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BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
The Rochester girls golf team could not go a week without setting some sort of history or breaking some sort of record this fall.
They left no doubt that they were the top team during the fall sports season, and the main reason why is junior Olivia Bailey, and she is our selection for RTC Girls Golfer of the Year.
She earned a spot on the All-Three Rivers Conference team and won sectional and regional medalist.
Bailey also headlines our All-RTC4 girls golf team. Needless to say, our list is heavy on the Lady Zs.
We would like to thank area coaches for sending us their scores and giving their insights on their team.
Having said that, this list is ours and ours alone. We place an extra emphasis on 18-hole tournaments over nine-hole tournaments and on conference and postseason tournaments over regular season tournaments.
Ava Thomas Mia McKaig Savana Miller Molly Moore
First team
Olivia Bailey (Rochester) – Bailey has honed her swing through much practice, but she also has a sharp mind for the game. She stays out of trouble and always selects the right club. She also makes all the testy five-foot putts that separates the great golfers from the merely pretty good ones. This allowed her to tie for 20th at state. She shot a 77 at conference, a 72 at sectional and a 71 at regional. The bigger the tournament, the lower her score.
Ava Thomas (Rochester) – Ava Thomas was Rochester’s No. 2 player, but the Grace College signee would be the No. 1 at at least 90% of schools in the state. She broke 80 at a tough Rock Hollow Golf Club for conference, lost in a playoff to Bailey at sectional and ultimately finished in a tie for 27th at state.
Mia McKaig (Pioneer) – McKaig worked with a swing coach to refine her game and fought through an illness to become the first Pioneer golfer to ever make the state finals. She was miles ahead of the rest of the Hoosier North, winning conference medalist by 11 strokes.
Savana Miller (Tippecanoe Valley) – Miller was the best freshman in our area, and she is both a strong athlete and a tough competitor. She missed going to state by only four strokes.
Molly Moore (Rochester) – Moore replaced graduated sister Payton Moore, now on the golf team at IU Kokomo, in the No. 3 hole at Rochester, and it was more of the same, so to speak. She made the All-TRC team with an 86 at Rock Hollow. She added an 85 at sectional and a 93 at regional before an arm injury limited her effectiveness at state.
Honorable mention
Lexi Haughs (Rochester)
Maddie Thompson (Tippecanoe Valley)
Sierra Haschel (Winamac)
Laynie Migonis (Rochester)
Hunter Hines (Winamac)
Mershai Loehmer (Winamac)
Kaelyn O’Connor (Winamac)
Kylie Reidenbach (Caston)
Shayley Strasser (Caston)
RTC4 Players of the Year
2020: Kristianna Lingenfelter (Rochester)
2021: Madelyn Weaver (Tippecanoe Valley)
2022: Madelyn Weaver (Tippecanoe Valley)
2023: Olivia Bailey-Ava Thomas (Rochester)
2024: Olivia Bailey (Rochester)
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