Attempting to make a return trip to the Illinois High School Association Class 1A Girls State Golf State Tournament, Macomb High came up just short Monday afternoon.
Playing in the Class 1A Sectional at Valley View Club in Cambridge, MHS finished fourth out of 12 teams with a score of 368.
The top three teams and top 10 individuals not on an advancing team move on to state.
Metamora won the team title with a score of 352. Byron was next at 357, followed Rockford Lutheran (363).
“It was a good news-bad news situation for us,” said MHS coach Brian Sullivan. “We played very well overall as a team and gave ourselves a fighting chance to advance to state despite being underdogs coming into the day.”
“But missing by just five strokes does make it hurt a little more than if it was by more,” he added. “We beat a lot of teams, and some really good teams. I am most proud of how hard each player grinded to save every stroke they could right down to the end.”
Following Macomb in the the final team standings were Peoria Notre Dame (380), Monmouth United (381), Ridgewood (383), Galena (390), Rockridge (397), Orion (400), Illini Central (432) and Farmington (457).
Playing on the 5,149-yard par 73 layout, Bomber sophomore Taylor Mann finished fifth out of 111 golfers with an 84. That allowed Mann to advance to Friday and Saturday’s Class 1A State Finals at Red Tail Run Golf Course in Decatur.
It will be Mann’s second straight trip to the state finals.
“It’s only right that Taylor will be playing in Decatur,” said Sullivan. “Her play this entire year, but in particular since our conference tournament, is worthy of it for sure.”
“Physically, her game has improved so much, but it’s been the grit and killer instinct that’s taken longer to show,” he added. “That’s been the difference late in the season that has turned some second places into wins.”
Freshman Kennedy McGraw was 19th with an 89, followed by sophomore Reese Watson (26th, 93) and senior Aubrey Holthaus (54th, 102).
“That was a strong performance from Kennedy. To get within a shot of a playoff to make it to state as a freshman is a tremendous accomplishment,” said Sullivan. “The next step for her is to eliminate those two bad holes in the middle of her round, but shaking those off and shooting a 41 on the back nine is a great thing to build on moving forward.”
Rounding out the scores for the Bombers were senior Mullen Butcher (110) and freshman Emma Rigg (128).
“We will miss our seniors next year. Mullen, Aubrey, and Emrey (Seward) each have a lot to be proud of, and they each brought something to the team that will be tough to replace,” said Sullivan. “But it’s easy to like the players we have coming back.”
“Reese and Taylor are already a duo as sophomores and we had two freshmen in our lineup all year,” he added. “We have some good JV players, and we have some talent that has been playing well in middle school. If we were a stock, I would suggest buying us now.”
Rockford Lutheran’s Ella Pierson captured medalist honors with a 79, two strokes ahead of Byron’s Alayna Brandt (81) and four strokes ahead of Metamora’s Addie Mitchell and Byron’s Gwen Brandt.
Joining Mann as individual qualifiers were Milania Milos of Rockford Christian (86), Rachel Drew of Dixon (86), Evelyn Wilbur of Orion (86), Abigail Smith of Rochelle (87), Josie Epperson of Country Day (87), Kennedy Martin of Monmouth United (87), Layla Deloach of Galena (87), Livvy Edmund of Ridgewood (88) and Claire DeGrave of Geneseo (88).
