Following Saturday's girls golf sectional at Stonehenge, Warsaw Community High School coach Bob Turner described his team as one without an individual standout. He said the Tigers are a team loaded with players that know their roles.
That's exactly how the Tigers played Saturday, and it led them to a runner-up finish and a berth in Saturday's regional at Noble Hawk Golf Links in Kendallville."The chemistry with this team is really good," said Turner. "The chemistry on this team is as good or better than when I coached years ago. There's no outstanding player on the team. Audrey Petro has been playing pretty well lately, but this is a team where everybody knows their role."
Petro led the Tigers with an 87, a score that tied her for second place individually.
"She shot an 87 last week and was fifth at the NLC on a strange course," Turner said of Petro. "She comes back this week and shoots 87 on a tough course like Stonehenge, I think she's figured it out."
The top three teams, as well as the top three individuals not on an advancing team, qualified for Saturday's regional at Noble Hawk.
Plymouth won the team championship with a score of 351, followed by fellow regional qualifiers Warsaw (375) and Wawasee (388).
"Plymouth's 351 is really outstanding," said Turner. "They're a good golf team. Coming in we thought we were capable of getting second on our course. We hadn't finished ahead of Wawasee, Culver Academy or Columbia City this year, but the girls are getting better every week. We've gotten a lot better the last three weeks."
Advancing as individuals are Culver Academy's Jill Eelman (87), Columbia City's Natosha Wood (90) and Rochester's Kelsi Posthuma (97).
Culver Academy shot 395 to finish fourth as a team, followed by Columbia City (411), Rochester (430), Whitko (439), Tippecanoe Valley (456), Caston (473) and Triton (516).
Other scores figured into Warsaw's four-person total were Kylie Dishman's 92, Karli Slater's 95 and Kayla Hutcherson's 101. Alyssa Cameron rounded out the Tiger lineup with a 109.
Kayla Brown and Taylor Goshert paced Wawasee with 92s, while Kelsey Mark shot 97 and Krista Zurcher turned in a 107. Paige Geer rounded out the Warrior lineup with a 113.
"We're happy to get out," said Wawasee coach Scott DeHart. "Our No. 1 goal was to qualify for the regional, and we did that. I'm happy we got out, but we didn't manage the course well. You're going to shoot what you're going to shoot, but we're capable of playing better. We just didn't manage the course."
Fortunately for DeHart and his Warriors, as well as Turner's Warsaw team, they will have a clean slate in Saturday's regional, where the top three teams and the top three individuals not on an advancing team will qualify for the state finals.
The state finals will be held Sept. 28-29 at the Legends of Indiana Course in Franklin.
"This is a tough course," said DeHart. "Stonehenge may be the toughest course in the entire state tournament series. I think some of the teams in the regional might see a 351, a 375 and a 388 and wonder what happened. This is a tough course."
Kelsea Visalli led Whitko with a 99, while Meredith Craig paced Valley with a 109 and Bethany Shively led Triton with a 121.
WARSAW SECTIONAL
Team scores - Plymouth 351, Warsaw 375, Wawasee 388, Culver Academy 395, Columbia City 411, Rochester 430, Whitko 439, Tippecanoe Valley 456, Caston 473, Triton 516
Warsaw - Karli Slater 95, Kylie Dishman 92, Alyssa Cameron 109, Audrey Petro 87, Kayla Hutcherson 101
Wawasee - Taylor Goshert 92, Kelsey Mark 97, Kayla Brown 92, Paige Geer 113, Krista Zurcher 107
