Carmel places fifth, HSE sixth, Noblesville ninth – Six golfers named to All-State Team
By RICHIE HALL
CARMEL – The Westfield girls golf team has qualified for the state meet in seven of the last eight years, and each time, the Shamrocks have finished in the top six.
That streak continued this weekend at the state meet, which finished up Saturday at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel. Westfield was back on the podium, as the Shamrocks improved their second-round score by 11 shots over their first-round score, and that moved them up to third place.
Westfield had a two-day total of 637. The Shamrocks’ second-day score was 313, an improvement over their first-day score of 324.
“It was good today,” said Westfield coach Trevor Neu. “It was nice that we put together a good day to move up the ladder a little bit. Yesterday was pretty disappointing for us as a team. A lot of teams struggled yesterday. We rebounded well. The kids played a lot better golf today, a lot smarter golf, tried to miniminze the mistakes today and that definitely paid off for us.”
The ‘Rocks had a top 10 finisher in Sophie McGinnis. The senior played consistently throughout her two rounds and finished with a two-day score of 151. McGinnis carded a 75 on Saturday, a one-shot improvement over her Friday effort of 76.
“Sophie had a really good two days,” said Neu. “She played the course really well, managed everything really well, just handled her emotions. She’s a senior, so you’d expect that a little bit. Really proud of her two days, really proud of all the kids in bouncing back.”
McGinnis had two birdies during her second round. Samantha Brown, who also totaled a 75 during her second day, collected three birdies on Saturday. Addi Kooi had two and Allie Hildebrand made one. McGinnis and Brown were both named to the All-State team at the conclusion of the meet.
This year’s state meet finished after 7 p.m., as it had to absorb a two-hour rain delay during the late morning and early afternoon. But there was nothing that could stop Evansville North. The Huskies defended their state championship with a dominant score of 606, well ahead of runner-up Homestead’s 624. Castle took fourth with a 639, giving the Evansville area two podium teams. Lapel’s Macy Beeson defended her individual state championship with a two-day score of 144.
Carmel took fifth place with a team total of 652. The Greyhounds were also led by a senior, Ava Hedrick, who scored a 157 over her two days, making two birdies during her second round.
Michaela Headlee was right behind Hedrick with a 158, including two birdies of her own. Headlee was also named to the All-State team. All three of the other Carmel players – Ava Nguyen, Claire Swathwood and Sophie Mock – each made one birdie in the second round.
The ‘Hounds had a 323 for their second-day score, improving by six shots over the first round.
“We were able to make up some shots today,” said Greyhounds coach Kelly Kluesner. “Still didn’t play quite as well as we had hoped for after that rain delay, but a top-five finish after our start yesterday, we’ll take it.”
Hamilton Southeastern placed sixth at the state meet, its best finish since the Royals took third in 2014. Southeastern got an oustanding effort from Yanah Rolston, who tied for seventh place with a 150.
Rolston had two birdies during her second round, and was named to the All-State team afterward. Marissa Spreitzer also collected one birdie. The Royals scored a 330 for their second round.
“We really were off to a really pretty good start,” said Southeastern coach Steve Guenin. “Then we got rained on, and we came out and struggled after the delay. But we did fine. We came out here and we gutted it out and did a nice job hanging in there. Not as well as we’d hoped, but it was good.”
Noblesville scored a 684 for its two-day total, placing the Millers in ninth. Noblesville had a second-round score of 345.
Caroline Whallon led the Millers with a 160; she scored 80s in both rounds of the tournament and was named to the All-State team. Sophia Stutz had one birdie in her second round.
“It was a long, tough day,” said Noblesville coach Justin Werkley. “I think we did fine. Again, could have played better, could have played worse. I think they all did their best and that’s all we ever ask.”
Two individuals had high finishes at the state meet. University senior Becky Williams tied for 11th place with a 153; Williams rose up to that position by scoring a 73 during her second round, including four birdies.
Guerin Catholic senior Christina Pfefferkorn scored a 159, tying her for 24th place. Pfefferkorn had two birdies during her second round.
Pfefferkorn was also named to the All-State team. She is not only the first Golden Eagles golfer to make it to state all four years, but she is the only athlete in Guerin Catholic history to reach state all four years in any sport.
Team scores: Evansville North 302-304=606, Homestead 317-307=624, Westfield 324-313=637, Castle 320-319=639, Carmel 329-323=652, Hamilton Southeastern 326-330=656, Culver Academies 322-335=657, Center Grove 336-327=663, Noblesville 339-345=684, Floyd Central 353-350=703, Penn 382-367=749, Western 381-374=755, NorthWood 373-385=758, Batesville 392-376=768, Crown Point 384-393=777.
Meet medalist: Macy Beeson (Lapel) 70-74=144.
Westfield scores: Sophie McGinnis 76-75=151, Samantha Brown 79-75=154, Addi Kooi 85-81=166, Brette Hanavan 84-82=166, Allie Hildebrand 85-87=172.
Carmel scores: Ava Hedrick 79-78=157, Michaela Headlee 80-78=158, Ava Nguyen 85-81=166, Sophie Mock 85-87=172, Claire Swathwood 87-86=173.
Southeastern scores: Yanah Rolston 74-76=150, Marissa Spreitzer 83-85=168, Lauren Stewart 85-87=172, Cora Zink 91-82=173, Ella Bui 84-90=174.
Noblesville scores: Caroline Whallon 80-80=160, Sophia Stutz 86-86=172, Jordan Adam 85-89=174, Olivia Anderson 97-90=185, Erin Burt 88 (first day), Bergan Zebrauskas 100 (second day).
University score: Becky Williams 80-73=153.
Guerin Catholic score: Christina Pfefferkorn 78-81=159.