Lady Tigers 3rd In NLC Tourney; Wawasee 5thPLYMOUTH – With a consistent group of scores, the Warsaw Lady Tigers finished third in Saturday's Northern Lakes Conference golf tournament, as well as third in the overall league standings.
Playing at Pretty Lake Golf Club in Plymouth, the Lady Tigers' four-player score of 383 included Izzy Ray’s 95 and 96s from Miriam Hagg, Grayson Kilburn and Delaney Wihebrink. Madelyn Ray rounded out Warsaw's lineup with a 111.
Warsaw's four scoring golfers finished among the top 15 individuals.
“Before the tournament began, I told my assistant coach if we shot 380 to 385 I would be pleased because we haven’t performed well at Pretty Lake Golf Club, historically,” said Warsaw coach Tad Nieter.
“The girls split my number and shot 383. Grayson and Delaney played consistently all around, and Miriam and Izzy really locked it down on the back nine to turn in a good number. We only lost to NorthWood by four strokes on the back nine.?I couldn’t ask for much more from them.”
NorthWood won Saturday's 18-hole competition with a 366, beating runner-up Northridge by 13 strokes, and was the overall conference champion.
Concord finished fourth with a 388, followed by Wawasee (411), Plymouth (436), Elkhart Memorial (437) and Goshen (449).
“You never really know how everything is going to pan out once the season begins, especially with high school athletes,” said Nieter. “But for us to finish tied for second in round robin play, and then finish third in the tournament and third overall, that is a solid performance.
“We lost our No. 1 and 2 players from last year who were quite a few strokes ahead of my 3, 4 and 5. So we had a lot of ground to make up. For us to come in and have five girls who are capable of shooting 90 gives us more consistency. We were the only team to have four girls break 100. We also had four girls finish in the top 15. I’m very proud of that.”
Northridge's Braedyn O'Dell was the tournament medalist after firing an 80, beating runner-up Mackenzie Weaver of NorthWood by three strokes.
NorthWood's team title was fueled by three scores among the top five individuals.
For Wawasee, Belle Brunner led the way with a 95, while Valerie Haessig and Lesley Tayagua carded 104s, Zoe White 108 and Jadison Rostochak 116.
Brunner earned all-conference honors, while Warsaw's Wihebrink made the honorable mention list.
Wawasee hosts Concord and Whitko today at Maxwelton, while Warsaw entertains Whitko Tuesday at Stonehenge, along with Triton and Lakeland Christian.
The Lady Tigers will host the sectional Saturday at Stonehenge.
“I love where our team is headed,” said Nieter. “The last couple weeks we have seen consistent improvement in all facets of our games. We are really close to posting a very solid tournament number and hopefully propelling us to the next tier in our progress. Golf is a very unpredictable game, so we know we need to be prepared for any and all situations come postseason time.”
NORTHERN LAKES CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
(Pretty Lake GC, par 72)
Team Scores – NorthWood 366, Northridge 379, Warsaw 383, Concord 388, Wawasee 411, Plymouth 436, Elkhart Memorial 437, Goshen 449
Medalist – Braedyn O'Dell (NR) 80
Warsaw – Izzy Ray 95, Miriam Hagg 96, Grayson Kilburn 96, Delaney Wihebrink 96, Madelyn Ray 111
Wawasee – Belle Brunner 95, Lesley Tayagua 104, Valerie Haessig 104, Zoe White 108, Jadison Rostochak 116
