GARDEN CITY — For a spell, it appeared Hoisington High School’s girls’ golf team had hopes of a top-3 finish at the Class 3-1A girls state golf championship on Monday.
But the Cardinals had to settle for a fifth-place finish of 426, 11 strokes behind third-place finisher Cimarron. Cheney captured its first-ever state golf championship with a 400 total that beat Caney Valley (407).
Hoisington’s Hannah Wilborn posted a 101 score that tied her for 15th place. Hoisington’s other scores were posted as Jordin Greer (105), Karisa Schremmer (108), Presley Smith (112), Alyson Klug (114) and Sydney Boxberger (115). The Cardinals fifth- and sixth-place players would’ve beaten most of the teams.
Wilborn, Smith and Greer are seniors for the Cardinals.
Hoisington head coach Bruce Cooper said Southwind was the toughest test his golfers had played and everyone encountered a high score from time-to-time. Southwind requires a premium on accuracy from tee-to-green and features typically fast-paced greens.
“You’ve got to hit the ball straight and keep it in play at Southwind to have a chance,” Cooper said. “The only course that compares that we play is the Highlands in Hutchinson. The girls had a hard time adjusting to the speed of the greens. The greens were running a little slower than we expected. They were not able to keep them cut as short as they normally would.”
Cooper said Southwind was a great test of golf that the better players enjoyed.
“Playing at Southwind is a fair test of golf,” Cooper said. “It definitely rewards the better players who meet the challenge. One through six, we had good scores. We just didn’t have anyone shoot under 100.”
Cooper said all of the players had high scores, but kept their composure.
“They all did a good job bouncing back all day,” he said. “I was really pleased with everyone’s play. They all kept competing to the best of their ability. You can’t let those high scores get you down at the state tournament.”
Co-state individual champions were crowned when Cheney’s Brooklyn Lonker and Cimarron’s Jessica Ast stayed tied after two playoff holes. After tying with 87s, they bogeyed the first playoff hole and double bogeyed the second playoff hole when darkness stopped play.

HIGH SCHOOL GOLF
Class 3-1A State Tournament

Monday

At Garden City
Southwind C.C.

Team scores
1. Cheney, 400; 2. Caney Valley, 407; 3. Cimarron, 415; 4. Eureka, 416; 5. Hoisington, 426; 6. Holcomb, 428; 7. Silver Lake, 435; 8. Lakin, 439; 9. Rossville, 460; 10. Uniontown, 462; 11. Council Grove, 487; 12. Medicine Lodge, 498.

State medalists
1. (tie) Brookyln Lonker, Cheney, 87; 1. (tie) Jessica Ast, Cimarron, 87; 3. Kiah Rash, Syracuse, 90; 4. Kelsey Wyant, Caney Valley, 93; 5. Morgan Athon, Silver Lake, 93; 6. Kenzie Becker, Holcomb, 94; 7. Laura Geven, Syracuse, 94; 8. Morgan Ediger, Cimarron, 95; 9. Taylor Wheelock, Cheney, 96; 10. Nikayla Lampkins, Pretty Prairie, 96.

11. Olivia Ortega, Holcomb, 97; 12. Sydney Marney, Rossville, 98; 13. (tie) Kyla Bandel, St. Francis, 100; Raegan Boone, Eureka, 100; 15. (tie) Hannah Wilborn, Hoisington, 101; Desiree Nelson, Caney Valley, 101; Chandler Birkholz, Eureka, 101; Cortney Gardner, Caney Valley, 101; 19. (tie) McKayla Hendrix, Lakin, 103; Berkley Criqui, Council Grove, 103; Jordan Carlson, Council Grove, 103. 

Hoisington results
15. Hannah Wilborn 101; 22. Jordin Greer 105; 27. Karisa Schremmer 108; 32. Presley Smith 112; 37. Alyson Klug 114; 43. Sydney Boxberger 115.