LaLonde Advances To State
Warsaw finshes fourth, misses cut by three strokes
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
With a chance to advance to this week’s state finals, the Lady Tigers needed a top three finish at the East Noble Regional, but finished fourth, three shots behind NorthWood.
The No. 1 team in the state, Penn, won the regional title with a 297 on Kendallville’s Noble Hawk Golf Links’ par-70 course, followed by Rochester’s 335 and NorthWood’s 338.
The three teams will compete at the state finals, beginning Friday at The Legends Golf Club in Franklin, but Warsaw just missed out, shooting a 341.
“The girls played great,” said Warsaw coach Chris LaLonde. “It was our best round of the year. It’s hard to pick what it was that was wrong. I’ve always said at regional, you have to be below 335. You can say, ‘Oh, if someone would have made a putt,’ but you can’t go on what-ifs. Our girls gave it their all.”
One Lady Tiger did find a way to advance to the state finals, as senior Nikki LaLonde shot a 76, recording two birdies.
Watching her daughter play, the elder LaLonde says she’s able to separate the coach from the mom, a skill Nikki helps her with.
“She wants me to be the coach, so I’m still the coach,” Chris said. “When we get home, we talk about it and we can say things. But (on the course), she wants me to be her coach.”
Despite just one girl advancing on in the tournament, LaLonde is hopeful the entire team can make the trip to Franklin.
“They really want to go watch her and support her,” LaLonde said. “It’s a good thing if the team does go down there, because if they want to be at that level, they need to see what that level is. Whether it’s going to see Nikki or watch NorthWood play or watch Penn play.”
Perhaps the entire Warsaw team would have been able to play at the state course, but the issue with its short game re-appeared Saturday.
“Noble Hawk is short, but the greens make it a harder golf course,” LaLonde said. “Just getting the pace of the greens down and just chipping and putting. I just thought the girls each just had one bad hole, which put us in a ‘fight for everything’ kind of situation.”
A number of local players were also competing at the regional as individuals, but none were able to shoot well enough to advance.
From Wawasee, sophomore Mikala Mawhorter shot an 86 and junior Elizabeth Jackson carded a 94.
Also from the area, Triton junior Hannah Jennings finished with a 96 and Manchester junior Claire Barnett wrapped up her round with 92.
For Warsaw, it can celebrate moving one girl on to the finals, but can also look back at just how close it was to advancing as a team.
“They knew how close they were, and they’re excited about that, but then they’re not excited about how they’re not moving forward, because they were that close,” LaLonde said. “They can say, ‘Oh, well, I could have done this,’ but it’s a whole team effort. I kept telling them that it took a team to get here and we were going to go (to state) as a team. (The finish) was a mixture of (excitement and disappointment) on both my part and coach Ray (Davis’) part. They weren’t moving on, but they played their best round of the entire season.”
EAST NOBLE REGIONAL
Team Scores (Top 3 Advance to State) – 1. Penn 297, 2. Rochester 335, 3. NorthWood 338, 4. Warsaw 341, 5. Marion 346, 6. East Noble 349, 7. Homestead 351, 8. Carroll 352, 9. F.W. Dwenger 358, 10. Bellmont 362, 11. F.W. Canterbury 365, 12. S.B. Adams 369, 13. Elkhart Central 373, 14. Leo 374, 15. Angola 376, 16. Southwood 378, 17. Huntington North 413, 18. West Noble 419
(Noble Hawk Golf Links, Par 70)
Top 5 – 1. Kari Bellville (Penn) 71, 2. (tie) Kathryn Willenbrink (Penn), Kayla Adamson (Marion) 72, 4. (tie) Lauren Tibbetts (Oak Hill), Sydney Willis (South Adams), Emily Song (Penn) 74
Individuals Advancing Without Team – 1. Adamson (Marion) 72, 2. (tie) Tibbetts (Oak Hill), Willis (South Adams) 74, 4. Jaycee Bunner (F.W. Blackhawk) 75, 5. Nikki LaLonde (Warsaw 76
Penn – Bellville 71, Willenbrink 72, Song 74, Madison Chestnutt 80, Cassidy Jurkaites 88
Rochester – Karsten Lingenfelter 79, Kovenant Lingenfelter 76, Kinley Lingenfelter 89, Lindsay Mitchell 94, Vanessa Henning 115
NorthWood – Heidi Morganthaler 75, Linnzie Richner 76, Summer Stillson 88, Rachel Beebe 96, Kayla Stankovich 97
Warsaw – LaLonde 76, Elizabeth Meadows 80, Alexis Manwaring 84, Kristen Watson 104, Madi Graham 101
Area Individuals – Claire Barnett (Manchester) 92, Mikala Mawhorter (Wawasee) 86, Hannah Jennings (Triton) 96), Elizabeth Jackson (Wawasee) 94[[In-content Ad]]
Latest News
E-Editions
With a chance to advance to this week’s state finals, the Lady Tigers needed a top three finish at the East Noble Regional, but finished fourth, three shots behind NorthWood.
