HESSTON – Kat Ball said Manhattan’s final-round preparation for the Class 6A girls state golf tournament began with a players-only meeting in a hotel weight room Monday evening.
 
Not just any hotel weight room. A Holiday Inn Express hotel weight room.
 
That, of course, is the lodging chain famous for its Stay Smart advertising campaign in which normal people accomplish great things after staying there.
 
And after the Indians’ performance Tuesday at Hesston Golf Course, the theory holds true.
 
Manhattan overcame a six-shot deficit to first-round leader Shawnee Mission East, posting a four-player score of 300 to overtake the Lancers by 12 strokes and complete a successful team title defense. Junior Maddie Myers and Ball – one of five Manhattan seniors – each carded 3-over 74s in the final round to earn top-3 individual finishes and lead the Indians’ comeback.
 
“Last night in the hotel we gathered and just had a plan to play our own game and be able to persevere through the bad holes,” said Ball, who finished third with a 8-over-par 150 total, two shots behind champion Ella Slicker of Shawnee Mission East and one behind runner-up Myers. “If you have a bad hole, you have to shake it off. You’ve just got to keep going.
 
“It was really cool to talk about our rounds and then actually come out and do it.”
 

Manhattan captured its 13^th state girls golf championship and third since Class 6A split from 5A in 2008. The Indians’ two-day team total of 617 was higher than the 593 they posted last year in a 29-shot victory – also over Shawnee Mission East – at Hutchinson’s Carey Park.
 
Winds that were consistently strong Monday and intermittently so Tuesday had plenty to do with it.
 
“It was a long couple days, especially fighting the wind and everything,” said Myers, who has finished fourth, third and second in three 6A state appearances. “It just really takes it out of you. You wouldn’t think so, but it does.”
 
Still, the Indians showed a champion’s resilience, particularly in the final round. Myers started the day five shots behind Slicker, who carded the tournament’s only sub-par round with a 1-under 70 on Monday. Ball, last year’s 6A runner-up to Maize’s Kinslea Jones, was six behind Slicker after the opening round.
 
Both improved their scores on Day 2, as did senior Lily Bahr, who posted rounds of 79 and 77 to tie for seventh at 156. Manhattan’s other score in the final round came from senior Wrenn Burton, who slashed 15 shots off her opening-day round with a 75 to tie for 15th.
 

Senior Jessica Kim, competing at state for the first time since her freshman year, also improved from an 87 on Monday to an 81 on Tuesday and shared 19^th place.
 
“We didn’t have to give them a big pep talk because they did it themselves,” Manhattan coach Paige McCarthy said. “We’ve got competitors. Almost all of them have played other sports and so they kind of have that grit in them.
 
“I just felt really comfortable. Six strokes was a little bit farther than we wanted to be down, but I really did feel confident.”
 
Shawnee Mission East, which continued a streak of finishing either second or third in 6A each year since its last title in 2020, also had second-round improvement – just not at the top. Slicker followed her 70 with a 7-over 78, preserving her second individual state victory with a par save on the final hole. Junior Katie Robinett tied for seventh, carding an 82 after a first-round 74.
 

The Lancers’ final-round team score of 318 included a 78 from junior Paige Wildman, who took 10^th. Senior Georgia Boyd rebounded from an opening 97 to post an 80 on Tuesday to complete East’s 318 team score.
 
The winning margin was a bit of a surprise to the Indians, as McCarthy monitored the tournament’s live scoring, but kept it secret from her players throughout most of the round.
 
“Maddie was the only one who knew where she stood because she was playing with Ella,” McCarthy said. “We didn’t let the girls know that we were ahead or that we were ahead comfortably until the last hole.
 
“After Kat’s last drive wasn’t great and she had to punch out, she said, ‘Do I need to be worried?’ I said, ‘Not team-wise, but individually it’d be great if you want to go for the pin.’”
 
As it played out, Myers and Ball switched placings from the 2024 state tournament, when Ball finished second and Myers was third. Both became three-time 6A individual medal winners along with Bahr, who posted a career-best state finish. Burton and Kim earned their first top-20 finishes, while senior Alyse Yoxall tied for 40^th.
 
Olathe West joined Shawnee Mission East with three top-20 individual finishers and took third in the team competition with a two-day score of 672. Senior Savannah Cagle led the Owls, finishing sixth with a 154 total. Junior Alaina Evans tied for 13^th and junior Averie Yates tied for 19^th.
 
Mill Valley (688), Blue Valley North (692) and Garden City (693) rounded out the teams that completed 36 holes.
 
“It’s definitely sweeter,” Ball said when asked to compare last year’s team title to the one Manhattan collected Tuesday. “Coming into Day 2 and us being the underdog, and being able to come out and win made it even better.
 
“We knew we had to come out and play our own game. In doing that, I think it took the pressure off and allowed us to play our best. We had a couple girls who played really good this last day. We needed them to come through and they did, so that was really nice to see.”'
 

CLASS 6A STATE GOLF
 
At Hesston Golf Course
 
TEAM SCORES
 
Manhattan 617, Shawnee Mission East 629, Olathe West 672, Mill Valley 688, Blue Valley North 692, Garden City 693.