Harper Creek girls win All-City team title; Lakeview's Gibson is city champ

Harper Creek girls win All-City team title; Lakeview’s Gibson is city champ

Posted by Admin September 27, 2024 Golf

BATTLE CREEK – Harper Creek girls golf has been having a banner season. And, they were able to add one more proverbial banner to their trophy case with a championship effort at the annual All-City tourney.

Harper Creek won the 2024 All-City Girls Golf Championship on Friday, played at Riverside Golf Club.

The Beavers had a team score of 170 for the nine-hole tournament, to hold off second-place Lakeview, which finished with a 180. Pennfield was third with a 264.

The Beavers brought the All-City trophy back to Harper Creek after Lakeview had won the title the last two seasons.

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“We’ve been doing pretty well this season, so I was pretty confident we could win the All-City title this year,” Harper Creek senior Arabella Stanley said. “We didn’t win it last year, so I was really happy that we won it this year. All the girls on the team are excited about winning it this year.”

Harper Creek is coming off an Interstate 8 Conference championship, won earlier in the week. The Beavers have been having good success all season due to impressive depth in the starting lineup. That showed again as Harper Creek had six golfers earn All-City honors by finishing in the top 10 in the event.

Harper Creek’s Stanley and freshman Haley Willi each shot a 41 to tie for third place. The Beavers’ Ellie Sandel was fifth overall with a round of 43 with Audrey Flanders sixth at 45 as Braylee Stanley took seventh and Audrey Hantz was ninth to round out the group.

“We go through one through five, really one through six. We have all six girls who are really close and can all play well on a given day. It was a good day today for all of them and that depth was a big reason we won today. Any time you can beat your city rivals, it is a good day,” Harper Creek coach Jason Knickerbocker said.

Lakeview’s Amiyah Gibson was the All-City champ individually for the second year in a row. The senior shot a 35 to lead the field by four strokes.

“My goal this year was to win the All-City title again,” Gibson said. “I played well today, stayed focused. I hit eight out of nine greens in regulation, so I was happy with that.

“Even though we didn’t win as a team, we still had several players in top 10, which was really good.”

Lakeview’s Kayla Franklin was second overall with a round of 39. The Spartans’ Josie Pawlowicz was also All-City with a seventh-place finish with Emmy Ruger earning All-City honors in 10th.

Pennfield’s top golfer was Ari Taylor with a round of 59.

Contact Bill Broderick at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on X/Twitter @billbroderick.