The No. 1 team in the state, Penn, won the regional title with a 297 on Kendallville’s Noble Hawk Golf Links’ par-70 course, followed by Rochester’s 335 and NorthWood’s 338.
The three teams will compete at the state finals, beginning Friday at The Legends Golf Club in Franklin, but Warsaw just missed out, shooting a 341.
“The girls played great,” said Warsaw coach Chris LaLonde. “It was our best round of the year. It’s hard to pick what it was that was wrong. I’ve always said at regional, you have to be below 335. You can say, ‘Oh, if someone would have made a putt,’ but you can’t go on what-ifs. Our girls gave it their all.”
One Lady Tiger did find a way to advance to the state finals, as senior Nikki LaLonde shot a 76, recording two birdies.
Watching her daughter play, the elder LaLonde says she’s able to separate the coach from the mom, a skill Nikki helps her with.
“She wants me to be the coach, so I’m still the coach,” Chris said. “When we get home, we talk about it and we can say things. But (on the course), she wants me to be her coach.”
Despite just one girl advancing on in the tournament, LaLonde is hopeful the entire team can make the trip to Franklin.
“They really want to go watch her and support her,” LaLonde said. “It’s a good thing if the team does go down there, because if they want to be at that level, they need to see what that level is. Whether it’s going to see Nikki or watch NorthWood play or watch Penn play.”
Perhaps the entire Warsaw team would have been able to play at the state course, but the issue with its short game re-appeared Saturday.
“Noble Hawk is short, but the greens make it a harder golf course,” LaLonde said. “Just getting the pace of the greens down and just chipping and putting. I just thought the girls each just had one bad hole, which put us in a ‘fight for everything’ kind of situation.”
A number of local players were also competing at the regional as individuals, but none were able to shoot well enough to advance.
From Wawasee, sophomore Mikala Mawhorter shot an 86 and junior Elizabeth Jackson carded a 94.
Also from the area, Triton junior Hannah Jennings finished with a 96 and Manchester junior Claire Barnett wrapped up her round with 92.
For Warsaw, it can celebrate moving one girl on to the finals, but can also look back at just how close it was to advancing as a team.
“They knew how close they were, and they’re excited about that, but then they’re not excited about how they’re not moving forward, because they were that close,” LaLonde said. “They can say, ‘Oh, well, I could have done this,’ but it’s a whole team effort. I kept telling them that it took a team to get here and we were going to go (to state) as a team. (The finish) was a mixture of (excitement and disappointment) on both my part and coach Ray (Davis’) part. They weren’t moving on, but they played their best round of the entire season.”
EAST NOBLE REGIONAL
Team Scores (Top 3 Advance to State) – 1. Penn 297, 2. Rochester 335, 3. NorthWood 338, 4. Warsaw 341, 5. Marion 346, 6. East Noble 349, 7. Homestead 351, 8. Carroll 352, 9. F.W. Dwenger 358, 10. Bellmont 362, 11. F.W. Canterbury 365, 12. S.B. Adams 369, 13. Elkhart Central 373, 14. Leo 374, 15. Angola 376, 16. Southwood 378, 17. Huntington North 413, 18. West Noble 419
(Noble Hawk Golf Links, Par 70)
Top 5 – 1. Kari Bellville (Penn) 71, 2. (tie) Kathryn Willenbrink (Penn), Kayla Adamson (Marion) 72, 4. (tie) Lauren Tibbetts (Oak Hill), Sydney Willis (South Adams), Emily Song (Penn) 74
Individuals Advancing Without Team – 1. Adamson (Marion) 72, 2. (tie) Tibbetts (Oak Hill), Willis (South Adams) 74, 4. Jaycee Bunner (F.W. Blackhawk) 75, 5. Nikki LaLonde (Warsaw 76
Penn – Bellville 71, Willenbrink 72, Song 74, Madison Chestnutt 80, Cassidy Jurkaites 88
Rochester – Karsten Lingenfelter 79, Kovenant Lingenfelter 76, Kinley Lingenfelter 89, Lindsay Mitchell 94, Vanessa Henning 115
NorthWood – Heidi Morganthaler 75, Linnzie Richner 76, Summer Stillson 88, Rachel Beebe 96, Kayla Stankovich 97
Warsaw – LaLonde 76, Elizabeth Meadows 80, Alexis Manwaring 84, Kristen Watson 104, Madi Graham 101
Area Individuals – Claire Barnett (Manchester) 92, Mikala Mawhorter (Wawasee) 86, Hannah Jennings (Triton) 96), Elizabeth Jackson (Wawasee) 94[[In-content Ad]]
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092