Andover's Meisch second in 5A golf
HAYS — Luck and a consistent putting game helped Andover senior Audrey Meisch finish second individually Monday at the Class 5A state tournament over a blustery Smoky Hill Country Club.
The luck occurred at the 419-yard, par-5 13th hole, where her second shot headed into a water hazard. But like a stone skipping across a pond, her ball bounced its way to the other side, avoiding the penalty.
"It was one of those things where it could easily go to the bottom of the pond or it could get across, and I was fortunate enough to be dry on the other side," said Meisch, who won her regional last week.
Meisch said her putting was the strongest part of her game Monday.
"My irons weren't too consistent during the day, but once I got on the green, I knew that I had a chance to put it in the hole in one or two putts," she said.
Meisch went on to post twin 41s for an 18-hole total of 82, powering the Trojans to a third-place finish behind champion St. Thomas Aquinas and host school Hays.
"I was pretty confident going into today because I knew I had put in a lot of practice and that this is my time to show that," Meisch said. "The weather wasn't that great, but everyone else had to deal with that, too."
Andover coach Ryan Harshaw said the Trojans' goal was to finish in the top three.
"Coming in, we knew the conditions were going to be difficult and the course was going to play tough today with the thick rough and the cool temperatures and the wind," he said. "The girls stayed patient, just proud of how they stayed patient and posted good numbers."
Meisch's round was a fitting close to her high school career, Harshaw said.
"Audrey's been playing solid all year long," he said. "She was our league champion, our regional champion and it would have been nice to finish off the trifecta and win state, but she had an excellent round."
Had it not been for a blazing round by Aquinas junior Baile Winslow, Meisch might have had her state title. Winslow torched the front nine with a 1-over-par 37 and finished with a 78. Teammate Jordan Chael shot an 84, helping the Saints to the team title with a 352 total.
A year ago, Aquinas literally left its competition in the dust, winning by an astounding 60 strokes. The margin wasn't as large this year, but runner-up Hays High — 13 strokes back — did have some familiarity with the course.
"Everybody's favorite time of the year is state, because we know we can come in and do our best," Winslow said.
Winslow said an eagle-2 at the 419-yard par-5 fifth hole set the tone for her front nine.
"That kind of got the fire going," she said. "I chipped in again on 10, then I had a double bogey but I finished with a par, and that's pretty OK."
Even when she faltered briefly, hooking her drive on the par-4 15th, she managed to recover for a bogey.
Bishop Carroll placed four girls in the 90s — Victoria Harmon (95), Carly Hill (97), Maddie Walden (97) and Lakin Ubert (98) —to tie City League rival Kapaun Mount Carmel for fourth. The Crusaders got an 88 from their top player, senior Courtney Wells, and an 89 from junior Katie Wells, who posted a back-nine 42 despite being hobbled by a hand injury suffered before last Monday's regional.
Hannah Perkins (102) and Kristina Gehrer (108) rounded out the Kapaun scoring. Shelby Hooper's 95 paced Goddard to a seventh-place finish.
At Smoky Hill Country Club, Hays
Team scores—1. St. Thomas Aquinas, 352; 2. Hays, 365; 3. Andover, 378; 4. (tie) Bishop Carroll and Kapaun Mount Carmel, 387; 6. Shawnee Heights, 403; 7. Goddard, 417; 8. Blue Valley Southwest, 446; 9. Blue Valley, 451; 10. Salina South, 470; 11. Emporia, 474; 12. Salina Central, 480.
Top individuals—1. Baile Winslow, STA, 78; 2. Audrey Meisch, And, 82; 3. Jordan Chael, STA, 84; 4. Alissa Kim, SC, 85; 5. Alyssa Lewis, Ark City, 87; 6. (tie) Maddie Curry, Hays and Courtney Wells, KMC, 88; 8. Katie Wells, KMC, 89; 9. (tie) Holly Hattan, Hays and Jessica Morrison, And, 90; 11. Natalie Bethel, Hays, 93; 12. (tie) Kaycee Beilman, Hays, Kelsey Castinado, STA, and Maddie Sherman, Andover Central, 94; 15. (tie) Victoria Harmon, BC, and Shelby Hooper, Goddard, 95; 17. Kelsey Ryan, STA, 96; 18. (tie) Carly Hill and Maddie Walden, BC, 97; 20. (tie) Lakin Ubert, BC, Nikki McCurdy, BVSW, Rachel Anstaett, SH, Megan Richards, BV, and Holly Hottinger, Winfield, 98.
Class 6A — Blue Valley North rolled to the Class 6A title at Olathe. Garden City's Mackenzie Thayer was the individual champion, shooting an 81 as the Buffaloes finished second as a team. Maize finished eighth.
At Shadow Glen Golf Course, Olathe
Team scores—11. Blue Valley North, 349; 2. Garden City, 370; 3. Shawnee Mission East, 377; 4. Olathe Northwest, 385; 5. Washburn Rural, 388; 6. BV West, 405; 7. Manhattan, 410; 8. Maize, 418; 9. Lawrence, 446; 10. Hutchinson, 469; 11. Derby, 512; 12. SM South, 515.
Top individuals—1. Mackenzie Thayer, GC, 81; 2. Natalie Curran, BVN, 81; 3. Stephanie Curran, BVN, 82; 4. Cassie Wang, ONW, 83; 5. Anne Willman, SME, 83; 6. Alexa Henderson, BVW, 84; 7. Megan Manning, Olathe North, 87; 8. Audrey Judd, ONW, 88; 9. Jean Tyrell, BVN, 90; 10. Taelyn Entriken, MZ, 91; 11t. Hannah Sears, SMS, 92; 11t. Jessica Young, SME, 92; 13. Abbi Shaddix, GC, 93; 14t. Jenna Crusinberry, MAN, 94; 14t. Kaci Dillingham, WR, 94; 16. Amber Norman, BVN, 96; 17t. Abbey Campbell, GC, 97; 17t. Kristina Maxwell, BVW, 97; 17t. Emma Hutchinson, WR, 97; 20. Megan DeWerff, WR, 98.