Girls golf: Highland prevails in third SL American tournament, clinches share of league title

MEDINA TWP. — Battling tough conditions on the course that led to a rough day on the scorecard, the Highland girls golf team won its 23rd consecutive Suburban League American Conference Tournament on Monday. The Hornets edged Revere 341-356 for the top spot and in the process all but guaranteed at least a share of a sixth straight SL American crown. Senior Elizabeth Coleman was SL American medalist with a 3-over-par 76. The only way Highland could miss out on at least a share of the championship is to finish outside of the top five at the final tournament at Tanglewood Golf Course on Sept. 24. Only five teams posted a calculable score at the first two SL American tournaments, with Tallmadge (541) finishing sixth Monday. Barberton and Cuyahoga Falls have not posted a team score this season. "It definitely means a lot," senior Allie Miller said of the league tournaments. "We're pretty competitive as a team. We really just want to show it, I guess, so these tournaments are huge for us and we're happy that we're doing well." Miller carded an 88, good for fifth individually. Wadsworth (451) came up one stroke shy of posting its best SL National finish of the season, taking seventh behind sixth-place Stow. The Grizzlies were led by Michelle Witschey's 110. Her highlight came on her second-to-last hole, a par on the 406-yard, par-5 10th. Teammates Caroline Kresowaty and Jillian Jones finished one stroke behind. Nordonia won its third SL National Tournament, beating Solon 357-363, and holds a four-point lead over Hudson in the season standings. Solon's Serena Wu fired a blazing 3-under 70 to win SL National medalist. Midway through the tournament, Highland's streak of victories looked in jeopardy, as it spent time looking up at Revere and Roosevelt (366) before kicking into gear on the back nine. "It's a little bit more of a relaxed environment," senior Mirabella Shelton said of the SL tournaments. "I looked at the leaderboard like halfway through, and I saw that we were losing. That kind of lit a fire under me to do a little bit better. "It's fun to see the schools around us, instead of the schools from Columbus or Mags (Magnificat) all the way up by the lake." Shelton turned in an 87, tying her for third with the Minutemen's Kate Banning, behind the Rough Riders' Brooke Beatty (83). Senior Miley Tylicki rounded out Highland's scoring with a 90. Maintaining the standard and legacy is important to the players in the program. "It's definitely special," Coleman said. "Not because it's not only us that will win it, but all the girls that have played at Highland the last six years. It's cool to keep on building on that. I think it's really awesome." By far the toughest part of the course was the lightning-quick greens with subtle breaks, which could send a solid lag putt speeding by the hole. "One-hundred percent, the greens were definitely the toughest," Shelton said. "Rolling out and a lot of breaks that you didn't really see that would break at the last second, and the pin positions were really tough." Those conditions tested everyone, as Coleman turned in her highest score of the season after entering play with a Medina County-best 35.0 nine-hole average. She finished the day with her fifth birdie on the 411-yard 18th. "It definitely felt good," she said. "My putting was a bit of a struggle today, so it was nice to make that 10-footer for birdie on the last hole. It's definitely a good kick to keep you going." Shelton finished with eight pars, including four on her last five holes. Miller birdied the 297-yard second hole, her second-to-last hole, to go with seven pars. Tylicki birdied the 244-yard fourth early in her round and recorded five of her six pars on the back nine. Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. SL Tournament at par-73 Weymouth C.C. American Conference Tournament standings: 1. Highland 341, 2. Revere 356, 3. Roosevelt 366, 4. Aurora 409, 5. Copley 419, 6. Tallmadge 540, 7. Barberton N/A. Season standings: 1. Highland 21, 2. Revere 17, 2. Roosevelt 16, 4. Aurora 12, 5. Copley 9, 6. Tallmadge 4, 7. Barberton 3. Highland (341) — Elizabeth Coleman 76, Mirabella Shelton 87, Allie Miller 88, Miley Tylicki 90, Kate Vickerman 93, Caroline McKendry 97. National Conference Tournament standings: 1. Nordonia 357, 2. Solon 363, 3. Hudson 364, 4. North Royalton 389, 5. Brecksville 395, 6. Stow 450, 7. Wadsworth 451, 8. Twinsburg 555. Season standings: 1. Nordonia 24, 2. Hudson 20, 3. Solon 16, 4. North Royalton 14, 4. Brecksville 14, 6. Stow 11, 7. Wadsworth 6, 8. Twinsburg 3. Wadsworth (451) — Michelle Witschey 110, Caroline Kresowaty 111, Jillian Jones 111, Macy Tiger 119, Natalia Vujas 121, Kinley Stallard 137.