Photo Courtesy of Gregg MacMillan -
Girls golfers won the state title for the second time in three years, while Amy Hasenoehrl, junior, won Lewiston's first ever individual state title, Tuesday, May 15, in Idaho Falls.
Hasenoehrl tied Vallivue's Gabby Barker for the first-place individual title with a score of 73 for Monday, May 14’s round which cut 16 strokes from her score a year previous. This year she won by five strokes and ended with a total score of 145 for the tournament.
“Amy is our number one,” said head coach Gregg MacMillan. “[Her] scoring average is 75.”
Fellow low-scorer, freshman Sammi Jo Spring, rounded off her first Bengal season with 170. Teammates Kayla Kirk and Jessica Rigney, seniors, ended their high school careers with totals of 171 and 179, respectively, while junior Livi Grimoldby finished with 196. All in all, the team members scored a total of 665 to win the tournament and achieved an honor matched only by two other Lewiston girls’ golf teams in 1999 and 2010.
“We weren’t thinking we were gonna win,” said Hasenoehrl. “We were hoping we were gonna win.”
The girls competed against tougher competition in the state championships when they faced seven other teams from around Idaho. Rocky Mountain golfers proved particularly difficult as they scored 670 to take second place. “Most of all the tournaments we played we won by 50ish strokes and… to only win by five was kind of nerve racking,” said Hasenoehrl.
Along with earlier triumphs, the girls achieved the team’s lowest score at the Moscow Invitational in MacMillan's 17-years as coach. They also broke several tournament records. “It feels like we go into a competition, and we know we’ll win,” said MacMillan.
Through their season, the Bengal golfers proved their skill in the game, such as when they took home the regional title with 50 strokes between them and the second-place team. “It’s just too easy for us,” MacMillan said. The golfers beat out Coeur d’Alene, Lake City and Post Falls for state qualification.
“I fully expected them to go to state,” said MacMillan. “We have not lost to a team all year.”