MONTICELLO — The golfers from Cass County didn’t have their best rounds but it was still good enough to get past the Twin Lakes Sectional for Logansport’s team and Pioneer’s Mia McKaig.
The No. 19-ranked Berries shot a 361 to advance with three shots to spare to grab the third and final spot ahead of two-time defending champion Kankakee Valley. No. 17 Rochester won with a 327. Rensselaer was runner-up with a 356.
“That’s always your goal is to get out in advance, and the girls did that,” Logansport coach Abby Lundy said. “Obviously not the best rounds that they were hopeful for today. But again, we shot a score that advanced still. Our next goal is Saturday and we’ll work really hard this week to play great on Saturday.”
Pioneer junior Mia McKaig shot an 86 to advance as the top individual on a non-advancing team. KV’s Kaylee Anderson also shot an 86 and McKaig defeated her in a playoff to earn the top spot. Twin Lakes’ Layla Stearns shot 89 to grab the final individual spot in the regional.
The Lake Central Regional is set to get underway at 8 a.m. Saturday at Sandy Pines Golf Club.
Logansport shot a 362 nine days earlier at Bear Slide Golf Club in Cicero to win the first Hoosier Conference championship in any sport in school history. It was the Berries’ fourth conference title in program history.
Although it was a slightly higher score, Lundy said that Bear Slide plays much more difficult for the girls golfers than the sectional site, Tippecanoe Country Club.
“Bear Slide is probably one of the hardest courses in Indiana for girls golf just because it’s a lot of place shots,” she said. “There’s not a lot of areas to where if you go right or left off the tee box you’re safe, not a lot of bailout areas is what I call them.”
Sophia Kay shot an 83 to lead the Berries which was good enough for fourth among all individuals at the sectional.
“It was a really up and down round, but that kind of sums up golf,” she said. “I played really good on the front — 38 is pretty good for me. And then on the back I went through a span I think I went triple, double, bogey and I still shot 83. So if that doesn’t tell you anything we should really take from golf is never give up because one shot can really make the difference.”
It’s the fourth straight year that Kay has advanced out of the sectional with the Berries as a team. They won the sectional title three years ago with a 364 and won a North Central Conference title two years ago with another top 20 ranked team. She is the lone returning golfer from those teams.
“I know it was a little closer than we expected and I know some of the girls maybe didn’t play their best, but at the end of the day we’re still going to regionals as a team and we still have another chance to play really well,” Kay said.
She added the Berries will gear up for Saturday’s regional with a goal of making it to the State Finals as a team with a top three finish.
“I think if we play what everybody’s capable of doing then we actually might have a chance of making out of regionals too,” she said.
Coach Lundy said the Berries will likely have to shoot 340 or lower on a difficult course at Sandy Pines.
“We’ve played Sandy Pines now for a couple years. I think the girls are getting used to it,” she said. “It’s a very difficult course, but I feel like if we can overcome Bear Slide last weekend, I think that was a really great conference course for us to get our minds ready for Sandy Pines.”
Freshman Chloe Wilburn shot a career-best 85 to held the Berries advance. She said her round could have been better but it could have been worse, as evidenced by a roller-coaster 18th hole.
“I played pretty well except for the last hole. My second shot I hit it out of bounds, then I hit it into a hole,” she said. “But I made my putt, but it hit the hole and if it didn’t hit the hole, it would’ve went off for the green. So I’m happy for that. But other than that, I shot really well, played my best.”
Sophomore Izzy Lundy shot an 89, sophomore Natalie Graham shot a 104 and freshman Kendal Kranz added a 107 for the Berries.
There were 12 teams in the sectional field. Winamac placed eighth with a 444. Hunter Hines led the Warriors with a 106, followed by Sierra Haschel (107), Mershai Loehmer (111), Kaelyn O’Connor (120) and Emily Weaver (134).
Pioneer placed ninth with a 445. McKaig’s 86 led the way, followed by Brenner McLain (116), Kendra Hanson (120), Emma Juby (123) and Selena Johnson (132).
Caston placed 11th with a 530. Shayley Strasser led the Comets with a 124, followed by Kylie Reidenbach (134), Anselma Ramirez (135), Alyssa Smith (137) and Angel McVicker (140).
Pioneer’s McKaig was happy to advance for a second straight year. She just started playing when she was a freshman.
“Today was pretty rough, actually. I was surprised I was the first qualifier to get out,” she said. “I’ve been sick, I don’t really know why, but I couldn’t sleep last night. I was actually really proud of myself to do as well as I did. I would say today I struggled with putting the most because I just couldn’t focus. And I hit good shots. I’m glad the course is as easy as it is sometimes because I would hit the greens and then I would three-putt and then it would be a bogey. But I did well enough to advance and I’m glad because I think I can recover before Saturday and I know I can do better at regional than I did here.”
Pioneer coach Megan Peppers said McKaig has made big strides in the sport for a second straight year.
“I think it’s really impressive. She actually didn’t even play the best she can play and still advanced. So, especially to be a junior, to just start her freshman year and to be able to make it out in such a competitive field, it’s really impressive,” she said. “She broke the [Pioneer] nine-hole record, so she’s shooting for the 18 which is 79. So that’s her next goal I think is to break the 18-hole record.”
Peppers’ former teammate Ashley (Raderstorf) Moore set the Pioneer 18-hole record in 2003.
Individuals will need a top three finish at the regional to advance to the State Finals. Last year the state cut at Sandy Pines was 78.
“I would love to make it out of the regional and make it to the state tournament, but I don’t know how realistic that is,” McKaig said. “Last year I went there and I shot 10 strokes worse than I did the sectional. I just want to stay consistent. I want to feel good about my rounds. I know last year I felt terrible about it.
“I think that’s part of what made today so disappointing is because I knew I could have done better than this. But the season’s been great. I broke the nine-hole school record, which is nice to get that off my chest and don’t have to worry about that anymore. I’d say my season’s really helped me with my confidence too. I really was confident that I would advance today no matter what really happened because this was about as bad as I expected I would do overall. I think it’s just the confidence is a big thing. I’m excited for next year too.”
Rochester, the only team to beat Logansport in the dual meet season, won its first sectional title since 2013 and second all-time. Zebra junior Olivia Bailey and senior Ava Thomas, the top two finishers at last year’s regional at Sandy Pine, both shot even-par 72 at TCC on Monday. Bailey won a one-hole playoff for sectional medalist honors. Also for the Zebras, Molly Moore shot an 85, Alexis Haughs shot a 98 and Laynie Migonis added a 102.
