Two Topeka-area teams earned the highest honor in high school golf on Tuesday as Hayden Catholic and Silver Lake won state championships in their respective classes.
Many other local golfers made the cut and were featured in Day 2 of the state tournament as well. Let’s take a look, class by class.
Class 4A
In 2022, the Wildcats ended just short of a state title as they took third. This season, Hayden came back hoping and wanting a state championship. It was a total team collective as Hayden dominated Class 4A for the state championship at Salina Municipal Golf Course. It finished 37 shots ahead of second-place Wamego.
Avery Grunert, senior, emphasized how important it was the same exact roster from last year’s third-place made an impact in this season’s state championship victory.
“This year, our chipping and our putting became so important to us. We started keeping track and working on that every single day,” Grunert said. “What helped us with our score was minimizing the errors and that is what helped us this week to focus on those little shots that count up.”
It was a total team effort as Izzy Glotzbach led the way for the Wildcats. She finished in a tie for ninth place after shooting a two-day score of 21-over par. Hannah Reynoldson, Lauren Borjon and Grunert followed as they took 14th, 15th and 16th place. Rounding out the team was Addyson Baer in 24th and Kyleigh Johnson in 36th.
In the regional tournament, Wamego edged Hayden by 11 strokes. This fueled the Wildcats leading into the final tournament of the year and in the end, Hayden came out on top.
“To see all of the hard work that you put in and for it to be shown was really cool,” Grunert said. “It was an anxious day, but it was a fun day and an experience that I will never forget.”
Class 3-2-1A
For the first time in school history, Silver Lake is the state champion in girls golf. The Eagles decimated the field as they took the crown by 22 shots. They fired a 356 in round one and 345 in round two —the best team rounds in the tournament.
The Eagles’ top player was Kiara Kleinig, who fired back-to-back rounds of 80 to finish 18-over par. Kleinig secured second place overall, just six shots back of first place. But she wasn’t the only player to excel in the state title.
Taylor Zordel took fourth with 21-over par. Kate Ost tied for 25th and Kailyn Hanni earned 30th. Silver Lake’s Madeline Fieger and Avri Broxterman tied for 34th place to help the Eagles win the state title.
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Class 6A
Washburn Rural was the only local team to make the state tournament and it reached day two of competition at Emporia Municipal Golf Course.
The Junior Blues started the second day in sixth place and leaped over Olathe East and Blue Valley. Washburn Rural finished in fourth as senior Raegan Peterson led the way with a two-round total fo 24-over par. She finished 17th out of golfers.
“The greens were faster than what is usual for here,” Peterson said. “Everything was rolling out which was hard. These two days of just been a battle with the conditions and battling the other girls.”
Olivia Smith finished 22nd, Reece Randall took 25th and Natalie Peterson secured 27th place. Colbey Stead ended in a tie for 30th while Kailyn Petersen rounded out the team in a tie for 48th.
Raegan Peterson shared that she plans to play college golf in the future but is still undecided about where. She explained what’s worked well with the Junior Blues that she’ll take to the next level.
“Playing your game and being yourself,” she said. “I am not trying to out-drive the girl that can drive it the farthest. I am trying to play my game and see what I can do.”
Class 5A
Shawnee Heights and Seaman were unable to qualify their teams for round two of competition. But three Vikings were able to advance individually along with Topeka West’s Alex Baxter. The Class 5A State Championship proved to be a difficult competition at Hutchinson-Carey Park.
Avery Samuelson led Seaman as their top player, firing a round of 90 on Day 1 and following with an 86. Samuelson finished in a tie for 18th out of the 55 golfers. She finished with a total of 34-over par.
Seaman’s Kaitlynn Frye and Makenna Stuke ended their seasons close behind. Frye shot back-to-back days of 91, totaling 40-over par to finish 28th. Stuke ended two shots shy of Frye as she ended in a tie for 29th.
Baxter was the lone qualifier for Topeka West. She tied Stuke with a 29th-place finish after firing a two-day score of 42-over par.
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