Garaway girls set a new mark in runner-up finish at state
The Garaway girls finished runner-up in the Div. II state tournament, setting a new school record. Team members include head coach Angie Miller, left, Sydni Prysi, Sammi Miller, Olivia Immel, Hannah Steiner, Brooklyn Numbers and assistant coach Ben Koshmider.
While the sun shined brightly for the girls Div. II state golf tournament at the Scarlet Course at the Ohio State University in Columbus Oct. 14-15, it wasn’t the temperature but the high wind that made play difficult for the Lady Pirates of Garaway and the rest of the field.
A stiff breeze on both days made scoring difficult, and when the final shot was in, Garaway had to settle for a runner-up finish behind champion Columbus Academy. The runner-up finish was the best in school history, and while the Lady Pirates were pleased to set that high-water mark, they weren’t satisfied.
Fortunately for them, the entire starting five are all juniors, meaning they will return next year with their sights set on improving their position one more spot to grab the ultimate title.
“We were thrilled where we were, really pleased,” Garaway head coach Angie Miller said. “We went there with every intention of winning it all, but we ended up second and we’re not hanging our heads.”
That is with good reason. The second-place finish marks the best effort by the girls team in school history, and they also set the school record for best 18- and 36-hole score at Scarlet.
Garaway played its way into the second position after day one, but what nobody saw coming on such a blustery day was the way Columbus Academy remained steady throughout.
CA’s team score of 317 placed them 20 strokes ahead of Garaway after day one, pretty much ensuring a title aside from a total meltdown, which the academy wasn’t about to produce.
“That was a great day for them,” Miller said of Columbus Academy’s day-one effort. “Even down 20, we felt that with the wind the way it was and with that kind of pressure, we played pretty well. They just played outstanding.”
Day two saw the Lady Pirates carve off four strokes at 333, and Columbus Academy shot a more realistic 330, which was more than enough to help them fend off Garaway. Columbus Academy shot a two-day score of 647, with Garaway runner-up at 670, Independence third at 691 and Van Buren fourth at 707.
Coming into the event, CA and Garaway had far and away the top scores and were expected to compete for the crown. However, CA’s trio of Angela Hu (157), Grace Luo (159) and Eva Baker (165) was more than enough to lift Columbus Academy to victory.
Garaway’s number-one player Sammi Miller did her part in keeping Garaway within shouting distance, firing off scores of 76-79 for a 155, good for third place overall and only three shots off of the pace set by individual champion Ella Wong of Hawken, who fired a pair of 76s on her way to a total score of 152. Riley McKenzie of Crooksville ended up second with a 79-74-153.
“That’s been Sammi all season,” Miller said of her daughter. “She’s been Miss Consistent.”
Brooklyn Numbers also played steady golf, shooting 84-83 for a 167, good for tying for 16th overall. For Sydni Prysi, it was a tale of two rounds. Prysi triple-bogeyed the first hole on day one, struggled to recover and came home with a 94. Day two was a different story. Prysi got hot and fashioned a 79, a score which only three players beat on day two. Her fine second day left her at 173, tied for 28th overall.
“Brooklyn played very steady all weekend, and Syd has been a rock all season, so it was nice to see her finish strong on day two,” Miller said.
Garaway’s four and five players Olivia Immel and Hannah Steiner both came out strong on day one, posting scores of 40 on the front side, which helped put the Lady Pirates even with Columbus Academy through the front side. However, as the wind kicked up, so did the scores, and the two ended the day with scores of 88 and 89, respectively.
Overall, Immel tied for 46th at 88-92 for a 180 while Steiner shot 89-94 for a 183, good for 41st overall.
Miller said both Immel and Steiner showed what they are capable of doing on the day-one front nine and said this experience with last season’s sixth-place finish at state will only bolster this team’s efforts next season.
Miller said while each player has individual goals and takes great pride in their own game, their real driving force has been their desire to benefit their teammates.
“They play for each other,” Miller said. “They want to win as much for each other as they do themselves.”
Much like this group was five years ago when they traveled to state to cheer on the Lady Pirates as seventh-graders, this year’s junior high players served that same role, and Miller said seeing what can be accomplished through hard work and dedication to each other will only inspire the middle school girls to pursue greatness that much more as Garaway’s program continues to shine.
The Lady P’s leave the 2022 season behind as the school’s all-time best, with a season record of 133-6 counting all of the tournaments. The first five losses all came in tournament play throughout the season to Div. I powerhouses. This sixth and final loss to CA is the exception, but as a whole, the entire team understands the experience from the weekend will help them build to what they hope will be one final trip to the top next season.