The Girls Golf team won the Class Three State Championship title with a score of 675 on October 20.
Along with winning the team title, senior Katie Schreiner placed second, senior Danika Stilwell tied for third place, senior Isabelle Thrall placed sixth, and freshman Maurissa Thrall placed 28th individually. Stilwell said this was the first time in Summit history that a girls or boys golf team has ever qualified for State as a team, let alone win it.
“It just shows how strong of a team we were this year. It was a great feeling to win State as a team, but it’s a little different than it would be for other sports because it’s also an individual sport. On our own, we were all a little disappointed in how we finished, but then we all got kind of picked up by the fact that we won State as a team,” Stilwell said.
After the opening day of the 36-hole State tournament, the girls had already built up a 24-shot lead. They ended State with a 41 shot lead ahead of St. Teresa’s Academy. Schreiner said she was really excited that they won State as a team.
“We’ve all put in so much time and effort in and out of the season and it’s great to see all our hard work pay off,” Schreiner said.
Girls golf coach Corey Choate said he was really impressed to have all three of his seniors become All State (top 15) golfers.
“I’m very proud of our athletes for the hard work they have put in. Winning the State tournament was a great accomplishment and it was awesome to see our hard work pay off. We had a great group of seniors who have been extremely committed to the golf program for the last four years, and I was especially happy for them. To see them achieve their goals and get to celebrate together was really cool,” Choate said.
Going into the State tournament, Isabelle Thrall said she was filled with nerves since they knew they had a chance at winning. She said that she just had to forget about that and just play her game.
“Overall, my first day I had some bad holes but still managed to play good. The second day was definitely not my best round but I still finished in the top 15 which was my goal,” Isabelle Thrall said.
Stilwell said that she was happy with her performance on the second day of State and it was a good round to end her high school career on.
“I was a little nervous [going into State] because I knew I had the potential to finish really well. Since I’ve decided I don’t want to play in college, I knew it would be my last competitive golf round and I wanted to go out on a good note,” Stilwell said.
With three seniors on the State championship team, Choate said that he is going to miss their hard work and commitment to each other.
“They had great team chemistry, and always played for each other,” Choate said.
Stilwell said the biggest thing she is going to miss about high school golf is the people.
“I’ve been so lucky to have such a good coach and teammates these last four years. We’re always able to both take practice seriously and improve, but also have a lot of laughs,” Stilwell said.
