AKRON – Scores for the Division I girls golf state tournament were displayed in the media center at Firestone Country Club, where awards were handed out after the finish of play Oct. 13.
Someone accidentally put Dublin Jerome coach CD Butcher and Olentangy coach Micah Conley’s names with the other team, giving the OCC-Cardinal rivals another reason to laugh on a day full of history for both.
At this point, Butcher and Conley would simply be swapping championships.
Led by sophomore Nikitha Suresh’s second consecutive round of 73 and a six-shot drop from sophomore Mallory Quickel between the first and second rounds, Butcher’s Celtics pulled away for a 12-shot victory (624-636) over Rocky River Magnificat.
Olentangy’s Meadow Tian won her first state title and the first for her program, firing a 4-under-par 66 in the final round to finish at 1-under 139 for a one-shot win over Solon’s Serena Wu.
“They all feel a little different; this one is shock and awe where I’m surprised and not surprised,” Butcher said. “They have put every ounce of their energy and preparation into this. No moment is too big for them. These girls just never got rattled and that was the difference.
“They knew bogeys were OK. When you’re really good, sometimes those feel like the end of the world, and the girls just shrugged them off.”
Quickel shot a 74 in the final round and tied sophomore teammate Adella Pawlowski for 11th place (154), helping to secure Jerome’s second title in three seasons and eighth overall.
Freshman Maya Faustino shot 170 (tied for 37th) and junior Mingyuan Zheng added a 176 (tied for 48th).
Suresh, who finished fifth, had nine pars and three birdies in the final round to match her score from Oct. 12, and Jerome doubled its six-shot lead on defending state champion Magnificat from the first round.
“This field is incredibly good; every team is so close,” Suresh said. “The greens were super firm, fast and slopey, so putting was really big. Our team putted really well. That helped us out a lot. … You just had to know when to go for it. Hero shots are pretty tough on this course.”
Tian, an Illinois commit who was sixth at state as a freshman and sophomore and tied for second last year, had five of her eight birdies on the back nine Oct. 13 to erase a four-shot deficit to Wu.
Wu shot a 69 in the first round and 71 in the second.
“I definitely started out rough,” said Tian, whose round began on No. 10. “I had a really tough hole on (No.) 16 … and a not-so-great chip, so I had a double bogey, and at that point I was 2-under.
“On the back nine, I just did my best to focus on every shot. … This has been a tremendous experience. I am more of a leader now, and our teams have all been close. I will miss this a lot.”
Tied for sixth after the first day, Olentangy surged to third place (637) thanks in large part to sophomore Jodie Han. Han, who missed the first round because she was playing in an American Junior Golf Association tournament in Louisiana, flew from Houston to Columbus late Oct. 12 and drove to Akron the next morning.
She shot a 1-under 69 with 15 pars and two birdies.
“It was hectic,” Han said. “I got like four hours of sleep, but I had to be here for the team. I just focused on one shot at a time and tried to make it through the day.”
Juniors Sophia Dreischarf (171, tied for 39th), Kaylee Keys (173, tied for 42nd) and Aubrey Davis (176, tied for 48th) rounded out the scoring for Olentangy.
Consistency leads Worthington Kilbourne’s Anderson to third place
Appearing in her first state tournament since her freshman year, Kilbourne senior Bella Anderson used 13 pars to card a 70, trim three shots from the first round and finish third (143).
“Other than one or two slipups, it was pretty steady all day,” Anderson said. “It’s one of the trickiest courses I’ve played for sure. The greens were so fast, so quick. I don’t think I’ve ever played a course with this many elevated greens, so that was definitely a challenge. It picked up speed in the afternoon. If you get on the wrong side of the hole, you are really punished here.”
Central Ohio’s other individual qualifier, New Albany junior Brooke Baker, tied for 19th (158).
(This story has been updated to add a photo gallery.)
High school sports reporter Dave Purpura can be reached at [email protected] and at @dp_dispatch on X.
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