By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural and Hayden fell short in their bids for the Centennial League girls golf championship Monday at Shawnee Country Club, with Manhattan successfully defending its league title.
But the Junior Blues and Wildcats both carded season-best team scores en route to second and third-place finishes and both Washburn Rural coach Jared Goehring and Hayden coach Jayson Duncan felt like Monday was a step forward for their teams with postseason rapidly approaching.
Washburn Rural posted a four-person score of 319, five strokes behind Manhattan, with five Junior Blues scoring between 76 and 83 and finishing in the top 11.
Washburn Rural senior Reece Randall tied for third place in Monday's Centennial League tournament, helping lead the Junior Blues to a second-place team finish. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Natalie Peterson tied for sixth in Monday's Centennial League golf tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Reece Randall paced the Junior Blues with a a tie for third, shooting a 76, while senior Natalie Peterson tied for sixth (78), senior Colbey Stead placed 10th (82) and junior Lauren Cox and sophomore Kailyn Petersen tied for 11th place (83).
"Overall, it was a good day,'' Goehring said. "It was our lowest team score of the year and that's what you want to be doing this time of year. We had five girls all at 83 or better today and that's what we're going to need more of going into postseason in a week.''
Hayden junior Lauren Borjon finished second in Monday's Centennial League golf tournament, helping the Wildcats finish third as a team. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden, the defending Class 4A state champion, finished five strokes behind Washburn Rural at 324, led by junior individual runnerup Lauren Borjon, who shot a 75 to finish three strokes behind individual champion Maddie Myers of Manhattan.
"It was good,'' Borjon said of her round. "It started off a little bad, but I finished really strong, and the team played good.
"I think we've come together a lot. I think we're definitely getting a lot closer and the scores are starting to get a lot closer and we're all starting to play really well.''
Hayden senior Addyson Baer posted a fifth-place individual finish in Monday's Centennial League golf tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Wildcats also got a fifth-place finish from senior Addyson Baer (77) while junior Izzy Glotzbach tied for eighth (80).
"There's not a lot of teams in this, but there's a lot of quality,'' Duncan said. "You throw us and Rural and Manhattan in a tournament and there's some good things. We played really well and came up a little short, but it's a good sign of things to come.''
Rural's Randall put herself in position to challenge for the individual title most of the day before being derailed by a triple bogey, but still finished just a stroke behind Borjon, tying Emporia junior Elise Eckert for third place, and was happy with the way she battled throughout her round.
"I think I played really well today,'' Randall said. "I think I stayed positive even after that bad hole because I didn't let that snowball. I went to the next hole and I parred. I feel like that was kind of how I was all day. I didn't let a bad hole affect me, I just moved on.''
Randall was also proud with how the Junior Blues played as a team.
"We just put up our lowest team score, which is super exciting,'' Randall said. "Our team goal is to have four counting scores under 85 and we definitely accomplished that today.''
CENTENNIAL LEAGUE GOLF
At Shawnee Country Club
Team scores
Manhattan 314, Washburn Rural 319, Hayden 324, Junction City 443, Emporia 502.
Individual results
1. Maddie Myers, Manhattan, 72; 2. Lauren Borjon, Hayden, 75; 3. (tie) Elise Eckert, Emporia, and Reece Randall, Washburn Rural, 76; 5. Addyson Baer, Hayden, 77; 6. (tie) Kaitlyn Lagabed, Manhattan, and Natalie Peterson, Washburn Rural, 78; 8. (tie) Izzy Glotzbach, Hayden, and Lily Bahr, Manhattan, 80; 10. Colbey Stead, Washburn Rural, 82; 11. (tie) Lauren Cox, Washburn Rural, and Kailyn Petersen, Washburn Rural, 83; 13. Wrenn Burton, Manhattan, 87; 14. Emily Wuggazer, Manhattan, 87; 15. (tie) Kat Ball, Manhattan, 89; 16. (tie) Brooke Johnson, Hayden, and Jessica Kim, Manhattan, 92; 18. Taryn Jellison, Washburn Rural, 93.
Other Washburn Rural -- Briley Miles 96, Ella Taggart 100.
Other Hayden -- Nora Allphin 94, Avery Becker 111, Maura Tolin 115, Kellyn Specht 115.
Topeka High -- Montgomerie Freel 116, Catherine Falk 129, Lauren Wadley 138.
