CARMEL — On a day that would keep the most avid golfer at home, the Wawasee girls golf team was playing its most important round of the season Saturday in Carmel. Weathering cold and rain Friday, the Wawasee Lady Warriors shot a 365 at Carmel's par-72 Prairie View Golf Club, placing them in 10th place at the IHSAA state finals. And while there wasn’t much rain Saturday, the temperature hovered in the low 40s, which was coupled with a constant wind that made it feel 10 degrees cooler and the Lady Warriors shot a 395, finishing with a two-day total of 760, placing them 14th out of the 15 teams. “We’re thrilled to death that we’re top 15 in the state,” Wawasee head coach Steve Coverstone said. “These girls played their hearts out.” The match was supposed to be a highlight for the girls, but with the climate like it was Saturday, many appeared ready to get it over with. Wawasee senior Elizabeth Jackson shot a 96 Saturday, finishing with a two-day total of 181, which was 59th-best at the state finals. “The conditions were awful, but just getting the experience of coming here and being a team and all that was fun,” Jackson said. “There have been days as cold as this, but none have been as meaningful,” she added. On top of the weather, the Wawasee team also had to deal with a late night fire alarm at their hotel Friday night. “Last night, getting woken up at 3 in the morning was not the best thing for us, and it might of triggered a migraine with (junior) Kylee (Rostochak),” Coverstone said. Rostochak was visibly affected by something on the opening nine holes Saturday, shooting a 59 on the par-36 back nine, but came back to record a 46 on the front. “I told her she could quit if she wanted,” Coverstone said of his No. 3 player. “I know she couldn’t see very well. But she took a couple Advil that her mom gave her at the turn, and shot a 46 on the final nine.” Also for Wawasee, sophomore Madison Beaman had the fifth-player score of 109, while sophomore Aubrey Schmeltz posted a 100 and junior Mikala Mawhorter recorded a 94. Second-ranked Evansville North won the state championship with a 646, followed by No. 4 Martinsville in second (652) and No. 3 Hamilton Southeastern in third (659). Individually, Bloomington South junior Cherise Otter was the champion, shooting a three-under 69 Friday, then a 75 Saturday, finishing with a 144. She finished seven strokes better than second place, which was shared by Martinsville sophomore Claire Cameron and Westfield freshman Cailyn Henderson. This was the first year for the state finals to be held at Prairie View, after being hosted by The Legends of Indiana Golf Course in Franklin since 2000. At the new location, the girls faced a course with straight-forward holes, but plenty of sand bunkers, which gave the Lady Warriors fits. “It played hard for me, and I’m guessing it played hard for the other girls too,” Jackson said. “I definitely let some of the holes get to me and really mess with my head.” Coverstone commented that his girls did talk about the difficulty of the course following their practice round Thursday. “I think the course tested the limits of our abilities at this stage in our careers,” he said. “It showed up today. “This course is pretty wide open, but it has a lot of trouble right off the tee, in front of you, which probably isn’t the best for us,” he added. “We hit a lot of shots that maybe aren’t real solid, but go down the middle. We’re pretty good at hitting it straight, but there’s a lot of trouble here.” For Wawasee, whatever it did at state was just icing on the cake, as it went through the regular season at 17-1, sharing the Northern Lakes Conference title with NorthWood, before advancing out of the Warsaw Sectional and East Noble Regional. “We’ve had a couple boys teams finish fourth in the state, and of course those were real good times, but this is right up there with those,” Coverstone, who coaches both the Wawasee girls and boys teams, said. “These girls have been a special group, and they got a lot better. That's always fun.” And outside of Jackson, all the girls will be back in 2015. “We’re hoping to get back here next year,” Coverstone said. Losing Jackson, Wawasee will be without a four-year player the team has come to rely on. “She had a great career for us,” Coverstone said. Following her round, Jackson was disappointed, but found a way to keep it all in perspective, knowing she had just played in the final girls golf match of the season. “I’m happy,” she said. “I’m proud of my team. It’s nice to know all the hard work I put in during the offseason really paid off.”
IHSAA GIRLS GOLF STATE FINALS Team Scores – 1. Evansville North 646, 2. Martinsville 652, 3. Hamilton Southeastern 659, 4. Carmel 664, 5. Columbus North 684, 6. Westfield 697, 7. Lake Central 700, 8. Evansville Memorial 713, 9. Valparaiso 729, 10. Center Grove 736, 11. Crown Point 738, 12. New Palestine 740, 13. Leo 744, 14. Wawasee 760, 15. F.W. Dwenger 780. (Prairie View G.C., Par 72) Top 10 – 1. Cherise Otter (Bloomington South) 69-75 144, 2. (tie) Claire Cameron (Martinsville) 75-76 151, Cailyn Henderson (Westfield) 77-74 151, 4. Samantha Hatter (Lafayette Jefferson) 75-77 152, 5. (tie) Alyssa Cook (Carmel) 77-76 153, Amanda Detmer (Madison) 73-80 153, 7. (tie) Emma Keiffer (Evansville North) 74-80 154, Kennedy Holtsclaw (Bedford North Lawrence) 75-79 154, Emily Tilton (Pendleton Heights) 73-81 154, 10. (tie) Betsey Werner (Cathedral) 74-81 155, Kaycee Bunner (F.W. Blackhawk) 77-78 155. Wawasee – Mikala Mawhorter 94-94 188, Elizabeth Jackson 85-96 181, Kylee Rostochak 95-105 200, Aubrey Schmeltz 91-100 191, Kamryn Foy 106/Madison Beaman 109-215.
