MADISON – After coming into the second and final day of the 2023 WIAA state girls golf tournament a stroke off the lead, it looked as though Divine Savior Holy Angels might fade down the stretch.
“Going into today, we knew that we had a chance, but we knew we all had to play well and work as a team,” sophomore Ava Roesch said.
After just being happy to be there at University Ridge in 2022 to end an 11-year drought of state appearances, 2023’s team had come to Madison with high hopes of competing for a Division 1 team title. The consistency that had gotten the Dashers there had started to waver in the back nine however, as a Waunakee team led by reigning state medalist Izzi Stricker seemed to be pulling away.
Dashers senior Kate Krueger was searching for answers after a third-straight bogie on the 15th hole, and recalled the Irish challenge coin stowed away in her golf bag. Junior teammate Hannah Strachota’s mother, herself unable to attend state while she recovered from a recent surgery, had gifted the coins to the team prior to tournament. Each coin had “With God all things are possible. Matt 10:27” inscribed upon them. Krueger said they were told to keep them in their pockets for good luck, but she had kept hers in her golf bag up until the final three holes of her high school golf career.
After our interview, @DSHAathletics senior Kate Krueger told me about these Irish challenge coins given to the team by a teammate’s mother that say “With God all things are possible. Matt 10:27.” She told me she moved hers into her pocket for good luck after 15. Finish? 🐤-par-🐤 pic.twitter.com/M76iWRcGWk
— Zac Bellman Ⓜ️ (@ZacBellman_WNY) October 11, 2023
“After 15, I got it out of my bag and put it in my pocket, and then I guess that’s where it kind of turned for me,” Krueger said. “God was working for us.”
Krueger bounced back with a birdie, par and birdie over the final three holes, capped by a converted eight-foot putt on 18 to seal a team title win in D1 by just two strokes.
DSHA head coach Mark Himm said he could not be prouder of the senior’s finish, while lauding the efforts of teammates that put her in that position.
“Kate comes through with a birdie there (on 16), an amazing up and down. Zoe (Gryniewicz) had a great par on 17, Ava’s par on 18 and then Kate to just come in and finish an absolute storybook career and close it out the way she did,” Himm said. “Just to stand up as a senior and sink that putt, what a magical moment for her.”
Call it a bit of ‘divine intervention’ for DSHA’s first WIAA state girls golf title. The Dashers finished with a total of 641 strokes, besting Waunakee’s 643 led by a second-consecutive state medalist performance from Stricker (71-73–144). Middleton finished third (651), followed by Westosha Central (654), Brookfield East (672), Bay Port (677), Kaukauna (686), Brookfield Central (721), Oconomowoc (735), Hudson (752), Union Grove (779) and Holmen (789).
Breakout performances from Roesch (6th, 76-75–151) and freshman Gryniewicz (T-12th, 79-80–159) led a team effort also comprised of Krueger (T-19th, 82-80–162), a personal best second round from Strachota (T-28th, 88-81–169) and senior Emma Bruckman (65th, 103-96–199). Himm said the humility of each individual golfer was the key to the historic win.
“We need four scores every time. Doesn’t matter if ‘Oh I’m the medalist here’ or someone else is, it’s four scores put together, good things will follow. We talked this morning that we play for each other,” Himm said.
Gryniewicz added that while she was excited for the future outlook of the program, she was particularly thrilled to help deliver a 2023 title for Krueger.
“She’s been really great for me as a freshman and she’s been talking about this all year long, (being) state champs,” Gryniewicz said. “I’m glad we could get this win for her as well as the rest of the team.”
Brookfield East’s Haugen finishes second to lead area individual scores
Brookfield East did not quite tally the scores necessary to improve upon a fourth-place finish at state in 2022, but had its individual leader challenge for the state medalist score. Sophomore Payton Haugen, who finished seventh at state as a freshman last year, came in second to Stricker after entering the day tied for the top individual score. Just two strokes separated Haugen (71-75–146) from Stricker, and she knew exactly which hole she wanted back. A seven on the par four fourth hole had Haugen playing from at least a stroke behind Stricker the rest of the way, but she was proud of the way she competed.
“Today didn’t go as well as possible, but I’m proud I was able to redeem myself,” Haugen said. “I was able to battle, stay consistent on the back nine and so I’m happy that there’s so many good girls in the top 10, and I was able to finish second.”
The sophomore is poised to be a medalist threat over her remaining two years at Brookfield East, which she admitted would be bittersweet without her sister and graduating senior Madison Haugen (8th, 74, 80).
“I don’t know what I’m going to do next year without her. That’s going to be disappointing, but hopefully our team will remain strong,” Payton Haugen said. “We’re all pretty close friends and I hope to keep that without Maddy being on the team next year.”
Also cracking the top 10 individual scorers from the greater Milwaukee area in D1 were Westosha Central’s Kylie Walker (5th, 72-77–149), Whitefish Bay’s Daniella Honkamp (7th, 74-79–153), Union Grove’s Lexi Manteufel (T-9th, 77-79–156) and Oconomowoc’s Lauren Lupinek (T-9th, 77-79–156). The Prairie School’s Kadyn Peery (7th, 84-85–169) was the sole area finisher in the top 10 in D2.
Full tournament results are available on the WIAA website.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: DSHA wins first WIAA girls state golf title in program history