By: Kristen Bartheld <[email protected]>

After being ranked 13th for the majority of the season, the women’s golf team moved up during the State tournament. The Hounds won Sectional and Regional while beating two Top 10 teams.

Milena Savich, varsity golfer and senior, said, “Winning Sectionals and Regionals as a team was awesome because we had been working so hard up to that point. Being ranked 13th made us a little angry because we felt we were a Top 10 team at worse. It was also huge for us to get to the state tournament as a team.”

The team finished ninth overall in State at The Legends of Indiana Golf Course on Sept. 29. At one point the team was as high as fourth place, and was in seventh place going into the second day of the State finals. “Finishing ninth was a little disappointing, but at the same time advancing to the second day way really big for us,” Savich said. “A lot of great teams didn’t advance to the second day, so I was really happy for us that we got to at least compete for the title.”

Head Coach Ken Kelly was also pleased with the team’s season. “We had a very successful season. It didn’t come easy,” he said. “These girls worked very hard in the offseason and that made the difference in our team’s accomplishments.”

Savich led the team with a two-day score of 146, which tied her individually for first place. However, she ended up losing in a playoff to Brebeuf Jesuit’s Sophie Hayashi. “Tying for first was sort of bittersweet. I really wanted to win the playoff. But I went for it and have no regrets,” Savich said, who will play next year at the University of Michigan. “I was proud of the way I fought back because I wasn’t playing well early on in the day and to get myself together to make a huge putt on the last hole to force a playoff was something I will never forget in my life. It was unbelievable.”