Sweet Home’s golfers made history this year by becoming the first Husky girls team to make the state tournament.
The girls finished third May 6-7 in the Special District 3 tournament at Rogue Valley Country Club, learning on the first day that they had a chance to qualify for state behind high-powered teams from St. Mary’s and Cascade Christian.
The Husky boys finished fourth in their district tournament, missing state by one slot.
So, on Monday, May 13, the Husky girls found themselves playing at Eagle Crest in Redmond, in the 4A/3A/2A/1A state championships.
“We qualified for state, so here we are,” Coach Pat Davis said, chuckling. He said his team was given “rock star” treatment at school after qualifying.
“They were so excited. They made history. As far as anybody can tell, they’re the first team from Sweet Home High School to make it to state.”
Though the Huskies have had individual girls make the tournament, including Haley May who graduated last year and now plays for Corban, this is the first time Sweet Home has qualified as a team.
Day 1 didn’t go too well for Sweet Home, which finished the first 18 holes at the bottom of the leaderboard.
Brook Womack led the Huskies at the end of Monday’s 18 holes with a 112, tied for 42nd out of the 59 players. She was followed by Maren Weld (127), Lexi Schilling (137) and freshman Bailey Womack (140). The Huskies were missing Rebekah Fassler, who did not play after being involved in an automobile accident.
“Brook played well. That’s right where she should be,” Davis said. “The other three girls didn’t play well today. They struggled.”
With a 516 after the first day, the Huskies were well behind their closest competition, Baker/Powder Valley, which scored 442.
St. Mary’s of Medford, which was also the district champion, was in first with a 307, with three golfers in the first four places individually, including leader Baylee Hammericksen, a sophomore, with a three-under 69 and her younger sister Riley Hammericksen, a freshman, in second with a 74.
He said that his golfers were having “a great time” nevertheless.
“They’re enjoying the experience,” he said Monday night. “They want to be better tomorrow. It’s the first time ever. We’re here. Next year, we certainly will have high expectations.”
He noted that, of the 59 players, only about a dozen are seniors and “not many of them are relevant.
“All of these teams will be back next year, unless somebody has an amazing freshman come in or a bunch of seniors quit.”
In the District 2 championships in Medford May 6-7, the Huskies found out midway through the first round that the district, by far the largest in the state, was going to get three teams into the state tournament instead of the two that had been on the OSAA website all season, Davis said.
“We literally thought that only two teams were going to state.”
Up by eight strokes over Bandon after the first day with a 520, the Huskies turned on the gas, with the state tournament in sight, and finished with a 492 on Day 2.
Brook Womack was 13th in the district tournament, shooting 123-113. Weld was 24th (129-120), Lexi Schilling was 28th (134-127), Bailey Womack finished 31st (134-132) and Fassler was 33rd (139-132).
Baylee Hammerickson was the district champion, shooting 73-70.
Boys Golf
The Huskies finished fourth out of 10 teams in the 4A District 2 tournament at Tokatee, also on May 6-7.
“We had been there all year,” Davis said.
Marist was the runaway winner, shooting a two-day total of 617 behind sophomore Nick Watts’ 69-74, which earned him the individual district title.
Woodburn was second with 716, followed by Stayton with 723.
Sophomore Brayden Keesee was fifth overall after Day 1, shooting an 81, but followed that up with an 84, which tied him for sixth, one away from an individual qualifying spot.
Sophomore Chris May finished 100-97, junior Kolton Ertsgaard with 110-97, and junior Carson Smith with a 108-104 for a team score of 781.
The Huskies’ fifth finisher was freshman Alex Kisselburgh, who shot 115-104.
“We shot a 399 on Day 1, which was a very, very nominal average round for us,” Davis said. “The 382 for Day 2, that was where I’d hoped we’d be for two days in a row.”
He said the improvement from the first to the second round was “exciting.”
The boys look to have a good shot at state next year, with Marist returning all its players, but Stayton and Woodburn losing seniors.
“We should be in the thick of things if we get everybody back,” Davis said.
In their last pre-district golf round, the boys shot a 392 at Black Butte Ranch on May 2, finishing third in a field of seven teams, about half from the 5A level.
Keesee shot an 86, Smith a 99, May 100, Ertsgaard 107 and Kisselburgh 112. They finished two strokes behind Stayton.
“That’s the closest we had gotten to them all year,” Davis noted.