Playoff Roundup: Traverse City St. Francis, Charlevoix win boys golf regional championships; Elk Rapids, Boyne City soccer to meet for district title

May 31—EAST TAWAS — Jim Hornyak had a pretty simple message for his golfers. Simple, but effective.

The Traverse City St. Francis varsity boys golf head coach told his five Gladiators to go out on the course at Red Hawk Golf Club and do two things — have fun and play smart.

The proof is in the proverbial pudding as 15th-ranked St. Francis went on to win the Division 3 regional championship by four strokes over No. 9 Manistee, 327-331, on Tuesday.

"This was a big surprise," Hornyak said. "We've had to build throughout the season, and our guys are starting to peak and play smarter than they did earlier in the year. Those are all good things."

The Glads finished second in the regional last season, but they graduated four seniors from that squad, which left Hornyak with a talented-but-young roster that featured four sophomores and a freshman.

Hornyak said his golfers had always been "close" to reaching their potential this season, but last Monday's Traverse City Central Invitational seemed to be the moment they turned the corner with a second-place finish among a crop of Division 1-4 schools.

"We felt pretty good about ourselves that day," Hornyak said. "That definitely helped with our confidence, and you can see our guys just coming around and finding where they're comfortable."

David Ansley finished his 18 holes tied for the low individual score at 76. The St. Francis sophomore and Tawas' Alex Kaems would head for a playoff, which Kaems won to earn the regional title. Ansley's teammate, Josh Slocum, took third overall with a 79 as freshman William Gibbons shot an 84 and Owen Jackson carded an 88.

"(Monday) night, I actually had a pretty good feeling about this one," Hornyak said. "If we're going to go any place, we're going there to win. That's always the goal. But with as young as we are, I just wanted them to get to states and qualify so they can get a feeling of what playing a real two-day tournament against some good competition is like. That experience will pay off over the next couple of years."

The D3 state finals run June 9-10 at Michigan State University's Forest Akers West Course.

"But this season is not over yet, and we still have some work to do," Hornyak said. "We'll give it our best shot."

Other area golfers in the top 10 included Manistee's brother duo of Max and Jacob Scharp along with Kalkaska's Cooper Swikoski tied for fourth with an 80. Manistee's Braydon Sorenson was tied for ninth with an 83, and teammate Ben Schlaff had an 88.

Boyne City finished fifth with a 357 as Andrew Stadt fired an 84, Ryan Reynolds carded an 86, Jack Neer shot a 88, and Alex Calcaterra finished with a 99. Kalkaska was eighth with a 365, led by Swikoski and then Logan Whiteford with a 92, Thorston Booy with a 94, and Nick Little with a 99. Elk Rapids was ninth with a 369, paced by Owen Spencer with an 86, Spencer Ball with a 91, Gabe Lavely with a 93, and Greyson Cook with a 99.

Kingsley finished tied for 12th with a 398 and was led by Sam Keena's 91. Grayling was 16th with a 413 as Bryce Malcolm led with a 102. Lake City finished 17th with a 428, paced by Hunter Geiger's 99.

BOYS GOLF REGIONALS

No. 4 Rayders topple No. 2 Lakers for championship

HARBOR SPRINGS — In the battle of the heavy-hitting top-10 Division 4 teams, it was the fourth-ranked Rayders of Charlevoix besting No. 2 Glen Lake by 10 strokes and No. 7 Suttons Bay by 30 to claim the regional championship at Harbor Point Golf Course on Tuesday.

Charlevoix finished the day with a 309, the Lakers ended at 319, and the Norsemen at 339. All three teams qualified for the state finals at the Bedford Valley Golf Course in Battle Creek on June 9-10.

"I'm really proud of the boys, and we've had a great season," Charlevoix head coach Doug Drenth said. "Glen Lake is a very, very good golf team. So anytime you can beat a team like, it's a big confidence boost for the guys."

The Rayders' low scorer was also the top medalist and the individual regional champion. Hudson Vollmer fired an even-par 71 to finish first by four strokes over Glen Lake's Michael Houtteman and Blake O'Connor, who each fired a 75 for the Lakers. Vollmer played a steady round, picking up an eagle and three birdies as well as 10 pars along the way.

Charlevoix trailed for the majority of the meet, falling behind anywhere between two to eight strokes. But things started to turn around when the Rayders caught the Lakers at the 12th hole, Drenth said, leading to their first regional title in more than 10 years after several second-place finishes.

"We really finished well," Drenth said. "And that 309, we believe it is a school record. The boys did a great job, and I'm really happy for them."

The rest of the top 10 individuals — which featured the rest of Charlevoix's top four scorers — included Harbor Springs Carson Chumber and Suttons Bay's Nathan Schaub tied for fourth with a 76, Charlevoix's Sam Pletcher alone in sixth with a 77 and fellow Rayder Emmett Bergmann in seventh with a 79, East Jordan's Jonathan Ringstrom in eighth with an 81, Charlevoix's Henry Herzog in ninth with an 82, and then Harbor Springs' Olin Alonzi and Glen Lake's Garrett Moss tied for 10th with an 84.

The second-place Lakers' fourth scorer was Drew Dezelski with an 85. The Norsemen's other three contributing to the state-finals berth were Dylan Barnowski with an 86, Ethan Coleman with an 87, and Joseph Howard with a 90. Harbor Springs also shot a 339 to tie with Suttons Bay, but the Norsemen's fifth scorer had the edge. The Rams' third and fourth scorers were Chase LaFaive with an 86 and Mitchell Caron with a 93.

