Swiggum earns Lenawee County Girls Golfer of the Year
ADRIAN —In the offseason, Lenawee Christian’s Lauren Swiggum, in addition to playing basketball and soccer for the Cougars, took part in a number of amateur golf competitions to keep sharp in preparation for this fall’s season.
“I personally think it helped a lot being able to play over the summer," Swiggum said. "I was able to hit my peak right when at the beginning of the season and then was able to stay at that peak through the rest of it.”
The preseason work paid off, as on a team where any one of the five scoring golfers could lead the team at any given point of the year, Swiggum found a way to stand out, helping to take the reins and become a leader for the team.
“Part of it is just getting to know everybody," she said. "I have close friendships with everybody on our team and we are all ok with confronting each other about something or offering advice. It’s just something that I kind of picked up on at the beginning of the season.”
Helping to lead the team this year, she finished consistently well in the Independent Golf League jamborees, was one of three LCS golfers to finish in the top five in the Cougars’ first-ever home regional and then placed in the top five again in the state meet, the only Lenawee County-based golfer to do it.
For her accomplishments this fall, Swiggum has been named the 2021 Lenawee County Girls Golfer of the Year, as selected by The Daily Telegram’s sports staff.
“It means a lot just to know that, not only am I recognized with in my small community (of Lenawee Christian),” Swiggum said, “but also within the county.”
Being part of a quintet of golfers on the team along with Avery Sluss, Morgan Bell, Maddie Shaw and Yuki Nakamura saw any one of them be a top contender at any point in the season helped push Swiggum to play better as the season wore on.
Swiggum was the top Cougar golfer at three of their Independent Golf League (IGL) jamborees this season and a couple of the 18-hole invitationals as well and helped LCS to win the regional championship with a fifth-place finish individually, three shots behind the team’s leading finisher on the day in Sluss.
“It took a while for her to figure out the change in her swing," said head coach Craig Morr. "I could see the improvement in her swing and once she figured out how to make that swing for her, that’s when it really started clicking, right around the midpoint of the season, and she was on fire after that.”
On the opening day of states, Swiggum shot an 83 in 12th place in the individual standings as part of the Cougars sitting in sixth at the end of the opening day of competition.
Coming into the final round, she bettered her previous day’s effort by shooting an 81, leapfrogging herself up into a tie for fourth place with Lansing Catholic’s Sailor Somerville in the standings with a total of 164.
“I’m honestly just so proud of the girls and the commitment they showed," Swiggum said. "Also, our coach who has continued to push us to get up to the level that we are at, so it means a lot."
Swiggum is already planning to play some offseason golf again to be ready for the 2022 season, where LCS looks to potentially contend for a state championship, with that being her focus.
“I definitely see ourselves having a run at state champs next year, given that our team is completely junior-based and a lot of the teams this year had a reliance on seniors,” Swiggum said, “I think it kind of opens the door for us.”
All-County Team
First Team
Lauren Swiggum, LCS
Avery Sluss, LCS
Annika Berg, Onsted
Morgan Bell, LCS
Kyleigh Ramos, Clinton
Second Team
Madalyn Shaw, LCS
Maddy Zellen, Onsted
Lainey Betz, Adrian
Quinn Hale, Adrian
Lucy Whelan, Tecumseh
Honorable Mentions
Brooke Kosco, Tecumseh
Emma Fair, Clinton
Breanna Ramos, Clinton
Yuki Nakamura, LCS
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Lenawee Christian's Swiggum named Lenawee County Girls Golfer of the Year
