St. James Academy made school history last season as it won its first Eastern Kansas League golf title.
This year, for the first time, the Thunder earned the clean sweep.
Not only did St. James win back-to-back league crowns, but the Thunder also had its first individual champion. Sophomore Lynn Powell won the school’s first individual crown following the second leg of the EKL Tournament on Oct. 1 at Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate.
The team of Powell, Caroline Zacharias, Rose Muehlberger, Claire Dombrowski, Amanda Greco and Maggie Orth captured the championship after winning the second leg of the EKL, which was the Blue Valley Southwest Tournament of Champions. The Thunder edged Blue Valley North by seven strokes for the team title.
“It was pretty amazing to win the EKL for the second consecutive year,” St. James coach Michael Consiglio said. “There are some really good teams in our league and it is incredibly difficult to win that trophy.”
St. James Academy's Lynn Powell won the EKL title earlier this month.
Powell took third in the second leg of the tournament at LionsGate with a 78, but already had a comfortable lead after shooting a 70 in the first leg earlier this season at Minor Park.
“Lynn is a fantastic golfer and she has worked really hard to get to this point,” Consiglio said. “She has a unique ability to overcome a bad shot or rough start to a round. I am very proud to have the opportunity to coach her and see her win the first EKL individual title in school history. This league has had some phenomenal golfers and she is part of an elite group.”
The Thunder are now gearing up for a state run as they return three state medalists from a season ago as sub-state golf begins this Monday.
“Our team is really looking forward to the postseason,” Consiglio said. “We feel as if our best golf is still ahead of us. Also, we have three state medalists returning from 2024 (Powell 5th, Caroline Zacharias 8th, Rose Muehlberger 13th). Really excited to see what these girls do over the next couple weeks.”
Shawnee Mission East captures league crown, Olathe East’s Sun wins individual title
For the second time in as many years, Shawnee Mission East earned a Sunflower League title following the third round of the league tournament last Monday at St. Andrews Golf Course.
The Lancers did it in dominating fashion. Shawnee Mission East won the team title by 67 strokes thanks to the contributions of Ella Slicker, Katie Robinett, Addy Sullivan, Harper Fieser, Georgia Boys and Paige Wildman. All six golfers finished in the top 11 of the league standings.
Ella Slicker and the rest of her Shawnee Mission East team won back-to-back Sunflower League titles earlier this week.
“We start the season off with three goals: win league, win regionals, win state,” Shawnee Mission East coach Ben Hendricks said. “This means a lot to me and to the girls and its our regular season goal each year. With the three round format spread out over three courses, it’s a great way to identify the best team and I find that its a really satisfying achievement for our players.”
Also for the second straight season, Olathe East’s Jenny Sun brought home the individual title. Sun edged out Slicker by one stroke after winning the first and third legs of the tournament as she shot a 70 in her final round at St. Andrews.
Olathe East's Jenny Sun
“Jenny only started playing four years ago,” Olathe East coach Pam Gabel said. “Her goals this year are to have fun and enjoy her senior year. She set a goal to win state this year after last year she had a bad tournament. Going into the final round at league she was 3 strokes behind, so she needed to win by 4. She had some struggles in the first 9, but came out strong on the back.”
I was a competitive tournament that saw Slicker finished second by a stroke and Olathe West’s Savannah Cagle just two strokes behind the lead and took third.
“I’m happy for Jenny,” Hendricks said. She is a great kid who has a bright future and I think she is as well liked and respected as any player I’ve encountered. Pam does a great job as a coach and deserves some credit for Jenny’s fantastic performance in league this year.
“Ella hasn’t played her best golf yet and I believe that its coming the next two weeks. She has been working on some changes to her swing this year in an effort to play her best in the post season. I think we’ll see her perform well the next few weeks and I’m hoping she goes out on top.”
Other golf standouts:
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Baldwin’s Peyton Wright continued her strong play this season as she has medaled first in three tournaments this season, which included a Frontier League title as she shot a 73 at Sycamore Ridge. Wright also won the Anderson County Invitational on Monday and the Santa Fe Trail Invitational earlier this month. She helped the Bulldogs to five tournament championships, including a league crown.