Hayden girls golf clinches back-to-back state championships; Silver Lake comes close

Posted by Admin October 23, 2024 Golf

EMPORIA, Kan. — The top golfers from around the state competed for their classification’s state championship on Tuesday.

One local team, Hayden, got the job done to hoist the Class 4A state championship trophy, its second straight. Silver Lake tied for first place but ultimately settled for second after a tiebreaker.

Here’s everything that happened to Shawnee County teams in state golf.

Hayden claims back-to-back state titles

Hayden left zero doubt who the best team in Class 4A was this week. The Wildcats traveled to Hesston Golf Course and dominated the field to claim back-to-back championships.

The Wildcats led by just four shots after the first round then blew the down the doors in round two. Hayden shot a two-day total of 698, which was 15 shots better than second-place Wellington. McPherson took third place with 727.

Lauren Borjon led the charge for Hayden, firing a 76 on day one and an 81 in round two. She took third overall with a total of 15-over. She was 15 shots off individual champion Addison Douglass from Wamego.

Izzy Glotzbach, who also won a state title in tennis on Saturday, was the second golfer for Hayden with a 12th-place finish totaling 29-over par. Addyson Baer tied for 16th, Brooke Johnson earned 34th, Nora Allphin took 46th while Kellyn Specht rounded out the team in 52nd.

Silver Lake runner-up after devastating tiebreaker

It was a dramatic day for many at the Class 3-1A state championship. Silver Lake entered as the defending state champions and aimed to repeat and the Eagles entered the second round seven shots off the lead before quickly rebounding at Emporia Municipal Golf Course.

The Eagles led most of the day, but St Mary’s Colgan provided a great battle. The two went toe-to-toe and the Panthers held a two-shot lead as the final group reached 18.

Taylor Zordel fired an incredible drive near the green as she knew she needed to make a birdie. The final player for the Panthers, Ava Scripsick, unluckily hit a tree on her drive. Scripsick put her ball back into play and hit her third shot from the fairway and placed it to 15 feet.

Zordel’s chip shot was difficult. The grain of the grass ran away from her, the green sloped the opposite way and her stance wasn’t perfect. The Silver Lake senior was up for the challenge.

She popped the ball up perfectly as it took two hops in the rough and fridge before it trickled down the steep slope. The ball nestled close to the hole as Zordel was able to tap in for birdie.

“Taylor has hit that shot 1,000 times in practice, just like that,” Silver Lake head coach Kelby Brown said. “She has put in the work for five years now, started working as an eighth grader. She gave us a chance there at the end.”

Scripsick missed her par chance but left just a few inches from the hole to bogey. Silver Lake and St. Mary’s Colgan were tied at 718 after two rounds.

The top four scores on each roster are counted towards the team total with the fifth player’s score used if needed for a tiebreaker. In this case, it was needed and the Panthers’ score was just a tad better by two strokes.

“You look over there and we have all kinds of tears, that just shows you how much passion they have for each other and how much they want to win for each other,” Brown said. “They gave it their best today.”

As news circulated of the tiebreaker, Silver Lake huddled to embrace one another. It was a heartbreaking end.

Zordel closed out her Silver Lake career with a fourth-place finish. Kailyn Hanni took 13th while Makenna Miller, who had a career-best day on Tuesday, took 14th. Savannah Wende finished 36th, Hope Toronto 45th and Alyssa Streit 51st.

“Everyone was most concerned about everyone else today,” Brown said. “That’s what I want to be a part of, I don’t do real well with people that are self-centered and work for themselves. I just love this group.

Rossville’s Elley Sanders was the lone player to reach day-two action for the Bulldawgs. She took 45th place.

Washburn Rural earns podium spot

Washburn Rural qualified its entire team for the Class 6A state championship and advanced through tough weather to reach Day 2. There was a several-hour rain delay on Day 1, forcing completion of the first round on Tuesday.

The crazy two days didn’t throw the Junior Blues off their game. They earned a spot on the podium with a third-place finish and a score of 655. Manhattan won the team title at 593 while Shawnee Mission East took second with 622.

Reece Randall led the Junior Blues with a 10th-place finish. She shot 12-over across the two days, including a 4-over 75 in round two. Natalie Peterson took 12th, three shots off Randall. Lauren Cox tied for 22nd at 23-over par. Colbey Stead took 42nd, Kailyn Peterson 46th place and Ella Taggart 53rd.

Seaman leads Topeka area in Class 5A

Seaman, Shawnee Heights and Topeka West all had golfers reach the Class 5A state championship at Salina Municipal Golf Course.

The Vikings were the lone area team to reach the second day and finished sixth with a score of 706. Kapaun Mount Carmel won the title at 639 while St. James Academy and St. Thomas Aquinas also earned spots on the podium.

Seaman’s top player was Jaycee Zimmerman, who earned a spot in the coveted top 20. She finished 18th with a 173 total score at 33-over par. Seaman’s Kaitlynn Frye took 23rd, Makenna Stuke 25th and Anna McLaughlin 35th. while Chloe Schmidtlein finished 37th and Molina Quintana 53rd.

Shawnee Heights qualified its team for first-round action after successful regional play but was not among the six teams to advance to Tuesday. The Thunderbirds had one player advance individually as Lyla Blair took 43rd overall.

Topeka West sent two golfers to state and Alex Baxter reached day two of play. The senior finished her career in 46th place.

Liam Keating covers high school sports for The Topeka Capital-Journal. Send stats or information to him at Lkeating@gannett.com