Another dominant showing by Arrowhead
MADISON – The show Arrowhead put on at the state tournament last year was a tough act to follow, but this was pretty darn good.
The Warhawks girls golf team won its second straight WIAA Division 1 title Tuesday at University Ridge Golf Course and accomplished the feat with another dominating showing. No, they didn’t match last year’s 51-stroke victory, but only one other school in the past 20 years can match the 27-stroke edge that Arrowhead enjoyed over Milton.
Thanks to four top-18 finishes, Arrowhead turned its expected showdown with Milton into a blowout. The teams split time as the state’s No. 1 team this season with Arrowhead more than justifying the No. 1 ranking it held in the final few weeks.
“Any time you win a state title you’re pleased, but I’m more pleased that they pulled together,” Arrowhead coach Mike Breaker said. “Each in their own way faced adversity. They got past it. They didn’t let it get them down and they just kept plugging away.”
Nothing exemplified that more than at the top of the lineup, where junior Emily Lauterbach, the 2016 state champion, shook off five bogeys on the front nine to shoot 1-under on the back and finish third with a two-day total of 4over 148. That was three strokes behind Milton senior Mia Seeman, who won the crown with a 1-over 145.
The rest of Arrowhead’s lineup checked in as follows: senior Sarah Ernst tied for 10th (156), senior Gianna Gastrow was 17th (162) and senior Skyler Phillips tied for 18th (164). The team would have won by two strokes using its fifth score — junior Caroline Kroeninger and sophomore Ellie Kaiser combined to shoot 189.
“Toward the end of the season we came together as a team. We improved immensely,” Ernst said. “These past two days have been amazing. Everyone has been bringing each other up. I’m elated right now.”
Arrowhead’s effort was the highlight of a strong showing by area teams and individuals.
Kettle Moraine senior Abby Cavaiani improved on last year’s sixth-place finish with a secondplace showing. The Missouri State recruit shot a 3-over 147 and finished just two strokes off the pace after Seeman quadruple-bogeyed the final hole.
Cavaiani said her undoing was a double-bogey on No. 16. (par 5, 434 yards). She hooked her tee shot into the woods and then missed her first attempt to get out of the trouble when her club hit a branch. She got out of that with her third shot, only to hit it into a bunker.
“Overall I played pretty solid,” she said. “On the front nine I was making a lot of pars with a birdie in there. I three-putted twice for par on par-5s, so I was really hitting well. I just wasn’t quite putting right. I was feeling good all the way through the back nine and I just made a bad mistake on 16 that kind of cost me.”
The rest of the area’s honor roll of performers included:
Divine Savior Holy Angels senior Lorenza Martinez, who tied for the low round of the day (2over 74) and finished fourth. She was tied for fourth last season.
Homestead senior Speedy Kent, who bounced back from an 80 on Monday to shoot 76 on Tuesday and tie for 10th. It was her fourth top-10 finish at state.
Catholic Memorial senior Sydney Brandt, who shared the lead in Division 2 after Day 1, finished third with a two-day total of 164. That was the area’s best finish in Division 2, four strokes behind the champion, Emily Priebe of Fox Valley Lutheran.
Brookfield Central, which just missed bringing home a trophy in the team race. Led by senior Emily Balding’s fifthplace tie, the team was seven strokes behind Milton for second place. Still it was the Lancers’ best showing since it finished second in 2005.
Arrowhead, meanwhile, won its fourth state title. The others came in 2004, ’13 and ’16.
This one was capped by a short putt for par by Lauterbach. After her round, she gave Seeman a hug and then was joined by her teammates for a group hug on the 18th green. They all knew it. Another championship was in the books.
“It was emotional because we have three seniors on the team and I think one person might be playing golf in college, but for the rest of us this might be one of our last competitive rounds,” Ernst said. “For me it is and I’m just so happy to end my senior year like this.”