GRANITE CITY – The junior dynamic duo of Gracie Piar and Audrey Cain finished in the top two as Marquette Catholic placed five of its six golfers in the top ten in winning the small school division of the Madison County tournament on Tuesday afternoon at The Legacy Golf Course in Granite City.
The Explorers won the team title with a score of 344, with Father McGivney Catholic coming in second at 414, Civic Memorial was third with a team score of 429, and Roxana was fourth with a score of 475.
Piar won the individual crown with a one-over-par 72 on the course, with Cain shooting an 82 to place second. Cat Hollis was fourth with a 93, Clancy Maag was sixth with a score of 97 and Lily Montague tied for seventh with CM’s Sophee Brown, with each golfer having a 98. In addition, Ava Bartosiak was 11th with a 108.
Marquette head coach Deb Walsh felt that her golfers played well for it being their season opening tournament.
“Today was a good, challenging day for us,” Walsh said. “It’s our first tournament out of the gate, and I think we did OK. We’ve got some work to do, we know that, and we expected that. But we still did really good today.”
The highlight of the day was a hole-in-one from Montague, her first career ace, and Walsh was thrilled with it. But the important thing for the Explorers was just being able to get out and compete, with all the problems being caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Well, when we started the day today, that’s what we said,” Walsh said. “We’ve got to play for today, because you don’t know what tomorrow’s going to bring. And that’s what we did. I think that they all took that thought to the tee box with them, and let’s make the rest of the day.”
The plan is to take that attitude into all the meets and tournaments Marquette will be playing in this season.
“We are,” Walsh said. “We’ve got to make the most of everything we are able to get to this year, because you just never know what tomorrow will bring. So, we’re holding today special and say ‘let’s get this done,’ and move forward.”
The team and individual goals haven’t yet been set for the Explorers, but to finish as strong as possible in each event.
“Right now, the goals are hard to set,” Walsh said. “We want to finish strong in every single event we go to. Obviously, the end goal would be state, but that’s kind of up in the air right now. So right now, it’s go out and place as high as we can in each event.”
And if the Illinois High School Association state series is cancelled for this year, a Prairie State Conference title would be just as good.
“It would be great if we could do that too,” Walsh said. “Anything we can get this season is a blessing, and we hope we can get the most done this year.”
The Griffins were able to enjoy success as well, as Ellie Hyten finished third with a 90, and Julia Stobie was fifth with a 96. In addition, Paige Yasitis shot an 112, Grace Stanhaus had an 116, Jillian Matthews shot a 122, and Chloe Albrecht had a 124. Outside of Brown, the Eagles got a 107 from Peyton Mormino, Emily Declue shot a 108, Payton Whaley carded an 116, Madeline Woelffel shot 140, and Allie Robusen fired a 143. The Shells were led by Sarah Floyd’s 101, followed by a 108 from Mia McCoy, Britney Sweetin had a 128, and both Sydney Watts and Reagan Lynn each had a 138. Grace Brock withdrew from the tournament.
And the most important thing is the Marquette golfers, along with the other golfers and teams in the area, are able to go out and compete, and are being able to play their season as scheduled, which is a very good feeling for everyone in the area.
“You know, it is important to them to have their season,” Walsh said, “and it is important to them to compete. They have great friends on all of these teams, they see each other, and it’s just like old friends. They’re together, they go out there and play well.”
The friendships, no matter what team a player may play for, are always the same, which is one of the best things about sports in general.
“Yes they do, they do,” Walsh said with a smile. “They have some great friends out there.”
Chris Rhodes also contributed to this story.
