'It's going to push them:' Colonel Crawford up one from last year, finish 11th at state
COLUMBUS — Coach Roni Halberg knew Colonel Crawford wasn't going to be competing with the likes of eventual first-time state champion Columbus Academy (647), runner-up Garaway (670) and Independence (691) for the Division II girls state golf title.
No, this trip — the program's second in as many years — was all about building confidence and gaining valuable state experience that very few golfers have the opportunity to do as just 71 qualify for the final weekend.
"Only losing one going into next year, we of course focused on today, but a lot of our conversations were about next year when we're back and having that mentality," Halberg said. "We did have a lot of inexperience coming into today and I hope that really drives us. I can't talk about preseason because it's so far away, but hopefully this made them hungry."
Despite shooting 26 strokes higher than last year, Colonel Crawford finished one spot better in 11th with a 797 (401-396), dropping five strokes off Friday's score.
"It's going to push them to want to come back," Halberg said. "Even from yesterday going into today, they talked about wanting to see improvement. Sophie (Beck) shot 10 strokes lower today; that's pretty impressive. We talked a lot about this being her last time, (so) just go out and play with heart. She enjoyed herself all day. Even after bad shots she enjoyed the moment, and that's what it should be all about. If I can get the younger ones to have that mentality, some really good things can happen."
Beck, the lone senior, fired a 190 (100-90) thanks to a big shift in her mentality heading into her final round representing the Eagles. It was 11 strokes better than her junior year when she did something similar, shooting 105 on Friday and 96 on Saturday.
"I had a different mindset of playing for the team and the team needing a low score," Beck said. "Not that I didn't play like that (Friday), I just really wanted to improve and putting was a lot different. I realized what I did (Friday) … so I changed what I did and that really helped."
Lucy Myers led the way with a 182 (90-92) — eight strokes better than last year — Lexi Rush carded a 212 (104-108), Ayla McKibben 213 (107-106) and Claire Lehman 222 (112-110). All four are juniors.
"We (didn't) finish where we wanted to, but we're where we were seeded to be," Halberg said. "It does put that fire under them."
With most of the team returning, along with No. 6 Madison Gray, a sophomore who was knocking on the door to be in the mix all season, the Eagles are in a great position to keep their run to state going. But for it to turn into one like the neighboring Galion boys, who just made their sixth consecutive appearance, Halberg needs the program to keep growing.
"I'm nervous because I'm lacking in the young ones — I don't have any freshmen — so we need to do a better job recruiting to get that," she said. "The school helps with promoting the program, doing the state walkthrough, and I think a lot of kids don't even realize we have a girls golf team. Just getting the word out that this is an option … a lot don't understand this is an option or the success we're having until after their freshman year.
"Anybody reading this, please think about golf," she said with a laugh.
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This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Colonel Crawford girls improve, up one to 11th at D-II state golf
