Goessel claims league championship

The Hillsboro High School golf team finished first out of nine teams Monday at the regional tournament in Council Grove.

The Trojans shot a combined score of 354, led by second-place finisher Daniel Kunantaev, who shot a 79. Daniel Dick finished fifth with a round of 82.

The Marion team finished just three strokes away from punching their team ticket to state — the top two teams advance — shooting a combined score of 359.

However, Lindsay Hett and Landon Leiker earned trips to state with finishes in the top ten. Hett placed third with a round of 81 and Leiker finished eighth with a round of 86.

The Trojans, Hett, and Leiker will be golfing May 24 at the Smoky Hills Country Club in Hays for a state title.

results

Hillsboro: Kunantaev — 79

Daniel Dick — 82

Jared King — 95

Devin Dick — 98

Evan Just — 102

Marion: Hett — 81

Leiker — 86

Tim Costello — 95

Jordan Versch — 97

Scott Jones — 102

Adam Molleker — 103

MCAA league tournament

The Hillsboro High School golf team finished third at the Mid-Central Activities Association League meet Friday at Hoisington.

The Trojans shot a combined score of 327, just ahead of Marion’s fifth-place score of 347.

The Trojans and Warriors each had a golfer in the top ten.

Marion’s Landon Leiker shot a 73 to finish fifth, one stroke less than Daniel Kunantaev in sixth place. It was the first time that Leiker finished ahead of Kunantaev.

“This was as competitive as the league tournament has been for quite some time,” coach Scott O’Hare said. “To have all top 10 medalists under 78 shows the strength of our league in golf.”

results

Team: 1. Wichita Collegiate — 291

2. Hesston — 308

3. Hillsboro — 327

4. Halstead — 333

5. Marion — 347

Individual: 6. Kunantaev — 74

13. Daniel Dick — 80

23. Devin Dick — 86

25. Evan Just — 87

30. Jared King — 91

5. Leiker — 73

Lindsay Hett — 83

Scott Jones — 97

Adam Molleker — 111

Jordan Versch — 93

Tim Costello —93

Goessel golfers are HOA champs

In the final year that Goessel High School will compete in the Heart of America League, the Bluebird golf team claimed the championship prize.

Senior Hayden Goerzen, junior Neal Brubaker, and freshman Shane Goerzen finished the day May 11 with scores of 86 at the Hesston Golf Course.

The three finished with individual medals of third, fourth, and fifth places, respectively.

Senior Tyler Schmidt took eighth place with an 88; senior Austin Cooper, 18th with a 94; and junior Jake Smucker hit a 98 for 26th place.

In the league tournament, the top 10 individuals were declared all-league and all ties for medals were determined with a playoff on the course.

Goessel’s top three golfers had to play each other for third, fourth, and fifth places. Schmidt had a playoff with a player from Hutch Trinity for eighth place.

“It wasn’t as stressful as I thought it would be,” Schmidt said. “The Trinity players that followed their teammate made it pretty relaxing.”

“There was less pressure because we were all getting medals and we knew we had won as a team,” Brubaker said about the Goessel playoff.

Forty-two golfers competed from seven league schools. The four-man GHS team shot a team total of 346 for first place with Trinity and Sedgwick tying for second at 350.

“It really doesn’t matter who is on the team as long as we score well,” Hayden Goerzen said, reflecting on the combinations of players used in varsity meets this year.

This time, a younger teammate, Shane Goerzen, finished in the top four on the Goessel squad. Schmidt, Brubaker, and Hayden Goerzen participated last year in the 1A state tournament, so this part of the season is not new to them.

“We really need to shoot in the 340s at regionals,” Coach Justin Coup said, “in order to advance to the state tournament in Pittsburg.”