By MICHAEL CARNES
For The Herald
NORTH PLATTE — If greens on a golf course had ears, the ones at Lake Maloney Golf Club might not like what the Wayne High girls golf team has to say about them.
The Blue Devils came home with a fifth-place finish in the Class C State Girls Golf Championships Tuesday afternoon, and their team score of 770 could have been better were it not for the challenging greens that wreaked havoc on the putting capabilities of the 92 girls who competed in the two-day meet Monday and Tuesday.
Coach Josh Johnson said that he was certain that what the girls might have to say about the greens on the Lake Maloney track may not be suitable for publication, but he said it was a good learning experience for the team.
“They were challenging and you couldn’t take your eyes off anything,” he said of the multi-tiered greens on the course. “There were a lot of ridges that you had to hit up to, and if you did then you could have a go at it. It’s something we don’t see a lot of back home, and I’m sure it’s something we’ll talk about on the way home.”
The putting challenges didn’t deter the coach from singing his team’s praises for their work during the meet. Wayne was in fourth place after the first day of competition, but C-3 district runner-up West Holt overtook Wayne on the second day, finishing 13 shots ahead of the Blue Devils.
“I couldn’t be any prouder of them,” Johnson said. “Yesterday, they shot their second-best round of the year, and that’s great to do at state. They fought through the wind today and were able to get through it.”
Junior Joslyn Johnson led the charge for the Wayne girls. She was in the top 10 after the first day, and while she faded down the stretch, she was still able to make it to the medal stand with a 14th place finish of 175.
“She was playing pretty well yesterday and she played well in sports today, and like all the girls, when the wind catches you just right you end up knee-deep in grass,” Johnson said. “She had a bad break on 13 when her ball hit a cart path and wound up in some bad stuff. She was disappointed that she didn’t play better down the stretch, but she got it done.”
Charli Seivers was next in line for the Blue Devils, shooting a 195 over the 36-hole event. Lindsay Niemann was the lone Blue Devil to improve on the second day, going from a 100 on Monday to a 92 on Tuesday to finish with a 192.
Carli Canham had a rough second day and finished with a 208, and Hallie Heithold shot her career-best round on Monday with a 101 before finishing with a 212.
The good news for the Wayne program is that all five golfers who competed at state will return next year. Johnson, Sievers and Niemann are juniors and Heithold and Canham are sophomores, giving Wayne a good nucleus to build around for the 2024 campaign.
“For four of these girls, this was their second state tournament and it was neat that everybody was able to step up at some point this season,” Johnson said. “Charli stepped up big at districts, Carli won a meet, Hallie had her best round Monday and even Lindsay had a great round today so it’s neat to see that each of them has that ability. If we can put them all together like that next year, it could be really great. We’re anxious to get back to work and see what happens.”
Patefield represents LCC
Holly Patefield of Laurel-Concord-Coleridge also competed in the tournament as an individual, finishing the two-day meet with a 204.
“She played her heart out these last two days,” coach Christina Patefield said. “She came out playing really well the first seven holes today and then caught a couple of bad breaks. We just treated this as a two-day practice round for next year.”
Class C State Girls Golf
Team Standings
Broken Bow 681, Minden 690, Columbus Scotus 743, West Holt 757, Wayne 770, O’Neill 778, Ogallala 785, Grand Island CC 788, Valentine 791, Fullerton 824, Oakland-Craig 833, Perkins County 833, Lincoln Christian 858, Auburn 871, Platteview 871.
State Medalists
1. Camryn Johnson, Broken Bow, 149.
2. Olivia Lovegrove, Lincoln Christian, 150.
3. Taylor Beierman, Boone Central, 155.
4. (tie) Mia Hiebner, Heartland; and KayLynn Jorgensen, Minden, 161.
6. Cecilia Arndt, Scotus, 162.
7. Kara Scuchsland, Minden, 165.
8. Julia Messere, GICC, 166.
9. Taylor Schaaf, Broken Bow, 169.
10. Kaylin Gaughenbaugh, O’Neill, 171.
11. Jamisyn Kirkpatrick, Auburn, 172.
12. Reese Ribera, Ogallala, 173.
13. Amelia Ptacnik, Holdrege, 174.
14. Joslyn Johnson, Wayne, 175.
15. (tie) Callie Whitten, Minden; and Molly Custer, Broken Bow, 177.
Area Results
WAYNE — Joslyn Johnson 175 (84-91), Charli Sievers 195 (94-101), Lindsay Niemann 192 (100-92), Carli Canham 208 (99-109), Hallie Heithold 212 (101-111)
LCC — Holly Patefield 204 (96-108)
