Oct. 6—CARMEL — It might not be what the Northridge Raiders envisioned, but the 12th-place finish put the cap on yet another excellent season.
Northridge shot 714 (138-over-par) across the two-day competition. The Raiders tied with Rochester thanks to a 16-stroke improvement from Northridge on the final day of action. The Raiders were 77-over on the first day but 61-over to close the competition.
“I think maybe they had some extra pressure on themselves and they knew where they were at and knew how good the team could be,” Northridge head coach Ken Brewster said. “In golf, pressure’s not good. It’s not going to help you do what you need to do.”
“We played better today, we had a better round today obviously up and down the lineup,” Brewster said before touching on the mentality of his group going into the final day of competition. “I think at that point you just gotta go out and enjoy the day the best you can. For the seniors, it’s your last time playing high school golf so you just gotta enjoy it and battle as best as you can.”
Junior Alex Reschly notched two birdies during the event, securing a score of 13-over-par 157, good enough for a 16th overall among individual scores. It’s the best ever score and finish by a Raider girl golfer at the state finals. She was given a spot on the Indiana All-State team after securing enough points taken during successful invitational outings during the season. Reschly was third in accumulated points entering Friday.
Reschly was followed by the rest of her teammates. Senior twins Addy Irving (T-70th, 39-over-par 183) and Lizzy Irving (T-74th, 41-over-par 185) took the next two spots behind Reschly while fourth-shooter, junior Macey Riegsecker (T-85th, 45-over-par 189) rounded out Northridge’s scores.
Interestingly enough, Northridge played with fellow East Noble regional advancers DeKalb and Homestead on the second day of competition.
“The pairings came out when we were at dinner last night and it was ‘hey, well, we’re going to play with the same people we did last week and add Rochester to it,” Brewster said.
Lizzy had the largest improvement from Day 1 to Day 2. The senior shot a 27-over-par 99 on the first day of action, turning in 14-over-par 86 on the following day.
“It’s tough, some days you have to battle,” Brewster said. “Like Macey said, she hit the ball great today and then just her short game wasn’t there. Alex probably hit the ball great today and had some short-game issues. Lizzy obviously shot the ball better today than she did yesterday. It’s golf.”
Also competing in the Goshen News area was NorthWood junior Sophie Richmond.
Making her state finals debut, Richmond secured a top-15 finish, tying with Carmel senior Sophie Mack. Both shot 11-over-par with Richmond shooting six-over on Saturday. The junior bogeyed six of her first nine holes but shot even on the backstretch with a pair of birdies and bogeys.
She, like many others, had entered the final day of competition to stay even or shoot under par, but for her first experience, it still ended well despite not reaching that goal.
“I was hoping to shoot under par,” Richmond said with a smile recollecting her afternoon on the course. “I thought of myself still in contention so I was hoping to play my best but then I had a rough start on the front nine.”
“I found my swing with my irons; I just was making long putts and I was more positive,” Richmond said of her improvement on the final nine holes, normally the tougher side of the course. “The front I got down a little bit.”
The junior Panthers went on to describe her debut as “fun” and “pretty hard.” She had a wide sea of supporters including teammates, family and friends throughout the day.
Last season, Northridge made the postseason for the first time as a team in school history. The Raiders shot 123-over-par then for a score of 699, also finishing 12th. Then No. 2 shooter Reschly carded a then-Northridge-best 22-over-par 166. This season brought a nine-stroke improvement between her sophomore and junior state campaigns.
Northridge collected its first regional title just a week ago, coming after the sectional and Northern Lakes Conference title victories. The Raiders finished the regular season 15-0 after going 17-0 a season ago. The only tournaments the team didn’t finish first at were the State Preview and Hall of Fame Invitationals as well as the state finals.
“People can make it the sour note if they want too, but there’s only 18 teams that made it here,” Brewster said. “Yeah, we didn’t play our best and we didn’t play our best over two days and that’s the way it is. That’s golf.”
“You gotta look back at the season,” Brewster said. “Again, we were one of the 18 teams that made it here and we’re not going to finish 18th. We’re still one of the best teams in the state and we got to play here for two days and you can’t take that away from these girls.”
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IHSAA GIRLS GOLF STATE FINALS
Played at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel
Top 10 individuals: Taylor Snively (Zionsville, 144), Ashley Kirkland (Castle, 146), Paige Giovenco (Floyd Central, 148), Addi Kooi (Westfield, 148), Ava South (Batesville, 149), Josie Kelley (Noblesville, 150), Rowan Pies (East Central, 151), Abbey Peterson (Warsaw, 151), Taylor Larkins (FW Carroll, 152), Addison Meadows (Southmount, 152), Kelsey Haverluck (Westfield, 152)
Team scores: Zionsville (627), Noblesville (632), Hamilton Southeastern (652), Westfield (653), Franklin Community (664), Center Grove (674), Batesville (681), Carmel (691), Castle (695), SB St. Joseph (702), Homestead (709), Northridge (714), Rochester (714), DeKalb (726), Lake Central (733), New Palestine (736), Bedford North Lawrence (736), Evansville Reitz Memorial (825)
Area competitors:
Northridge (714) — Alex Reschly (16th, 157), Addy Irving (T-70th, 183), Lizzy Irving (T-74th, 185), Macey Riegsecker (T-85th, 189)
NorthWood — Sophie Richmond (T-14th, 155)
Reach Matt Lucas at 574-533-2151, ext. 240325, or at matt.lucas@goshennews.com.
