LaLonde Leads Lady Tigers Past Manchester
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Dale [email protected]
Still, there was no doubt as to who the better team was.
Led by senior Nikki LaLonde’s 2-under 34, Warsaw beat the host Lady Squires 166-211 in the final regular-season match for both squads.
The Lady Tigers will play in the Northern Lakes Conference Championships at Maplecrest in Goshen Saturday, while Manchester will tee off in the Three Rivers Conference Champioships at LaFontaine in Huntington.
“After we played Wawasee, we had a talk with the girls,” said Warsaw coach Chris LaLonde, whose team improved to 13-2. “We didn’t play well that match, and we talked to the girls about stepping up. It’s still girls golf, one day you’re great, the next day you might be mediocre. But this gives us a lot of confidence going into Saturday.”
The Lady Tigers, whose previous best nine-hole score as a team this season was 172, had four players shoot 48 or better.
Manchester, on the other hand, had just one golfer card a score better than 48.
Earning medalist honors, Nikki LaLonde bettered her previous best score this season by five strokes.
“It was almost refreshing,” said Nikki LaLonde, the coach’s daughter. “I know I can play that well. It was nice to finally come out and do it. My head is in the game right now. I know what I need to do, and I’ve been practicing hard.”
To go with LaLonde’s 34, the Lady Tigers got 42s from Elizabeth Meadows and Alexis Manwaring, a 48 from Kristen Watson and a 55 from Madi Graham.
With the loss, the Lady Squires fell to 4-12 on the season.
Manchester coach Josh Troyer, however, was positive after his team posted its best score of the year.
“I am so proud of the girls for battling for the team and putting in scores to continue to improve as a group,” said Troyer. “We had some rough holes tonight with a few of our girls, but overall we saw a lot of swing improvements tonight from the entire group and I am so happy for the girls to see them finally understanding how low they can go. It was great to see girls hitting good shots, even if their scores didn’t fully reflect their swing improvements tonight.”
Christina Smith led Manchester with a 45, while Claire Barnett shot 48, Erin Working fired a 53, Gabbi Wilcox carded a 65 and Madison Hire finished with an 86.
“To shoot our season low is a positive,” said Troyer. “We started the season shooting a 256. It’s nice to see the scores come down and the girls’ swings come around.”
WARSAW 166, MANCHESTER 211
(Sycamore G.C., par 36)
Medalist – Nikki LaLonde (War) 34
Warsaw – Nikki LaLonde 34, Elizabeth Meadows 42, Alexis Manwaring 42, Kirsten Watson 48, Madi Graham 55
Manchester – Christina Smith 45, Claire Barnett 48, Erin Working 53, Gabbi Wilcox 65, Madison Hire 86
Records: Warsaw 13-2, Manchester 4-12
JV – Warsaw 203
Note – Manchester did not have a JV team[[In-content Ad]]
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Still, there was no doubt as to who the better team was.
Led by senior Nikki LaLonde’s 2-under 34, Warsaw beat the host Lady Squires 166-211 in the final regular-season match for both squads.
The Lady Tigers will play in the Northern Lakes Conference Championships at Maplecrest in Goshen Saturday, while Manchester will tee off in the Three Rivers Conference Champioships at LaFontaine in Huntington.
“After we played Wawasee, we had a talk with the girls,” said Warsaw coach Chris LaLonde, whose team improved to 13-2. “We didn’t play well that match, and we talked to the girls about stepping up. It’s still girls golf, one day you’re great, the next day you might be mediocre. But this gives us a lot of confidence going into Saturday.”
The Lady Tigers, whose previous best nine-hole score as a team this season was 172, had four players shoot 48 or better.
Manchester, on the other hand, had just one golfer card a score better than 48.
Earning medalist honors, Nikki LaLonde bettered her previous best score this season by five strokes.
“It was almost refreshing,” said Nikki LaLonde, the coach’s daughter. “I know I can play that well. It was nice to finally come out and do it. My head is in the game right now. I know what I need to do, and I’ve been practicing hard.”
To go with LaLonde’s 34, the Lady Tigers got 42s from Elizabeth Meadows and Alexis Manwaring, a 48 from Kristen Watson and a 55 from Madi Graham.
With the loss, the Lady Squires fell to 4-12 on the season.
Manchester coach Josh Troyer, however, was positive after his team posted its best score of the year.
“I am so proud of the girls for battling for the team and putting in scores to continue to improve as a group,” said Troyer. “We had some rough holes tonight with a few of our girls, but overall we saw a lot of swing improvements tonight from the entire group and I am so happy for the girls to see them finally understanding how low they can go. It was great to see girls hitting good shots, even if their scores didn’t fully reflect their swing improvements tonight.”
Christina Smith led Manchester with a 45, while Claire Barnett shot 48, Erin Working fired a 53, Gabbi Wilcox carded a 65 and Madison Hire finished with an 86.
“To shoot our season low is a positive,” said Troyer. “We started the season shooting a 256. It’s nice to see the scores come down and the girls’ swings come around.”
WARSAW 166, MANCHESTER 211
(Sycamore G.C., par 36)
Medalist – Nikki LaLonde (War) 34
Warsaw – Nikki LaLonde 34, Elizabeth Meadows 42, Alexis Manwaring 42, Kirsten Watson 48, Madi Graham 55
Manchester – Christina Smith 45, Claire Barnett 48, Erin Working 53, Gabbi Wilcox 65, Madison Hire 86
Records: Warsaw 13-2, Manchester 4-12
JV – Warsaw 203
Note – Manchester did not have a JV team[[In-content Ad]]
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