ANDERSON — The Fishers golfers and coaches waited on the patio of The Edge Golf Course with high anticipation for Columbus North golfer Danbi Kim’s score to post in Saturday’s Lapel Regional.
Kim said she felt really good after carding a 73, which is better than she did last year in the regional. But seventh-ranked Fishers also was happy with Kim’s score after beating out the No. 3 Bull Dogs by one shot and stopping the favorites from winning their second consecutive regional championship.
The Tigers posted a 305 team scored. North tied with No. 7 Hamilton Southeastern at 306, but the Bull Dogs took second because of a better fifth score.
All three teams will be moving onto the State Finals on Friday and Saturday at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel.
“We expected a close finish, but we didn’t know how it would turn out,” North coach Scott Seavers said. “Our goal was to come out here, do our best and move on, and that’s what happened. It could have gone either way.”
Nathaly Munnicha carded a 76, Molly Donnell added a 77 and Alex Munnicha finished with an 80 for the Bull Dogs. Julia Luken’s 82 beat Hamilton Southeastern’s fifth score by three shots.
Kim said the team is heading into the state competition with a lot of confidence.
“We really do think we have a chance at winning state because we have such a good team,” Kim said. “We’re just going to go in with a good attitude with our best skills.”
Columbus East posted a 354 to place seventh, which is right where coach Troy Buntin expected his team to be.
Autumn Fateley and Lauren Steinwedel led the Olympians with 86s. Lily Shelp carded a 90, Morgan Harrison added a 92 and Kati Brunn finished with a 107.
“I thought if we shot around 350ish and finished in the top half, I’d be happy, and we did that,” Buntin said. “I’m losing three seniors, so I’ve got a handful of kids coming back (next year). Hopefully we’ll get some ninth-graders in that can compete, and it’ll be another year to grow.”
Shelp, Harrison and Fateley are the three seniors the Olympians are losing to graduation. Shelp said her final season as an Olympian went better than expected. Both Fateley and Harrison said they are glad their high school golf careers ended the way it did.
“I’m glad we ended this way,” Fateley said. “I know the seniors didn’t play as well as they wanted to. But I know our incoming varsity, two of the girls shot (personal records) today. It was really cool to see them at our last match to see them grow. I think that was the kind of the big-star moment to end my career for East golf.”
