Note: This story has been updated with new information.
Coming into this season, the South Bend Saint Joseph girls golf team had one motto: 24 in ’24.
The Huskies were 24 shots away from advancing to the state championship meet last year. Their goal was to erase that deficit and reach the state finals for the first time in six years.
On Saturday, they were 30 shots better.
Saint Joseph carded a 348 to finish second at the Lake Central regional, good enough to advance to the IHSAA state championship tournament next weekend in Carmel. The host Indians won the regional at Sandy Pines GC in DeMotte with a 338, while Rochester was the third team to advance with a 356.
“This is what our goal was all year,” first-year Saint Joseph head coach Dan Mentock said. “… The girls are so excited.”
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Freshman Lucy Dunham led the Huskies for a second-straight week with an 83. Her older sister, Marley, carded an 86, Reese Hull an 89 and Sydney Schmeltz a 90 to produce the team score. Isabella Jeffrey also played for Saint Joseph, shooting 103.
“This course was set up pretty tough,” Mentock said. “There were some big numbers out here. Our girls weathered the storm well and were able to put the bad holes behind them, go forward and play their game.”
Penn fell one stroke short of advancing to state, shooting a 357. Scarlett Biever led the Kingsmen with a 79, good enough to advance to state as an individual. She finished three shots behind Lake Central’s Allie Huppenthal for medalist honors.
“Scarlett played awesome all day,” Penn coach Brian Matthews said. “She actually went five over across the final five holes before she hit a 30-footer for birdie to keep her score at 79. She was just solid all-around today. Missed a couple short putts, but otherwise had complete control of the course.”
Clare Tobin shot 86, Alaina DeMeyer 95 and Lillian Norris 97 to round out the official scoring for Penn. Kathy Lee also had a 104.
“The bus ride home was the girls discussing which putt they missed, which penalty strokes they added to their scores,” Matthews said. “It was tough on the girls (Saturday).”
Northridge hangs on for regional championship
For the first time in program history, Northridge girls golf is a regional champion.
The Raiders shot 330 Friday, edging DeKalb by one shot to earn the team title at the East Noble regional, played at Noble Hawk Golf Club in Kendallville. Homestead High School earned the third-team spot to advance to state via a fifth-score tiebreaker over Fort Wayne Carroll.
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It’s the second-straight year Northridge has advanced to state, the only two times in program history it’s happened.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Northridge coach Ken Brewster said. “I paced a lot here at the end. We knew it was neck-and-neck. We had a six-shot lead at the turn, and DeKalb seemed to be playing well on the back nine, which they did. They played five strokes better, but it wasn’t enough. … I’m proud of the way the girls battled.”
Alex Reschly led the Raiders with a 76. Lizzy Irving shot 79, Macey Riegsecker 87 and Addy Irving 88 to round out the official scoring. Callie Miller also fired a 107 for Northridge.
Brewster said the short game is what keyed the Raiders’ victory.
“Watching some putts go in that easily could’ve not gone in for us just stresses more when every stroke matters,” Brewster said. “Even if you’re going to make a ‘9,’ you have to make that ‘9’ instead of ’10’ because that can make a difference.”
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Also advancing to state from the South Bend area was NorthWood junior Sophie Richmond, who tied with two others as the low scorer with a 72. She wound up finishing second in tiebreaker, but it was still good enough to move to next weekend’s state finals at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Northridge, Saint Joseph girls golf headed to IHSAA state finals
