Ready to seize the competition, the Manhattan High Varsity girls golf team collected both a first and second place win this week, along with six individual medals in the top 10.

“I think it was good medicine for the girls because [last] Monday they struggled at the Country Club,” head coach Paige McCarthy said.

On Wednesday, the girls traveled to Topeka to play in the Shawnee Heights Invitational, where they collected another win — third of the season — by 31 strokes, with a score of 343. Second place went to Emporia, with a total of 374, followed by Seaman, Hayden and Shawnee Heights.

Out of 28 girls, senior Andi Siebert took the lead, placing first with an 83. Seniors Emily Yerman and Rhys Phipps trailed close behind, securing second and third with an 84 and 85. Sophomore Lexi Smith — who played her first Varsity meet of the season — tied for seventh with a 91 and senior A.J. Ryan scored 11th with a 97. Additionally, for the second time this season, each girl scored under 100.

“We were lucky that they got to get right out there again two days later and prove to themselves that they were better golfers than their scores [last] Monday showed,” McCarthy said.

On Monday, the team competed in the largest tournament of the season thus far — with 12 teams and 60 golfers in all — in Salina. Due to the expected turn out, each team was only allowed five girls instead of six.

Despite this, the team shaved off two strokes compared to Wednesday’s tournament with a score of 341. Unfortunately, Manhattan fell behind Hays by one stroke, taking second place overall.

“I feel like if we can start shooting about 20 strokes lower, you know that’s only about five strokes a player, then we can be really competitive with some of the better teams, some of the best teams,” McCarthy said. “They all could pick out several shots, puts, chips that were unnecessary, so I think that they see how close they are … to being really, really competitive.”

Individually, each of the girls shot a 92 or lower, with an average of 81 strokes. Siebert tied for fourth with a 79, Phipps scored sixth with an 80, Ryan placed 18th with a 90 and freshman Rylee Wisdom and Yerman tied for 21st, each with a 92.

This Friday, the team will hit the road to play in Buhler and again on Monday to compete in the Centennial League at Seaman.

“[In] one month … they’ll be playing their last tournament as highschoolers,” McCarthy said. “I just challenge them to work their tails off … and really try to work together as a team and encourage each other and challenge each other.”