LAFAYETTE — Harrison senior Sophie Vandeveer stepped onto hole one at Coyote Crossing Golf Course after completing a full 18 holes of golf at the IHSAA Girls Golf Sectional Championship in West Lafayette.
But none of the holes she played prepared her for the near uncontrollable nerves she felt. Vandeveer shot an 88, tied with Ellie Wilcoxson. Both players would face off in a playoff to decide a first place medal winner.
“I could feel my hands shaking as I was gripping the club,” Vandeveer said.
Those nerves didn’t show with Vandeveer hitting a 200-yard tee shot that landed firmly on the fairway. Wilcoxson, after a solid day striking the ball, graced her tee shot 35 yards.
Vandeveer played a near perfect hole, parring the championship hole to win first on an afternoon Harrison captured the IHSAA Sectional Championship trophy with a combined score of 371.
The Raiders captured their sixth sectional championship and first since 2020 after a 3-year title run by West Lafayette from 2021-2023.
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A memorable day in a multitude of ways for Harrison getting scores of 93 from senior Izzy Flint and freshman Nola Painter.
“Fourth time’s a charm I guess for me and Izzy,” Vandeveer said. “We’ve been waiting for this and we had three girls who have never played on the team before.”
One of those players being Painter whose shot on 5 became the play of the day and a memory of a lifetime.
Painter sank a hole-in-hole on the fifth hole. The shot was described by coaches as “perfect.” The ball dropping three feet from the hole before gently rolling, tapping the pin and in.
It was the first hole-in-one Painter hit since she began playing rounds in the fifth grade.
“It was great and the fact it happened in sectionals was pretty special,” Painter said.
West Lafayette placed second with a score of 380 and Central Catholic finished third to qualify for the IHSAA Regional Championships at Battle Ground Golf Club this Saturday.
The Red Devils with Wilcoxson had Raya Shah who shot an 89 to place second — one shot short of qualifying for the medal deciding playoff.
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Wilcoxson birdied consecutive holes on three and four.
“All of my shots were working well altogether,” Wilcoxson said. “I know I had a couple of mess up pulls but that was bound to happen. I recovered well to get back into it.”
Ethan Hanson is the sports reporter for the Journal & Courier in Lafayette. He can be reached at ehanson@jconline.com, on Twitter at EthanAHanson and Instagram at ethan_a_hanson.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Harrison girls golf captures sectional title after playoff round
