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Blue Springs, MO —
Mariah Peters burst on the prep golf scene last year by winning district and sectional titles and earning all-state honors.
Last week, the sophomore won medalist honors as her 71 led Blue Springs to what was believed to be the first conference title in school history.
Monday at Fred Arbanas Golf Course at Longview Lake at the Class 2 District 7 Tournament, she saw her hopes of winning a second consecutive district crown quickly fade away as she shot an 88, but she had plenty to smile about as her teammates carded some of their best scores of the season to finish with a team score of 350, which was good enough for second place.
That enables the Wildcats to advance to next week's sectional meet at Staley Farms as a team.
Notre Dame de Sion was first with a 491 and St. Teresa’s Academy’s Emily McMann was the medal winner with an 81.
“I'll admit that I was nervous today, especially since I was the winner at district last year,” Peters said. “But I am even happier this year because all my teammates are going with me to sectionals.
“Golf is so much more fun when you can share it with your teammates. We can't wait for next week.”
Blue Springs' Jailyn Marshall tied for second with an 84, Kristin Shaw tied for sixth with an 85, Peters' 88 was good for 11th, Ally Guffey shot a 93 for 13th and Hannah Reynolds shot a 102 to wrap up the Wildcats’ team score.
The top 15 golfers who are not on the two top teams also advance to sectional play.
“I may not look like it, but inside I am jumping up and down with joy,” said Marshall, a freshman. “This is so exciting. I am really, really happy.”
Shaw felt much the same way.
“I shot great today,” Shaw said. “I'm just so relieved. I was so nervous today, but my short game was good and it really helped me today.”
Blue Springs South's Tara Thorp (84, tied for second) and Madison Frerking (85, tied for sixth) were also thrilled to advance with teammates Jordan Rehkow (90, 12th place), Taylor Haynes (100) and Emily Wilhelm (102).
“We live to fight another day,” Frerking said. “My driving and putting were pretty good, but everything in between was not my friend.”
Thorp described her afternoon of golf as “iffy.”
“I came so close on so many putts – missing this much,” she said, placing her thumb and fore finger an inch apart. “It was just iffy – if this would have happened, if that would have happened. At least I get to keep playing.”
Mariah Peters burst on the prep golf scene last year by winning district and sectional titles and earning all-state honors.
Last week, the sophomore won medalist honors as her 71 led Blue Springs to what was believed to be the first conference title in school history.
Monday at Fred Arbanas Golf Course at Longview Lake at the Class 2 District 7 Tournament, she saw her hopes of winning a second consecutive district crown quickly fade away as she shot an 88, but she had plenty to smile about as her teammates carded some of their best scores of the season to finish with a team score of 350, which was good enough for second place.
That enables the Wildcats to advance to next week's sectional meet at Staley Farms as a team.
Notre Dame de Sion was first with a 491 and St. Teresa’s Academy’s Emily McMann was the medal winner with an 81.
“I'll admit that I was nervous today, especially since I was the winner at district last year,” Peters said. “But I am even happier this year because all my teammates are going with me to sectionals.
“Golf is so much more fun when you can share it with your teammates. We can't wait for next week.”
Blue Springs' Jailyn Marshall tied for second with an 84, Kristin Shaw tied for sixth with an 85, Peters' 88 was good for 11th, Ally Guffey shot a 93 for 13th and Hannah Reynolds shot a 102 to wrap up the Wildcats’ team score.
The top 15 golfers who are not on the two top teams also advance to sectional play.
“I may not look like it, but inside I am jumping up and down with joy,” said Marshall, a freshman. “This is so exciting. I am really, really happy.”
Shaw felt much the same way.
“I shot great today,” Shaw said. “I'm just so relieved. I was so nervous today, but my short game was good and it really helped me today.”
Blue Springs South's Tara Thorp (84, tied for second) and Madison Frerking (85, tied for sixth) were also thrilled to advance with teammates Jordan Rehkow (90, 12th place), Taylor Haynes (100) and Emily Wilhelm (102).
“We live to fight another day,” Frerking said. “My driving and putting were pretty good, but everything in between was not my friend.”
Thorp described her afternoon of golf as “iffy.”
“I came so close on so many putts – missing this much,” she said, placing her thumb and fore finger an inch apart. “It was just iffy – if this would have happened, if that would have happened. At least I get to keep playing.”
South coach Mike McGown seemed surprised as his players battled nerves throughout the day.
“They were as nervous on holes 14, 15, 16 as they were on 1, 2 and 3,” McGown said. “It's been a while since I have seen a group of girls this nervous collectively as a team.”
It was quite the opposite for coach Jill Courter’s Wildcats.
“I knew pressure was kind of getting to Mariah,” Courter said, “but our little freshman (Marshall) was going around saying, ‘Don’t be nervous – go out and have fun!’ And I think our girls followed her advice.”
There were no sectional qualifiers from Truman, William Chrisman or Fort Osage. Lee's Summit North's Lindsey Graham (99) and Jessica Swaim (101) advanced as top 15 players outside of the top two teams golfers. McKayla Henry led Fort Osage with a 106, Anesa Hauber paced Truman with a 111 and Amanda OIson shot a 134 for Chrisman.
