'It was a surprise:' Colonel Crawford state-bound after runner-up finish at district golf
ARLINGTON — Roni Halberg was simultaneously in shock and ecstatic as scores rolled in at Sycamore Springs in the Division II district girls golf tournament.
"I was not expecting this," she said after her team had finished as district runner-up behind Van Buren. "This was a rebuild year, so I did not think this was in the cards. Halfway through the season I thought maybe we could do it, but inexperience is what I was worried about.
"Especially during the round, I knew my scores were high."
Turns out, everyone's scores were high.
One year ago Colonel Crawford's 387 was enough to qualify for state, but just barely as the fourth advancing team. Monday afternoon, a 388 from the Eagles was bested only by Van Buren's 362 — 15 strokes higher than the Knights shot in 2021 to finish runner-up.
"It's pretty awesome," Halberg said. "I don't know if this sounds bad with me saying it, but it was a surprise. I didn't know scores were high across the board.
"Today, grit won. They didn't give up on their game throughout. I have to love that."
Just shy of one week removed from shooting a 399 at their home course to finish as sectional runners-up to rival Wynford — granted it was in monsoon-like weather — the Eagles used that performance as motivation Monday.
"They came in and didn't want a repeat of last Tuesday," Halberg said. "Of course the conditions helped, but you can't blame everything on the conditions. I think I said last week maybe that was the best thing that could've happened to us because it humbled us and made us remember we need to get better."
And that's exactly what they did. Junior Lucy Myers led the way with an 86, senior Sophie Beck followed with a 93, junior Ayla McKibben shaved 47 strokes off her sectional score by carding a 98 and junior Claire Lehman dropped five strokes in a week by firing a 111. Junior Lexi Rush's 122 was the drop.
"I don't want to say I'm surprised because I know that's what they're capable of," Halberg said of the drops McKibben and Ehman had.
It has been a remarkable five-year stretch for the program. The Eagles debuted as a varsity program in 2018, had their first district qualifier in Mariah Cotsamire in 2019, qualified for districts as a team for the first time in 2020, won their first sectional championship and eventually made their state debut in 2021. And now they add another trophy to the case in 2022 with the district runner-up finish. The only thing left is to see if they can improve on last year's 12th-place finish at state.
Plymouth's Hoak comes up short
Sarah Hoak almost wished she played worse, or the girls just ahead of her played a smidge better. Her 86 on Monday was good enough to tie Myers for sixth overall as an individual, but it was one stroke off from the final individual qualifying spots.
"Last year an 86 didn't make it out by a longshot," Hoak said. "So being this close kinda sucks — I'm not going to lie — it almost makes it worse that I was this close. There is always stuff you can clean up in a round and just emphasizes the 'every stroke counts' (mantra). There were a couple tap-ins I barely missed, a couple times where I pulled my head on shots and hit them off the hosel, stuff like that."
Upper Sandusky's Liv Gier fired an 82 to book the first individual spot, Lima Central Catholic's Bridget Mulcahy nabbed the second with an 83 — the Thunderbirds dominated last year with a 343 but couldn't field a team this season — and 85's from Hicksville's Kenzie Schroeder and Danbury's Kamil Stephens clinched the final two qualifiers.
"I thought I'd have to do a playoff hole so I was over putting," Hoak said as it appeared she'd be tied with Myers for the fourth spot early. "It was a lot better than sitting here; I was getting anxious sitting."
And even though her high school career came to a close Monday afternoon, Hoak said has no plans to hang up her bag. Looking back on the last four years, what she was able to accomplish almost left her speechless.
"My very first tournament as a freshman I shot a 152," she said. "I started freshman year, so going from that to almost going to state — freshman me would've never thought that.
"I've come a long way, that's for sure, and I still have a long way to go. I don't plan on stopping golfing. We'll see where it takes me."
Wynford improves in second appearance, Galion's Conner in the top 50
Last year was historic for Wynford as the program qualified for the district tournament for the first time. The Royals went on to shoot a 449 and finished 15th.
Fast forward one year and after winning a sectional championship last week Wynford took its four golfers to Sycamore Springs and shot a 418 to place 10th overall. And the Royals nearly had a state qualifier in senior Jordyn Alspach, whose 87 was two strokes behind Schroeder and Stephens. She placed ninth as an individual.
"It has been incredible," coach Sean Weisenauer said of the past two seasons. "Last year was the first year we qualified out of sectionals and got to districts. This year was the first year we won sectionals and got to come back here. It was still a great experience for the kids. I just wish it was a little different.
"A few (strokes) lower would've been nice, but all the kids pretty much shot at or under their average. So, as a coach, I can't expect much more out of that."
Monday afternoon brought an end to the careers of Alspach, Kyliana Bennett (110) and Melanie Johnson (112).
"They're my first kids I had," Weisenauer said. "They're the first ones to be part of a district-qualifying team and sectional championship. For these three to do that, it'll show the other kids coming up that they can be successful."
He's hoping that success continues next season and beyond. Freshman Rylee Robinson shot a 109 in her first district appearance, and the program will be getting some promising young talent next year.
"(It) will be the first year I get some of my middle school coming up," Weisenauer said. "Some have played for three or four years in our middle school program. A lot of them can really hit it — I'm excited about that."
Galion senior Julia Conner carded a 105 as the program's first ever female district tournament qualifier. She tied for 50th with a 52-53, beating out 38 other golfers.
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This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Colonel Crawford girls runner-up at D-II district golf tournament
