Hamilton Heights sends team to regional for first time ever
By RICHIE HALL
There’s always something happening that will make the girls golf sectionals a grand occasion.
Noblesville and Carmel both defended sectional titles on Monday at their respective courses. The Greyhounds put together one of the lowest sectional scores in history, while Westfield’s Samantha Brown made it a three-peat for medalist honors.
But of the teams that celebrated accomplishments on Monday, no team was cheering louder than Hamilton Heights. For the first time in school history, the Huskies advanced a full team to the regional after placing third at the Noblesville sectional at Harbour Trees.
The Millers won their own sectional with a 319, with Hamilton Southeastern placing second with a 347. Heights finished third with a 402; the top three teams advance from the sectional to the regional. The Huskies have had individual golfers move on to regional over the past several years, including Syndi Zebrauskas, Ashlyn Tharp, and 2016 state qualifier Caitie Gehlhausen.
But this year, all five Heights players will compete at the regional as a team. Huskies coach Bryan Jones was telling people he had “no words” after his team advanced, but fortunately he was able to find some when he spoke to the Reporter.
“The biggest thing that I told them is just not to quit,” said Jones. He noted that when Heights had played at Harbour Trees at the beginning of the season for the county meet, the team carded a 459. That’s an improvement of 57 strokes over the season.
“Golf is the most frustrating sport ever, but it’s an amazing sport because you get rewarding moments like this,” said Jones.
Even more remarkable is that the Huskies’ two seniors, Camryn Runner and Hadleigh Cherry, had just started playing golf this summer.
“And then I have three freshmen that just keep working and keep grinding and keep getting better,” said Jones. “And they’re all competitors.”
Presley Cherry led Heights with a 90, while Taylor Morrison scored a 92.
“I’m just so proud of them,” said Jones of his team. “They never gave up. That was the thing I said to them. It’s like, ‘If you give up, you can’t win.’ They just kept grinding.”
Hamilton Heights coach Bryan Jones (left) talks to his happy Huskies team after Heights placed third to advance to the regional as a team for the first time ever. (Richie Hall)
The Millers never give up when it comes to golf, and they got rewarded with their 19th sectional title in program history. It was also the first time Noblesville had won back-to-back trophies since 2011 and 2012.
“It was a tough day,” said Millers coach Justin Werkley. “The golf course played really hard. It was just a grind-it-out type of day. I don’t think they were thrilled with how they played overall, but at the end of the day they played pretty well considering the conditions. And obviously, the goal is to get to the regional, so we’re excited to play on Saturday.”
Playoff win
A Noblesville golfer also won medalist honors for the second consecutive year. Senior Jordan Adam scored a 75, placing her in a tie with Hamilton Southeastern’s Ella Bui. Adam won a playoff on the first hole to claim first place, following in the footsteps of now-graduated Caroline Whallon, last year’s medalist.
The playoff took place on the 18th hole, a lovely but intimidating Par 3 where golfers must hit their tee shots over a large water hazard right on to the green – there’s not much fairway separating the water from the green.
But Adam has played that hole several times before, and she said her key to success was “going back to my target and picking my spot and then just believing in myself and going for it.”
Adam made three birdies in her Monday round, with Josie Kelley and Olivia Fowler both making one. Fowler tied for third individually with a 79, while Olivia Anderson was fifth with an 82. Kelley tied for sixth with an 83.
Southeastern scored a 347 to advance to the regional. Bui also scored 75, while Janelle Garcia tied for sixth by scoring an 83. Both made one birdie, with Sophie Roberts also draining one birdie.
“It was tough out there today,” said Royals coach Steve Guenin. “Tough course, it was long, the roughs were tough. It was a tough test for sure.”
But Southeastern advanced, and will join Noblesville and Heights at Edgewood on Saturday, the site of the Lapel regional.
“We did advance, so we’re excited about getting ready to go again next week,” said Guenin.
Fishers placed fourth at the sectional with a 409. Sophia Rush led the Tigers with a 99.
AT HARBOUR TREES
Team scores: Noblesville 319, Hamilton Southeastern 347, Hamilton Heights 402, Fishers 409, Frankton 412, Lapel 416, Pendleton Heights 425, Alexandria 446, Elwood 519.
Medalist: Jordan Adam (Noblesville) 38-37=75.
