, that's what I play for. I thrive on pressure."
PHOTOS: (Top) Harbor Springs senior Madi Bezilla follows her shot during Saturday’s second round of the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Final at The Meadows. (Middle) Brooklyn Columbia Central’s Alissa Fish lines up a putt. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Unexpected Star Helps TC West Shine
October 21, 2017
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
ALLENDALE – Traverse City West senior Megan Jenkinson had to set down her celebratory slice of Little Caesar’s pizza to do a media interview.
Jenkinson is used to the sister duo of junior Anika Dy and freshman Anci Dy getting most of the attention (and they were certainly outstanding, as usual). But it was back-to-back rounds of 78 from Jenkinson, the Titans’ No. 3 player, which powered TC West on Saturday to its second MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 girls golf championship in the past three years.
“How is that for a happy ending?” asked first-year Titans coach Karl Gagnon, back for his second stint leading the program, as he wiped away tears of joy moments after accepting the championship trophy.
“Meg played her best two rounds of the year in the state finals in her final high school tournament. It doesn’t get much better than that.”
Jenkinson’s outstanding play helped Traverse City West (626) to a surprisingly wide, 22-stroke victory over runner-up Brighton (648) in unseasonably warm and dry, but windy, conditions at The Meadows at Grand Valley State University.
TC West and Brighton shot out of the gate in Friday’s opening round, shooting rounds of 311 and 314, respectively, essentially turning the 18-school tournament into a two-horse race. The storyline going into Saturday was a variation of “Sister Act,” pitting the Dy sisters of Traverse City West against junior Annie Pietila and freshman Maggie Pietila of Brighton.
Anika Dy, the state’s reigning Miss Golf and already a verbal commit to play for the University of Michigan, was absolutely outstanding both days – shooting a 3-under par 69 on Friday and validating it with an even-par 72 on Saturday. Dy’s 141 total was eight strokes better than second place Savannah Haque of Rochester.
The 5-foot-1 Dy, who is certainly not a bomber off the tee, used her masterful course management skills and incredible putting to win Finals medalist honors at The Meadows for the second time. Dy chipped in on the final hole to take medalist honors when TC West won the first girls golf state title in school history on the GVSU course in 2015.
“I feel like this course is built for me,” said Dy, who is planning to take some time off from golf after a hectic summer and fall schedule. “I really didn’t hit it well at all, especially today, but I had some clutch putts, a lot of them for pars. My putting definitely pulled me through.”
Anci Dy, a 14-year-old who made it all the way to the quarterfinals of the Michigan Women’s Amateur in July (before losing to her sister, 2 and 1), finished sixth overall with rounds of 78-76-154. Jenkinson gave the Titans three players in the Top 10 with 78-78-156, good for ninth place.
It was ironic that the Division 1 Finals were held the farthest west of the four MHSAA championship tournaments, as nine of the top 10-ranked teams in the final Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association state poll hailed from the east side of the state. TC West, which entered the Finals ranked fifth, was the only ranked team from either western or northern Michigan.
“We had to represent,” Anika Dy said with a laugh. “There are so many good teams, but we knew that if we played smart that we had a good chance to win it.”
Gagnon, a longtime teacher at Lake City High School who actually started the boys and girls golf programs at Traverse City West before stepping down because of the distance and time commitments, is now retired from teaching and decided to get back into coaching. He thanked his son and assistant coach Greg Gagnon, along with Bay Meadows Golf Course professional Scott Wilson, the swing coach for many of the Titans’ players.
Senior Maddy McCall and junior Jillian Ellul also both figured into the scoring for TC West. The Titans used McCall’s 86 on Friday and Ellul’s 89 on Saturday to complete the total team effort.
Annie Pietila, following in the footsteps of her two older sisters, Emmie and Hannah, who both played Division I college golf at Tennessee, shot rounds of 75 and 80 to lead Brighton to second place. Saline (649) finished one shot behind Brighton for third, followed by Northville (664) and Plymouth (669).
Catherine Loftus shot consecutive rounds of 75 to finish third overall for Saline, which entered the Finals at No. 1 in the MIGCA rankings and was the only team at the Division 1 Finals that featured five seniors. Bloomfield Hills junior Mikaela Schulz (152) placed fourth, and Lapeer senior Brooke Gibbons (153) took fifth.
The Dy sisters, who gained much attention this summer with their outstanding play in the Michigan Woman’s Amateur that culminated with their epic match in the quarterfinals, were quick to deflect credit for this weekend’s championship to Jenkinson.
Jenkinson, who was the No. 6 player for the Titans as a sophomore in 2015, started off this year’s Finals tournament by topping her first drive “about 30 yards.” But she ended it by nailing a long par putt on her second-to-last hole on Saturday and then nearly jarred her final high school iron shot on her final hole, the par-3 17th.
In between, Jenkinson said she had her best putting tournament of the season, along with a chip-in for birdie and three straight birdies on holes 7, 8 and 9 on Friday.
“I’ve had a lot of ups and downs playing golf, like everyone does, so I really, really wanted to play good in my last tournament,” said Jenkinson, who is undecided about playing college golf. “I think that terrible first drive was a good thing. It kind of woke me up, and I knew it could only get better after that.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Traverse City West’s Anika Dy follows a shot on her way to winning a second MHSAA individual championship. (Middle) Brighton’s Annie Pietila led her team to a runner-up finish at The Meadows. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)