Fifth place was East Jordan with a 359. After Ringstrom's top-10 performance, the Red Devils had Ty Burks with an 89, Alexander Rodgers with a 94, and Scott Lyons with a 95. Leland ended in seventh with a 374, led by Liam Waskiewicz with an 88, Howie Kropp with a 91, Max Waldrup with a 95, and Weston Burda with a 100.

Gaylord St. Mary in eighth with a 413 and Traverse City Christian in 10th with a 424 were the only other area top-10 teams. The Snowbirds were led by Kaid Pawlanta with a 97, Zachary Koenig with a 101, Sam Jacobson with a 104, and Wyatt Hanley with a 111. Joey Mirabelli paced the Sabres with a 90 followed by Garrett Schultz with a 102, Rowan Blain with a 111, and Austin Miller with a 121. Johannesburg-Lewiston was 11th with a 442, led by Jacob Baker's 99.

As for the state-bound Rayders, they have been finding their groove in the latter part of the 2023 season and seem to be clicking at the exact right time.

"Golf is a sport where if you believe and have confidence, you can do it," Drenth said. "They know they can hit shots. Even if they have a bad hole, they know they have the ability to come back. If you're confident in your ability to play, it's priceless."

Drenth said he hopes to get another match in before the state finals begin June 9. He thought he'd reach out to Glen Lake, Suttons Bay, Traverse City St. Francis and a few others to try and keep the competitive spirit going.

"When you win a championship, there are a lot of things that go into that," Drenth said. "My assistant coaches as well as the Charlevoix Junior Golf Program deserve a lot of credit. You don't win in isolation, and I really believe those individuals that help every day at practice are a huge part of this."

McBain NMC finishes runner-up at Stonegate

TWIN LAKE — McBain Northern Michigan Christian fell just short of winning a Division 4 regional championship at Stonegate Golf Club on Tuesday, finishing runner-up to Grandville Calvin Christian by 10 strokes. The second-place effort qualifies the Comets for the state finals in Battle Creek on June 9-10.

The top four Comets combined to shoot a 344, but Grandville's top was just a bit better with a 334. Titus Best led McBain NMC with an 84 followed by Emmitt Baas with an 86, as well as Cameron Baas and Blair DeZeeuw each with an 87. Best was tied for third place on the individual leaderboard as Grandville took the top two spots with an 82 from Will Orme and an 83 from Josh Vander Wal.

Frankfort finished sixth overall with a 375 and was led by Cash Rosum, who finished tied for 11th with an 87. Aiden O'Dwyer carded an 88, Elliott Hammon fired a 92, and Emmitt Blough finished with a 102.

Manton took seventh with a 382, paced by Fabio Castro with an 89 and followed by Lincoln Hicks with a 96, Connor Garno with a 97, and Mateo Powell with an even 100.

Onekama continued the string of area teams in the top 10 with a seventh-place effort at 389. Nathan Corey shot an 89 to lead the way for the Portagers. Peyton Clouse carded a 93, Drew McIsaac had a 96, and Reece Tiel finished with a 111.

McBain ended the day in 13th with a 465, and Mesick took 14th with a 490. Spencer Reed was the Ramblers' top golfer at 96, and Diego Ham fired a 100 to pace the Bulldogs.

GIRLS SOCCER DISTRICT SEMIS

Midland Dow 6

TC Central 2

Traverse City Central: Addison Booher 1 goal; Elizabeth Thaxton 1 assist; Lucia France 1 goal; Tessa Petty 1 assist; Amelia Jordan 10 saves.

UP NEXT: The Trojans end their season at 10-10-2.

Elk Rapids 5

TC St. Francis 0

Elk Rapids: Kendall Standfest 1 goal; Lauren Bingham 2 goals; Sofie Bellner 1 goal; Lea Tribouillard 1 goal; Pipre Meteer 3 assist; Ally Plum 1 assist; Jorja Jenema 5 saves.

Traverse City St. Francis: No stats reported.

UP NEXT: The Elks (18-0-1) play for a Division 3 district championship against Boyne City at 5 p.m. Thursday at Grayling. The Gladiators end their season at 10-4-2.

Boyne City 7

Grayling 0

Boyne City: Braydin Noble 1 goal, 1 assist; Kensy Wilson 1 goal, 1 assist; Gabby Dunlap 1 goal; Addie Patton 2 goals; Ella Walsh 2 goals; Elly Day 1 assist; Mira Hauger 1 assist; Maggi McHugh 1 save, 6th shutout of season.

Grayling: No stats reported.

UP NEXT: The Ramblers (11-2-2) play for a Division 3 district championship against Elk Rapids at 5 p.m. Thursday in Grayling. The Vikings end their season at 7-11-1.

McBain NMC 8

BR Crossroads 1

McBain Northern Michigan Christian: No stats reported.

UP NEXT: The Comets (14-3) play for a district championship against Shelby at 5 p.m. Thursday at Brethren's Bobcat Stadium.

Shelby 4

Buckley 2

Buckley: Maddi Sladek 17 saves, two PK saves; Avalon Valentine 1 goal; Maddie Chilson 1 assist; Taylor Yuresko 1 PK goal.

UP NEXT: The Bears end their season at 6-9-2.