The season for the Lake Havasu girls golf team officially came to an end at the Arizona Interscholastic Association Division II State Championships on Tuesday.
In an up and down team performance, the Knights finished 12th overall at the two-day tournament at Omni Tucson National Catalina Course. Havasu recorded an overall score of 822 and finished 35 strokes behind 11th place finisher Desert Mountain. The Knights finished the first 18 holes in 12th at 404 and shot a 418 in the second day.
“We struggled with putting these past couple of days,” head coach Jeremy Wojcicki said. “That made it tough on the girls, they made some good shots into the green and then they end up three-putting or even sometimes four-putting, those will definitely cost you on the scoreboard.”
Freshman Britteny Gomez scored a team-high 207 after both days, followed by Gianna Jehle, Allison Jenkins and Jenica Delaney each recording a score of 207 and Xanthia Still finishing with a score of 246.
After the first day, Delaney had the highest score for Havasu at 96, Gomez shot a 99, Jehle recorded a 102, Jenkins had a 107 and Still shot 134. It was Delaney’s second time at the tournament while everyone else played on the course for the first time.
“There was definitely some nerves out there,” Wojcicki said. “A lot of people around, other good golfers around, so nerves were up, especially on the first day.
“On the second day, they got a little more comfortable out there. I think most of the girls, I think three of them, ended up shooting better on day two compared to day one. It was a learning experience for them. They all had fun. They all wish they shot a little better, but it was great experience for all the girls who worked so hard to make it to state.”
Havasu qualified for state after a three-way race with Campo Verde and Mingus Union for the 12th and final spot in the rankings. The Knights clinched the final qualifying spot after shooting a stroke score of 171 in their final home match against Lee Williams on Oct. 28.
The season ends Wojcicki’s first year as head coach and said it was an easy transition because of the girls. Wojcicki also coaches the boys tennis team at Lake Havasu High School.
“They were ready to play golf and they wanted to play golf and they enjoyed it,” Wojcicki said. “That makes it so much easier on a new coach. They were all ready to try some things out. Work on some different things and there was a lot of talent there and a lot of willingness to compete and be better.”
The team will lose two seniors in Delaney and Jenkins, but Gomez is expected to come back next season and compete for the No. 1 spot, Wojcicki said. He added that Gomez, Jenkins and Delaney were instrumental to the team’s run of qualifying for state.
“They were kind of our three mainstays that always help us get to where we needed to be score-wise,” Wojcicki said. “There’s not a bad girl on the team. They’re all helpful with each other. They worked well as a team. They had that friendly competition where they wanted to win and beat each other, but at the same time it wasn’t detrimental to the chemistry of the team.”
Ironwood Ridge claimed the Division II championship with a score of 603 and won by two strokes over runner-up Cactus Shadows. Third place finisher Catalina Foothills were 77 strokes behind the champions. Calynee Rosholt of Cactus Shadows was the D-II individual champion.
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