Westminster Christian Academy, St. Joseph’s Academy, Lafayette qualify for state girls golf

Let’s see. The sun rose in the east. Taxes must be paid. Oh yeah, the Westminster Christian Academy’s girls golf team won another tournament.

Not just any tournament either. The Wildcats won the Class 1 Sectional 1 at Eldon Country Club (par 73) with a team score of 328 to punch their ticket back to the state tournament.

Westminster is the defending state champions. The two-day state tourney begins Monday (Oct. 15) at Meadow Lake Acres Country Club near Jefferson City.

Also earning state berths as a team in the Class 2 tournament will be St. Joseph’s Academy and Lafayette. The Class 2 state tourney will be played at Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Girardeau.

The team scores after Westminster were: 2. Villa Duchesne 362, 3. Notre Dame 394, 4. Osage 440, 5. California 440.

Westminster senior and defending state champion Brooke Cusumano was the medalist with an even par 73. Junior teammate Jordan Wolf was third with a 76 and senior Ciara Younger was forth with a 81. Megan Jean McDaniel tied for 21st with a 98 and McKenna Rae Montgomery tied for 26th with a 99.

Although the Wildcats were 20 strokes above their district championship game, Westminster coach Steve Bradley said it wasn’t a problem.

“That 308 at districts was a dream score,” Bradley said. “We’ll take a 328 any time we can get it. We are very happy with that score.”

Naturally, Bradley was pleased with this team.

“This has been an amazing group of girls. They stay relaxed and really enjoy the game,” Bradley said. “That’s the secret to their success —they have fun. We had gone out the day before to play the course and make mental notes, and that really helped. If you were playing it for the first time in the sectional, you were in trouble.”

Seeing Cusumano earn medalist honors did not surprise Bradley.

“Brooke is always on a mission to play her best,” Bradley said. “She shot an even par 73 and was solid all day. She made very few mistakes and just kept putting the pressure on the field. ”

Wolf won the district but came in third at the sectional.

“Jordan had a great round going and ran into some trouble on hole 15,” Bradley said. “To her credit, she rose above those problems and stayed steady. She ended with a 3 over par 76. She had seven birdies in the round. Ciara Younger also played great. She has been getting better and better after each round or tournament. She has been our best weapon and probably our most underrated player. Her 81 was lights out.

“Our young players put up the scores we needed from them. Megan McDaniel and McKenna Montgomery can play well, and they both have scored low in recent tournaments. They are both gaining valuable playoff experience and working on consistency in their scoring.”

It marked a repeat as sectional champs for the Wildcats.

“I think they saw it as the final step to get back to state,” Bradley said. “They want the opportunity to defend their state championship from last year.

“This team has gone above and beyond what we thought they would do at the beginning of the season. We credit it to all their hard work and determination. This team has worked harder for this accomplishment than any team I’ve ever coached.”

The St. Joseph’s Academy Angels won the Class 2 Sectional 1 at Crystal Springs Quarry Golf Course (par 71) with a 377. Ursuline Academy was second with a 380. Incarnate Word Academy came in seventh with a 416.

The local qualifiers were: 3. Kelsey Thompson, St. Joseph’s Academy, 89; 5. Amanda Ressel, Incarnate Word, 93; 9. Michelle Campbell, St. Joseph’s Academy, 93; Paige Schwetz, St. Joseph’s Academy, 93; 14. Elizabeth Francis, Incarnate Word, 100; 22. Margaret Martel, St. Joseph’s Academy, 102; 24. Erin Bowman, St. Joseph’s Academy, 103.

Angels coach Carol Fromuth said it was a relief to get the team back to state after missing out last year.

“I’m happy to get first in the sectional,” Fromuth said. “It wasn’t our best effort. The scores were a little high. But when you look at the other sectionals, none of the scores were very good. Rock Bridge and Lafayette put up some good scores.”

The greens were incredibly fast, Fromuth said.

“I’m not making excuses. It’s a very hard course,” Fromuth said. “The shots into the green are very precise. That’s where shots were lost.”

A streak of 14 years of taking teams to state ended last year.

“I think they felt a lot of pressure,” Fromuth said. “We got knocked out last year and they remembered that. We tried to keep the sectional low key. They wanted to get back to the state as a team. It’s much more fun to be there as a team. We made our goal. We’re going to state.”

In the Class 2 Sectional 2 at Tanglewood Golf Course (par 54) in Fulton, Rock Bridge won with a 342 to just nip No. 2 Lafayette’s 344. The top two teams out of sectional advance to state. Parkway West finished fourth with a 370 and Marquette was sixth with a 395.

Parkway West junior Emily Goldenstein was the medalist with a 1-under 53. The other local qualifiers were: 2. Biana Cullimore, Lafayette, 57; Elizabeth Leath, Parkway Central, 57; 12. Ashton Goldammer, Lafayette, 68; 14. Morgan Schettler, Marquette, 70; Allison Tichenor, Marquette, 70; 17. Mindy Danna Hennrich, Lafayette, 72. 25. Sammi Charpenter, Lafayette, 75. 42. Michelle Stading, Lafayette, 85.