Other Noblesville scores: Olivia Fowler 41-38=79, Olivia Anderson 42-40=82, Josie Kelley 44-39=83, Karis Shields 46-47=93.
Southeastern scores: Ella Bui 36-39=75, Janelle Garcia 42-41=83, Sophie Roberts 49-42=91, Alaina Sumner 46-52=98, Natalia Niesset 51-50=101.
Heights scores: Presley Cherry 45-45=90, Taylor Morrison 48-44=92, Camryn Runner 47-57=104, Tanner Penwell 58-58=116, Hadleigh Cherry 61-62=123.
Fishers scores: Sophia Rush 52-47=99, Lola Kivett 49-54=103, Elli Webster 50-53=103, Kate Jansen 48-56=104, Ava Wellbaum 58-50=108.
Over at Pebble Brook, the site of the Guerin Catholic sectional, the history made there was about numbers – low numbers.
Carmel won its second championship in a row, and 14th in program history, by carding a 286. Not only is that the Greyhounds’ same score from last year, it also is one of the lowest sectional scores in IHSAA history. The 286 ranks tied for fourth on the all-time list; in addition to the two Greyhounds efforts, Westfield totaled a 286 at South Grove in 2019.
Carmel’s first three golfers all placed in the top five individually. Claire Swathwood scored a two under par 68 for runner-up honors, making her one of only 39 golfers to card a 68 in a sectional. Michaela Headlee finished with a one under 69 to take third.
“Both of them are just being great senior leaders for this team,” said Greyhounds coach Kelly Kluesner. “They’re fun to watch. And then you’ve got Sophie (Mock), bogeys her first two holes and then stays even the rest of the day. Their mental games are strong and it’s just fun to watch.”
Mock’s 72 placed her fifth. Swathwood totaled five birdies, in her round, while Kamryn Williams made three birdies on her way to a 77. Headlee drained two birdies and Mock had one.
“It means a lot, especially because this is our last year together,” said Williams, another senior leader for Carmel. “And we’ve already accomplished so much together as a team.”
“It was a good day for everyone,” said Kluesner. “This is just a step in the process for us and it was good to see everybody having fun out there and just playing the course.”
Westfield scored an impressive 291 and had the meet medalist for the third consecutive year. Samantha Brown totaled a three under par 67, becoming the 21st player to achieve a 67 or better in a sectional.
“I think I played well on the back,” said Brown. “I held it together. The front was a little bit shaky, but we got through it, I would say.”
Brown scored a 30 on the back nine, where she made four or five birdies. At one point, she made three birdies in a row.
Westfield’s Samantha Brown was the meet medalist at Pebble Brook with a three under par 67. (Richie Hall)
Addi Kooi also had a tremendous back nine, finishing with a 32 on her way to a fourth-place score of 70. Kooi made three birdies in her round, all on the back nine. Kelsey Haverluck and Sam Lemieux both made two birdies, while Sami Hanavan had one.
Guerin Catholic carded its best score of the season with a 317 to finish third and join the top two schools in advancing to Saturday’s Lafayette Jefferson regional at Battle Ground.
Ali Scott scored a 73 to finish seventh overall. Sarah Rigg added a 77. Scott, Rigg and Gracie Navarro all made two birdies in their respective rounds.
University totaled a 444. Graclyn Cates led the Trailblazers with a 93.
AT PEBBLE BROOK
Team scores: Carmel 286, Westfield 291, Guerin Catholic 317, Brebeuf Jesuit 342, Lebanon 347, Cardinal Ritter 441, University 444, Speedway 448, Pike 454.
Medalist: Samantha Brown (Westfield) 37-30=67.
Carmel scores: Claire Swathwood 35-33=68, Michaela Headlee 35-34=69, Sophie Mock 38-34=72, Kamryn Williams 42-35=77, Maddie Headlee 45-38=83.
Other Westfield scores: Addi Kooi 38-32=70, Kelsey Haverluck 38-37=75, Sami Hanavan 43-36=79, Sam Lemieux 43-39=82.
Guerin Catholic scores: Ali Scott 38-35=73, Sarah Rigg 44-33=77, Sydney Delagrange 42-38=80, Gracie Navarro 48-39=87, Avery Wall 53-49=102.
University scores: Graclyn Cates 48-45=93, Quincy Russell 55-54=109, Audrey Griffiths 62-56=118, Maryn Stephenson 64-60=124, Sophia Stratman 65-60=125.