Tigers, Wolves, Huskies golf advances to regional final

NEW LONDON — The New London, Winfield-Mt. Union and Highland girls golf teams all advanced to the regional final with top finishes at the semifinal held Deerwood Golf Club in New London on Friday.

It was yet another spectacular showing from the Tigers of New London. The Tigers finished the day with a leading low of 383. WMU followed with 446 and Highland tallied 463.

Wapello was fourth with 554. Holy Trinity Catholic and Danville didn’t post team scores.

New London head coach Greg Lerdal said he’s proud of the girls improvement and he’s excited to see what’s in store moving forward.

“I was a little nervous,” Lerdal said. “We didn’t know what the weather would do, but the girls are starting to play a little bit better. We’ll see what happens.”

Four Tigers finished inside the top six in the tournament.

New London’s Taylor Phillips was the top golfer on the day, continuing where she left off in the conference championship.

Phillips shot an 87 for the top spot. Teammates Sophie Malott and Emma Nye followed in second and third. Malott ended with a 92 and Nye a 99.

Danville’s Adrianna Prado finished fourth with a 100, while the Tiger’s Saige Barron and Highland’s Adeline Krotz tied for fifth. Each shot a 105. All six advance as individuals to the regional final for a shot at state.

Freshmen Emma Busby and Stevey Wintermeyer also tallied totals for the Tigers on the day. Busby ended with a 111 on the day, while Wintermeyer shot a 141.

Busby said she’s happy to be a part of the team, specifically because of her families ties.

“We performed pretty good,” New London freshman Emma Busby said. “We’ve succeeded a lot this season. We’ve all gotten better. It’s special playing for this team because by aunt played on this team.”

For WMU, Ava Hagge shot a team low with 108. Alli Humphreys followed close behind with 109. Isabelle Kann golfed a 110. Afton Wilkerson and Lily Freeman both chipped in a 119.

“We were coming down,” Winfield-Mt. Union head coach Mitch Wachs said. I didn’t know we could come down this far. I was worried because they don't just get out and walk 18 holes much. This is the third time this year for us. They hung in there. All five kids were in the game. I happy for them.“

Following Krotz for Highland was Kelsi Cerny with a 110. Dani Kraus had a 120. Kerra Longbine and Jenna Waters tallied 128 each.

Cerny said she’s ready for to take on the regional final for a chance at state. She also expressed how proud she is of the freshmen performances this season.

“I’m excited,” Cerny said. “I’m really happy for these two (Kraus and Krotz), it’s their first year as freshmen. For the other three of us, we finished and moved on last year. I really just hope that this next round will be better for us than it was last year.”

The regional final will take place at Diamond Trail Golf Course in Lynnville on Wednesday.