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McKaig shoots 80, becomes first Pioneer girl to make state
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
The Rochester girls golf team advanced to the state finals after finishing third at the Lake Central regional with a 356 at Sandy Pines Golf Club in DeMotte Saturday. From left – coach Chad Thomas, Ava Thomas, Laynie Migonis, Molly Moore, Lexi Haughs, Olivia Bailey, assistant coach Dan Bailey. Olivia Bailey was the medalist with a 71.
DEMOTTE — Rochester senior Ava Thomas said the wait at the Lake Central girls golf
regional at Sandy Pines Golf Club was more nerve wracking than the golf itself.
For the most part, you can control the golf. You cannot control what players on other teams shoot. There is no such thing as defense in golf.
But that goes the other way too. There is no stopping Olivia Bailey.
Bailey shot a 71 to add regional medalist honors to the sectional medalist honors she won five days earlier as the Lady Zs finished third to advance to the IHSAA state finals for the third time in school history and the first time since 2013.
Lake Central won the regional with a 338, South Bend St. Joe was second with a 348, and Rochester was third with a 356.
In addition to Bailey, Thomas shot an 84, Molly Moore had a 93, Lexi Haughs had a 108, and Laynie Migonis had a 113.
“It was a rollercoaster day to say the least,” coach Chad Thomas said. “It’s a great feeling. I’m very, very proud of the girls for not giving up on themselves. This is pretty special.”
Rochester also shot a 356 at last year’s regional and finished fourth, one shot away from advancing as a team. This year, they are going to state by a one-shot margin.
“Honestly, I didn’t think it was going to be good enough,” Bailey said afterwards about the team score. “Just because I know there are some really good teams here. But I’m really happy that it wasn’t. … All the strokes mattered a whole lot.”
Rochester players will tee off on the back nine at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel for the first round of the 36-hole state finals on Friday. Tee times are 9:50 a.m. for Migonis, 10 a.m. for Haughs, 10:10 a.m. for Moore, 10:20 a.m. for Thomas and 10:30 a.m. for Bailey.
The final round is set for Saturday.
The Lady Zs were not the only school to make history either. Pioneer’s Mia McKaig shot an 80 and had one of the three lowest scores among individuals on non-advancing teams and also made state.
McKaig is the first girls golfer in Pioneer history to make state.
“I’m still in disbelief, I think,” McKaig said. “It was not expected at all. It feels amazing.”
Penn’s Scarlett Biever (79), McKaig and Logansport’s Sophia Kay (83) were the three low individuals. McKaig, in fact, had the fourth lowest score among the 90 golfers in the field.
Rochester players were paired with Lake Central and South Bend St. Joe. When scores were posted, Rochester saw that they were third. There were still nine teams left on the course.
A group consisting of players from Portage, Trinity Greenlawn and Logansport finished. Rochester beat all three.
Then came the group from LaPorte, Chesterton and Penn. LaPorte had a 428. Chesterton, who made state last year, carded a 376.
Then came Penn’s scores. Ranked No. 14, Penn was the highest ranked team of the 15 in the regional. Penn was also the defending regional champion.
Alaina DeMeyer came in with a 95. Lillian Norris had a 97. Kathy Lee had a 104. Clare Tobin had an 86. It came down to Biever, Penn’s No. 1 player. If she shot 78 or better, Penn would be going to state.
The scorer from the Sandy Pines staff wrote the numbers meticulously – 79. Biever was in as an individual, but the Lady Kingsmen were out.
A low gasp could be heard from the Rochester camp. The Lady Zs were still in third place.
Then came the group from Crown Point, Marquette Catholic and Valparaiso. Valparaiso scored a 467, Marquette Catholic had a 449, and Crown Point finished with a 385.
It was official. The Rochester celebration was on.
“Amazing,” Haughs said. She had improved her score by nine strokes from the 2023 regional.
“I told you that we would be going to state. From the (Kokomo Invitational), I told you we were going. I told you. And I was right.”
Moore was rendered nearly speechless.
“Crazy, wild, crazy,” she said.
Migonis admitted she was “a little scared there for a minute.”
She was elated afterwards.
“I’m so excited. It feels great.”
Ava Thomas, a Grace College recruit, talked about the feeling of helplessness.
