By RICHIE HALL
A familiar set of Hamilton County golf teams will be returning to the state finals.
The four well-established programs all earned another trip to the big meet after their performances during Saturday’s regionals. Westfield and Carmel finished first and second respectively at the Roncalli regional, which took place at Smock Golf Course in Indianapolis.
Up at Edgewood Golf Club in Anderson, Noblesville claimed its first regional in over a decade by winning the Lapel regional, with Hamilton Southeastern placing second. All four teams will head to Prairie View Golf Club next weekend to compete at state.
CONSISTENT ROUNDS
Westfield’s ascendancy to the elite level has been fairly recent compared to the other schools. But the Shamrocks are firmly in that group, and proved it again with their regional victory, carding a 305. It’s the third regional championship for the ‘Rocks, after they won back-to-back titles in 2015-16, and qualified them for state for the sixth time in school history, all since 2014.
Freshman Samantha Brown led the way for Westfield, winning individual medalist honors with a 73. Brown had three birdies in her round.
“It’s so exciting, since I’m just a freshman,” said Brown. “And then we were able to depend on each other and nobody felt like they had all the pressure. But it was just evenly spread out and we knew we had a chance, and it was just exciting to come out and play.”
Every golfer that played for Westfield at the regional had at least one birdie. Sophie McGinnis had four of them during her round of 76. That put her in a five-way tie for third place at the meet.
Allie Hildebrand carded 77, Brette Hanavan scored 79 and Cate Jensen had an 85 to round out the Shamrocks’ scoring. All three made one birdie.
“We played as good as we probably could have played today,” said Westfield coach Trevor Neu. He said the team’s first nine holes were “fantastic,” and credited his players with being resilient during the second nine holes.
“We had a couple hiccups out there, but we mentally grinded through those hiccups and our kids just were resilient and never quit,” said Neu.
Carmel was a close second, scoring a 310. Senior Katie Kuc led the way for the Greyhounds with a 75, including four birdies, and was the individual runner-up.
Sydney Longstreth was part of the tie for third place with her 76, and made one birdie. Claire Swathwood drained one birdie during her round of 79 and Ava Hedrick had two birdies while carding an 80.
“We had a few struggles out here today, but I’m proud of how the girls stayed focused for their entire round,” said Carmel coach Kelly Kluesner. “Survive and advance is our only goal.”
The ‘Hounds will participate at the state meet for the 29th time, the second most in IHSAA history. Only Lafayette Jefferson, a 31-time state qualifier, has made more appearances.
“The girls have worked hard all season and will put in some days of practice and we’ll be ready for state on Friday,” said Kluesner.
University was making its first appearance at the regional level, and placed 10th with a 364. Becky Williams led the Trailblazers with an 82, including one birdie. Kelsey DuBois carded an 84 and Abby Bladen scored an 89, including one birdie.
Guerin Catholic’s Christina Pfefferkorn will play at state as an individual. Pfefferkorn’s 76 put her in the large tie for third place; she made three birdies in her round.
“I think I played pretty well overall,” said Pfefferkorn. She said a few holes “got away from me,” but she was able to keep it together and return to state for the third time.
MILLERS END DROUGHT
Prior to Saturday, Noblesville had won 11 regional championships in girls golf, easily making it one of the top five schools in terms of most regional titles.
But the last time the Millers had won a regional was in 2007. On Saturday, Noblesville’s total finally moved up to 12, as it triumphed at Edgewood with a team score of 314.
“It feels great,” said Millers coach Justin Werkley. “Obviously the goal was is always to advance to state, but it’s really, really nice to win and play well, especially for these seniors, the three seniors that played today. To get their first regional win is really cool.”
Noblesville had two players finish among the top five individuals. Caroline Whallon placed second with a score of 74, while Sarah Brenneman was fifth with a 77.
The Millers qualified for state for a 27th time, placing them fourth on the all-time list. Columbus North is in third place, earning a 28th appearance at state by placing second at the Washington regional.
Hamilton Southeastern took second with a 324. The Royals also had a consistent day, with Yanah Rolston and Ashley Marcinko both scoring 78s to lead the way.
Amber Luttrell added an 82 for Southeastern, which qualified for state for the 16th time in school history.
Fishers’ Lilly McVay will go to state as an individual, carding a score of 79.
Hamilton Heights’ Sydni Zebrauskas also played as an individual, scoring an 84.
AT SMOCK GOLF COURSE
Team scores: Westfield 305, Carmel 310, Center Grove 320, Franklin Community 326, Zionsville 348, Lebanon 352, Perry Meridian 358, Plainfield 362, Brownsburg 363, University 364, Terre Haute South 373, Western Boone 390, Madison 395, Terre Haute North 397, Northview 399, Scottsburg 432, Lawrenceburg 439, Crawfordsville 443.
Medalist: Samantha Brown (Westfield) 37-36=73.
Other Westfield scores: Sophie McGinnis 40-36=76, Allie Hildebrand 40-37=77, Brette Hanavan 41-38=79, Cate Jensen 45-40=85.
Carmel scores: Katie Kuc 35-40=75, Sydney Longstreth 37-39=76, Claire Swathwood 40-39=79, Ava Hedrick 40-40=80, Michaela Headlee 41-42=83.
University scores: Becky Williams 40-42=82, Kelsey DuBois 41-43=84, Abby Bladen 44-45=89, Vivian Suh 55-54=109, Molly Bickle 56-54=110.
Guerin Catholic score: Christina Pfefferkorn 38-38=76.
AT EDGEWOOD GOLF CLUB
Team scores: Noblesville 314, Hamilton Southeastern 324, Greenfield-Central 345, Richmond 351, Heritage Christian 353, Lapel 356, Batesville 363, Franklin County 366, Mount Vernon 375, Muncie Central 380, Cathedral 382, Yorktown 383, North Central 385, Delta 391, Hagerstown 405, Greensburg 409, New Palestine 410, East Central 457.
Medalist: Macy Beeson (Lapel) 37-36=73.
Noblesville scores: Caroline Whallon 34-40=74, Sarah Brenneman 38-39=77, Taylor Caldwell 42-38=80, Ellie Karst 42-41=83, Jordan Adam 39-47=86.
Southeastern scores: Yanah Rolston 37-41=78, Ashley Marcinko 37-41=78, Amber Luttrell 39-43=82, Marissa Spreitzer 37-49=86, Grace Dubec 48-39=87.
Fishers score: Lilly McVay 39-40=79.
Hamilton Heights score: Sydni Zebrauskas 44-40=84.
Noblesville won its first regional title since 2007 at the Lapel regional, which took place at Edgewood Golf Club in Anderson. (Richie Hall)