Maybank, Cheboygan girls golf team break school record again, take first at home invite
CHEBOYGAN – Breaking a school record is a pretty remarkable accomplishment.
For the Cheboygan girls golf team, they certainly enjoyed doing so at regionals last fall.
But even with the record 374 they shot at the 2022 regional meet – it still wasn’t enough for the Chiefs.
They always knew they could take it a step further.
Hosting their home invitational on Monday, the Chiefs were record breakers once again, firing a school-best 365 and winning the event at the Cheboygan Golf & Country Club.
“I was pretty darn confident we could (win) – that was our goal,” said Cheboygan coach Sean McNeil. "They’ve been doing really well this year. I expect the scores to keep going down because they’re getting back into the swing of things. They are definitely a group that puts in time and effort. The ones in the past that were kind of just trying to learn to swing better are now actually starting to analyze the game a little bit more and putting more energy into what they should be figuring out next instead of just learning how to swing a club.”
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The Chiefs, who edged runner-up Petoskey (368) by three strokes and Traverse City West (372) by seven, were fueled by senior Katie Maybank, who earned medalist honors for a second consecutive meet by shooting a 79.
“I’m very excited – this was a goal of mine to win our home meet,” said Maybank. “For us (to win) is super big.”
As thrilled as Maybank was to win individually, capturing a trophy as a team felt even sweeter.
“With our team mainly being seniors, our chemistry is super good,” Maybank said. “We’re all super close. We all want (to qualify for states) badly. We want to make it as a team. It’s very well a possibility with the team we have this year, and we have all improved so much. (Winning this) just shows how close we are as a team."
Fellow Cheboygan seniors Ella Kosanke and Emily Clark tied for seventh after each posted a 94, while freshman Elise Markham carded a personal-best 98. Emerson Eustice (110) and Lilly Wright (120) rounded out the Chiefs.
“It’s a collective unit,” McNeil said of his team. “You’ve had Katie (Maybank) leading the charge, but it’s the rest of the team that helps you get to that victory, and we don’t know week in and week out with each tournament which girl is going to come through for us, but they’ve been doing a wonderful job of doing it.”
Finishing behind Maybank were Grayling’s Jessica Campbell and TC West’s Charlie Erickson, who each scored an 88.
As the Chiefs prepare for the bigger meets, Monday’s winning display was the ultimate confidence boost.
“With regionals coming up, this is huge,” McNeil said. “I was a little nervous after that two-week break, because we started off slow, but Coach (Pete Maybank) and I were kind of looking at each other like, ‘Come on, girls. Come on, girls,’ and at the end of the day, they’re scoring pretty good, but our expectations were so high. Even when they were doing well, it seems like we knew how much better they could do. It’s nice to see them really starting to take those leaps that we knew they could.”
Playing at the junior varsity level were Cheboygan's Gabrielle Melonas (112) and Bea Schulz (125), who each earned a medal. Taten Lake (146) also competed.
Maybank earns first win of season at Alpena
On Friday, Sept. 22, Maybank picked up her first win of the campaign by shooting an 83 at the Alpena Invitational.
Tying for ninth was Clark, who shot a 92. Kosanke (94), Eustice (105) and Markham (124) rounded out Cheboygan, which tied the previous school record with a 374. The Chiefs earned fifth as a team.
Traverse City Central (365) took first and Petoskey (367) earned second.
Cheboygan travels to compete in the Cadillac Invitational on Wednesday.
Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at jgreenleaf@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT
This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Cheboygan girls golf team breaks school record again, wins home invitational
