By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The only surprise in Monday's United Kansas Conference girls golf tournament at Shawnee Country Club would have been if Seaman hadn't won.
Seaman's girls golf team won its fourth straight UKC girls golf title by 52 strokes Monday at Shawnee Country Club. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
After all, the Vikings were coming off a 14-stroke victory in the city tournament and had won the previous three UKC tourneys by an average of 51.7 strokes.
Suffice it to say that were no surprises Monday, with senior Elise Eckert leading a one-two-three individual finish as Seaman won its fourth straight conference championship in an many years in the league by a whopping 52-stroke margin over De Soto (327-359).
Seaman senior Elise Eckert shot a 73 to take an eight-stroke individual win in Monday's UKC meet. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Seaman senior Makenna Stuke finished second with an 81 in Monday's UKC meet. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
City champion Eckert shot a 73 for an eight-stroke win while senior Makenna Stuke was second with an 81 and junior Kaitlynn Frye third with an 84.
The Vikings also got a tie for fourth from junior Chloe Schmidtlein (89) and an 11th-place finish from senior Molina Quintana (96).
"I felt like overall we had a good solid day,'' Seaman coach Julie McLaughlin said. "There's always room for improvement. All of them were saying there's things they want to work on, but I like where we're sitting right now.
"All we're focusing on is getting stronger mentally, physically and just being ready for that postseason play when it's here.''
Although she was happy to get the league title, Eckert wasn't particularly pleased with Monday's round.
"I especially struggled a bit with my putting today,'' Eckert said. "Everything else was alright, but putting definitely got me today.''
Seaman has two more regular season tournaments before regionals and state and Eckert, a three-time Class 5A state medalist, wants to continue making strides to get ready for her postseason run.
"I definitely need to work on putting more, but I also need to work on some just basic fundamentals with my swing that I can fix on the course, but l just need to practice more to get everything solid,'' she said.
Shawnee Heights finished fourth as a team, with T-Bird junior Lauryn Valdivia tying for seventh with a 92.
Topeka West's Berlyn Kolean tied for 12th with a 98.
UNITED KANSAS CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
At Shawnee Country Club
Team scores
Seaman 327, De Soto 379, Basehor-Linwood 396, Shawnee Heights 418, Piper 419.
Individual results
1. Elise Eckert, Seaman, 73; 2. Makenna Stuke, Seaman, 81; 3. Kaitlynn Frye, Seaman, 84; 4. (tie) Emily Taylor, De Soto; Chloe Schmidtlein, Seaman, and Aubrey Ziolo, Basehor-Linwood, 89; 7. (tie) McKenzie Laster, DeSoto, and Lauryn Valdivia, Shawnee Heights, 92; 9. (tie) Alina Ross, Piper, and Alli Fandre, De Soto, 94.
Other Shawnee Heights – Elsie Willmann 104, Makenna Bryant 108, Mia Mattox 114, Ashlyn Mattox 122.
Topeka West – Berlyn Kolean 98, Lily Bowen 119.
Hayden, Rural two-three in Centennial League
Defending Class 6A state champion Manhattan swept the top three spots and put its top four in the top six on the way to a 58-stroke win Monday at Junction City while Hayden (373) and Washburn Rural (377) finished second and third in the team standings.
Manhattan's Maddie Myers took medalist honors with a 73 while the Indians' Kat Ball was second with a 74 and Lily Bahr third with an 81.
Hayden senior Izzy Glotzbach shot a city-best 82 Monday to finish fourth in the Centennial League tournament at Junction City. [File photo/TSN]
Hayden senior Izzy Glotzbach placed fourth with an 82 while Wildcat senior Lauren Borjon was fifth with an 86.
Washburn Rural senior Lauren Cox tied for seventh with an 89 while Peyton Merrick and Kailyn Petersen tied for ninth with 95s.
