Playing at the new Downriver Golf Course in Spokane, the Redmond Mustangs struggled to a seventh-place finish at the girls’ golf Class 4A state tournament on a blustery Wednesday afternoon after having five of six state-bound golfers make the 18-hole cut.
Bellarmine Prep ran away with the state team championship, scoring 127 team points to Central Kitsap’s 85, with Newport placing fourth at 68 points.
Central Kitsap’s Erynne Lee fired a tournament-low 66 on Wednesday to win the state title by eight strokes at 7-under-par 137.
Redmond’s high finisher was three-time state qualifier Kelly Kennewick, who shot a consistent 83-83–166 for a tie of 23rd place.
Junior Keira O’Hearn, the most improved Mustang on the second day, shot 86-83–169 for 29th, while senior Carley Kalina also climbed up the leaderboard with 86-84–170 for 32nd.
Stephanie Schoeppel (83-89–172) and Makayla Walker (85-90–175) rounded out the state finalists for Redmond.
“We kinda played the same, with 11 scores in the 80s. No one went low,” lamented head coach Jake Crowley. “But we had five kids make the cut which is phenomenal. We had the team… but at the state tournament we gotta have a couple girls go low.”
Having played the 4A state tournament at Sun Willows Golf Club in Pasco in both 2009 and 2010, the Mustangs had trouble adjusting to Downriver’s layout, which was much tighter, and drier, than Sun Willows.
“It was a big impact,” Crowley said of the new venue. “You had to hit the ball short and have it run up. Great shots that hit the middle of the green would go over the back and you’d have to chip up.”
Added O’Hearn, who placed eighth at state last year, “The course was pretty dry, something we were not used to. It was tough this year, I don’t think anyone expected the competition to be as tough as it was. So many girls shot amazing rounds.”
While Crowley was impressed with the “phenomenal” depth of the tournament this year, he was satisfied with the way his girls didn’t throw in the towel when pars were simply not easy to come by.
“We are really proud of them, it’s been a great run, a four-year run for our seniors,” he said. “We kinda of took a big-picture approach that we had a great season with the Kingco title and sending six kids to state and districts, we had come a long way. No one melted down, they competed to the very last hole, of their last high school golf tournament. They were grinding and finding a way to score. That’s all we can really ask for.”
Although the girls were naturally disappointed they didn’t come home with a trophy, they knew that nothing could be taken away from their spectacular season.
“Six girls through was an incredible accomplishment, and we got a freshman to state (Casie Helgeson) and five girls to make the cut which was awesome,” O’Hearn said. “We kept that streak alive, 86 matches now, we’re really excited about that.”
On the boys’ side, Charlie Mroz polished off a 10th-place finish shooting 75-75–150 at Qualchan Golf Course in Spokane, with teammate Oliver Rudnicki, who began the day in eighth place, ending up at 74-78–152 in 15th.
Cole Helgeson also made the state cut, shooting 76-82–158 to finish in 37th.
In team totals, the Mustang boys finished seventh, with Bellarmine Prep completing the sweep of 4A golf, winning the closely-contested boys’ team title with 95.5 points over Eastlake (89) and Richland (87).
OWL BOYS FOURTH AT 1A TOURNEY
The Overlake boys’ team put together a strong showing at the 1A state golf tournament at The Home Course in Dupont, finising fourth with 37.5 team points behind Ilwaco, which ran away with the team title scoring 155 points.
High finisher for the Owls was Daniel Lee, shooting 78-80–158 to finish in a five-way tie for 16th, followed by senior Reid Frederickson at 81-82–163. Noah Mayer also made the cut, finishing up with a 176 total for 39th place.
