By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's girls golf team is set to make its familiar trip to the Class 6A state tournament after a solid second-place finish in Monday's Class 6A regional at Cypress Ridge.
Washburn Rural's girls golf team poses for a picture after finishing second in Monday's Class 6A regional at Cypress Ridge. [Washburn Rural golf]
The Junior Blues shot a four-person score of 329 at regionals as Washburn Rural combined with regional champ Manhattan (315) to earn the first 11 individual places.
Seniors Natalie Peterson (77) and Reece Randall (78) finished third and fourth to pace Washburn Rural while junior Lauren Cox placed eighth (85) and sophomore Kailyn Petersen finished 10th (89).
"Our top two did their job today,'' Washburn Rural coach Jared Goehring said. "I'm sure they'd like to have a couple of those shots back, but for sure those top two with Natalie and Reece led us going into today and I think they're going to continue to lead us going into the state tournament.''
Washburn Rural senior Natalie Peterson shot a 77 on Monday to place third individually in the Class 6A regional tournament at Cypress Ridge. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Reece Randall shot a 78 on Monday to finish fourth in the Class 6A regional tournament at Cypress Ridge. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Both Peterson and Randall were pleased overall with their day's work at regionals.
"I felt pretty good,'' Peterson said. "My chipping and putting were going really well. I was pretty steady all day with just a few bad holes.''
"It felt good,'' Randall said of her round. "I'd never broke 80 here before and it's my home course, so it was really exciting to shoot 78.''
Senior Colbey Stead finished 11th with a 96 for the Junior Blues while junior Ella Taggart tied for 17th with a 109.
Manhattan sophomore Maddie Myers shot a 74 to earn medalist honors on Monday while Indian junior Kat Ball was a stroke behind with a 76.
The Indians also got a tie for fifth from junior Wrenn Burton and senior Kaitlyn Lagabed with 83s to round out their top four.
The Class 6A state tournament will be played next Monday and Tuesday at Hutchinson's Carey Park.
The top six teams after Monday's opening round will advance to Tuesday's final 18 holes and Goehring feels like the Junior Blues can put themselves in a position to make it to the final day.
"Today was a step in the right direction,'' Goehring said. "We didn't have our best stuff at Stagg Hill last week but this week I thought we responded very well on a golf course that we know very well and are familiar with, so we're very excited and we can't wait to see where we stack up and hope that we can qualify for Day 2 at the state tournament.''
"We want to put up a solid team score both days that gets us to the second day and leaves us being competitive,'' Randall said.
CLASS 6A REGIONAL
At Cypress Ridge
Team scores
Manhattan 315, Washburn Rural 329, Lawrence Free State 418, Junction City 480, Lawrence 481, Gardner-Edgerton 483.
Individual results
1. Maddie Myers, Manhattan, 74; 2. Kat Ball, Manhattan, 75; 3. Natalie Peterson, Washburn Rural, 77; 4. Reece Randall, Washburn Rural, 78; 5. (tie) Wrenn Burton, Manhattan, and Kaitlyn Lagabed, Manhattan, 83; 7. Emily Wuggazer, Manhattan, 84; 8. Lauren Cox, Washburn Rural, 85; 9. Lily Bahr, Manhattan, 87; 10. Kailyn Petersen, Washburn Rural, 89.
Individual state qualifiers -- Annalesa Pond, Junction City; Lana Bayles, Gardner-Edgerton; Maria Guereca, Lawrence; Kaitlyn Brady, Junction City; Cami Nauholz, Lawrence; Addie Patterson, Campus.
Other Washburn Rural -- 11. Colbey Stead 96, 17. (tie) Ella Taggart, 109.
Topeka High -- 26. (tie) Montgomery Freel, 125; 30. (tie) Haley Custenborder, 127.
