The Manhattan Indians girls golf team wrapped up their regular season on Monday close to home, as they first took in the Manhattan Invitational at Stagg Hill, with a team score of 304 on Oct. 6. The tournament marked the last home Invitational in the high school career of seniors, on what is a senior-heavy Varsity squad.
“This season has flown by, and it’s coming to an end really soon,” senior Wrenn Burton said before the tournament. “I’m really excited though, try and go low tomorrow, one last hurrah before postseason.”
Last week, the Indians blazed through a jam-packed week of three tournaments, taking first in each one.
The Indians won the Hutchison Invitational by 19 strokes, finishing with a team score of 314 on Oct. 2 at Carey Park Golf Course.
“Most of the teams that played there this year weren’t our best competition, we kind of knew that at the beginning of the round, so we’re just kind of trying to play loose and keep it fun, since it was our third tournament of the week,” junior Maddie Myers said.
Leading the way, senior Kat Ball took the crown, with a first place finish of 73 strokes, a stroke better than second-place teammate Myers (74). Burton (82) took eighth, senior Lily Bahr (85) landed 10th, senior Jessica Kim (88) snatched 15th and freshman Gabby Fehr (92) finished in the 22nd spot.
Just one day before their strong showing in Hutch, MHS, with a team score of 295, took the top spot in the Lawrence Invitational at Eagle Bend Golf Course. Ball locked in second place individually, tallying 70 strokes, close by were Myers (72) and Burton (73) who were neck-and-neck in fifth and sixth places respectively. With Bahr (80) in 13th, Fehr (87) in 25th and Kim (89) in 30th, the Indians came up big in the tournament which featured 18 teams.
“I would say every year that is probably one of our most competitive tournaments, as it brings in a lot of Kansas City Schools, in which some Kansas City Schools have pretty good golf games as well,” Burton said.
The Indians dominated in the Centennial League Tournament in Rolling Meadows, taking home the Centennial League trophy for third-straight year with team score of 315, on a day that all six MHS golfers earned spots in the top 10.
“I think the outlook of it is just like any other tournament, let’s just go into it full force,” Burton said. “I think we all just put in a lot of hard work in and outside of practice that allows us to go out there and compete.”
Myers (73), Ball (74) and Bahr (81) went 1-2-3 on the podium. Burton (87) claimed sixth, seventh-placed Kim (89) was just two places ahead of fellow senior Alyse Yoxall (95) who snatched ninth. Notably, it was Myers’ third individual League title in the three years she has been in high school.
“I think when I won freshman year, it kind of became a realization to me that it’s possible for me to win all four years, and it kind of just became one of my goals,” Myers said.
The Indians now switch gears into playoffs mode, as they prepare to compete at Regionals on Oct. 13 at Dodge City and then the following week, go on to chase a second-straight State title in the State Championship Tournament on Oct. 20-21 in Hesston.