“It feels amazing, and it feels way different than last year,” Ava said. “Because last year, I knew my score (76) was probably good enough to make it. This year, I didn’t think it was, and really, the only person on our team who played well admittedly from other team members was Olivia. And we were all just kind of worried we wouldn't make it. A couple times I accepted we probably wouldn’t make it.”
Coach Thomas also took the Lady Zs to state in 2012 and 2013. He also took the Rochester boys to state in the spring of 2006.
He also coached individuals Kavan Hoff (2005), Kinley Lingenfelter (2014-16) and Kristianna Lingenfelter (2020) as well as Bailey and Thomas last year to state.
Now the whole team goes again.
Soon after the awards, he was booking hotel rooms for Thursday and Friday night in Carmel.
But when it came to what he was thinking during the wait, he thought about getting to coach his daughter once more.
“I didn’t think we were going to be going as a team,” an emotional coach Thomas said. “I didn’t think that was going to be good enough. I thought we had to be under 340 to have a chance. I didn’t know what else was going on out there. I thought it was the last time I was coaching Ava.”
Lake Central regional (top three teams advance to state)
at Sandy Pines Golf Club, DeMotte (par 72)
Lake Central 338, South Bend St. Joe 348, Rochester 356, Penn 357, Logansport 372, Chesterton 376, Crown Point 385, Munster 391, Rensselaer 392, LaPorte 428, Knox 430, Marquette Catholic 451, Valparaiso 467, Portage 471, Trinity Greenlawn 497
LAKE CENTRAL (338): Huppenthal 76, M. Urbanski 82, P. Urbanski 88, P. Schilling 92, (V. Schilling 104)
SOUTH BEND ST. JOE (348): L. Dunham 83, M. Dunham 86, Hull 89, Schmeltz 90, (Jeffrey 103)
ROCHESTER (356): Olivia Bailey (35-36) 71, Ava Thomas (42-42) 84, Molly Moore (50-43) 93, Lexi Haughs (55-53) 108, (Laynie Migonis (59-54) 113)
PENN (357): Biever 79, Tobin 86, DeMeyer 95, Norris 97, (Lee 104)
LOGANSPORT (372): Kay 83, Lundy 92, Wilburn 95, Graham 102, (Kranz 119)
CHESTERTON (376): Soffin 88, McCoy 89, Driscoll 90, Schultz 109, (Kisic 113)
CROWN POINT (385): Harper 92, Zentz 94, Emmanolidis 98, L. Matthews 101, (S. Matthews 110)
MUNSTER (391): Zangrilli 84, Ingersoll 86, Padilla 103, Cipowski 118, (Andriessen 124)
RENSSELAER (392): Drone 88, Hooker 90, Geleott 106, Klingler 108, (Strange 117)
LAPORTE (428): Menne 96, McQuarters 109, Spain 111, Schable 112, (Riley 131)
KNOX (430): Montague 98, Stacy 105, Barnes 106, Jacobs 121, (Norem 134)
MARQUETTE CATHOLIC (451): Najar 92, Shoppa 119, Bonez-Shepherd 119, Acosta 121, (Pleasant 144)
VALPARAISO (467): Cusson 102, Jackson 120, Siatras 120, George 125, (Lanari 138)
PORTAGE (471): Bunton 110, Nelson 117, Krenkel 118, Torres 126, (Johnson 141)
TRINITY GREENLAWN (497): Palmer 114, Bush 119, Scroope 131, Angst 133, (Cory 135)
Individuals without a team: Mia McKaig (Pioneer) 80, Mowry (Hanover Central) 83, Florkowski (Mishawaka Marian) 86, Voliva (Andrean) 90, Swaim (South Bend Adams) 93, Kats (Illiana Christian) 97, Anderson (Kankakee Valley) 97, Stearns (Twin Lakes) 99, Mistina (Wheeler) 100, Chaffins (North Judson) 103, Snodgrass (New Prairie) 110, Evans (New Prairie) 116, Jenkins (South Bend Riley) 128, Senteno (Hammond Noll) 132, Pagone (Wheeler) 139
Individuals advancing to state without a team: 1. Scarlett Biever (Penn) 79, 2. Mia McKaig (Pioneer) 80, 3. Sophia Kay (Logansport) 83
NOTE: Kay defeated Mowry (Hanover Central) in a sudden death playoff for the final individual spot.
Medalist: Olivia Bailey (Rochester – 71
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