HESSTON – Silver Lake coach Kelby Brown couldn’t bring himself to look at the scores at any point during the Class 3-2-1A girls’ golf state tournament as his Eagles chased their first team state championship.
“I didn’t look either day. I stayed off my phone. I didn’t want to know for health reasons,” Brown said. “I just didn’t want to get stressed out.”
Fortunately for Brown and the Eagles, they had nothing to fret about.
After taking an eight-shot lead into Day 2, Silver Lake left no doubt, using a workmanlike performance to break through and make program history with a championship on Tuesday at Hesston Golf Course.
The Eagles won rather convincingly, tacking on 14 shots to their lead over the course of the second round and clear runner-up Colby by 22 strokes for the title.
“They have put themselves on the map,” Brown said. “This means the world for us and for the school that we can do this and bring this back home to a pretty successful school. Now we can call it a golf school as well.”
After shooting a 356 on Monday, the Eagles shaved off 11 strokes on Tuesday with a 345 to finish at 701.
“We said that today's just another working day and we just need to do what we did (Monday),” Silver Lake senior Taylor Zordel said. “There's no extra pressure. It's just another day at the office."
Just as they’ve done all season, Klara Kleinig and Zordel carried the Eagles.
Kleinig was within striking distance of champion Margaret Ulrich of Wichita Collegiate for most of the back nine until the last three holes, ultimately finishing tied for second with Colby’s Anna Starbuck, six shots back Ulrich, who claimed her third straight title.
Kleinig, a foreign exchange student from Germany, recorded a two-day total of 160 after back-to-back 80 rounds. Zordel finished just three shots back of Kleinig and Starbuck to take fourth place.
“I’m at a loss of words to describe those two,” Brown said of his leaders. “They competed and fought against each other all year long, tournament for tournament. Each one wanted to beat the other. They supported each other, but it was always ‘Hey, what’s Taylor doing? What’s Klara doing?’
“I think that’s what pushed us to another level. They pushed each other to get better and then that brought everybody else with them.”
Silver Lake's Klara Kleinig tied for second invidually.
Kleinig’s chances of catching Ulrich for the individual title ended with a quadruple bogey on hole No. 16 but she bounced back with a birdie on 17.
Silver Lake’s contingent of supporters watched on hole 18 as Kleinig capped the Eagles’ championship with a par.
“I've never played (a tournament) like this,” Kleinig said. “It was just a great experience. I loved seeing the crowd watching on 18 and I love the team spirit and that so many people came to support us."
The Eagles placed two others in the top 25. Kate Osterhaus tied for 25th and Kailyn Hanni was 30th. Madeline Fieger and Avri Broxterman tied for 34th for Silver Lake.
“This field was loaded from start to finish," Brown said. "We knew it was going to take all six girls both days, and it did. We used a combination of all six between the two days to get it done.
“I'm just so proud of them. They're the most competitive group I've ever been around, the funnest group I've ever been around. They deserve everything they got today.”
Zordel and Kleinig said the Eagles will cherish the legacy of bringing home the first state title for the program.
"It didn't hit me until they were handing out the medals, but then it was like, 'Oh, my gosh! We just made school history.' It feels amazing,” Zordel said.
“I was about to cry,” Kleinig said. “Everyone was really emotional. It’s been a really big deal for Silver Lake. I’m happy to be here, happy to be a part of it. I think it’s a really great thing for the school and we’ll celebrate (Wednesday).”
Silver Lake's Taylor Zordel took fourth in the 3-2-1A tournament.
Colby earned 3-2-1A runner-up honors for the fifth straight year. Senior Anna Starbuck capped a tremendous career by chipping in a birdie on 18 to secure her tie for second with Kleinig. Logan Nolan (8th) and Natalie Wederski (tied 19th) also medaled for Colby.
Colgan, which entered as three-time reigning state champions, took third with a 729. Ava Scripsick placed fifth to lead the Panthers.
Check back to KSHSAA Covered for a recap on how Ulrich captured her third straight individual title.
CLASS 3-2-1A STATE GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
AT HESSTON GOLF COURSE
TEAM SCORES
Silver Lake 701, Colby 723, Pittsburg St. Mary's Colgan 729, Jefferson West 756, Caney Valley 764, Fredonia 800.
INDIVIDUAL MEDALISTS
1. Ulrich, Wichita Collegiate, 73-81—154; T2. Kleinig, Silver Lake, 80-80—160; T2. Starbuck, Colby, 82-78—160; 4. Zordel, Silver Lake, 83-80—163; 5. Scripsick, Pittsburg Colgan, 84-80—164; 6. Bowles, Atwood, 83-83—166; 7. Wade, Prairie View, 87-80—167; 8. Nolan, Colby, 89-87—176; 9. Schneider, Jayhawk-Linn, 87-90—177; 10. Swezey, Colgan, 91-89—180; 11. Cure, Goodland, 90-91—181; 12. Yaghmour, Colgan, 93-89—182; T13. Thompson, Jefferson West, 86-97—183; T13. Schremer, Hoisington, 93-90—183; T15. Hipp, TMP-Marian 88-96—184; T15. Werner, Hesston, 91-93—184; 17. Thompson, Caney Valley, 93-92—185; 18. Casper, Eureka, 94-92—186; T19. Wederski, Colby, 94-93—187; T19. Dickey, Jefferson West, 90-97—187.