Lady Bulldogs take second in state golf

The Lady Bulldog golf team finished a strong season with three team members earning All State honors.

What may have been considered a disappointing state tournament with a second-place finish should not be diminished given the total year's success by the fairly young team.

"After the sting of not finishing first wears off, the girls will hopefully look back on the season and realize what a great year it was for them," Whitefish coach Terry Nelson said. "They easily captured another divisional title and either won or were close in every tournament all year long. I couldn't be prouder of them for the effort they put into the season."

The girls were after their third consecutive championship and were poised to claim the trophy, but the Billings Central girls were on fire and grabbed the title for 2008. Everyone sensed this would be a battle between Whitefish and Polson, having watched the scores from across the state during the season.

While the wind and cold weather was a definite factor that favored the Eastern Montana competitors, the Whitefish girls came back strong to make it a close seven-shot race for first place between Whitefish and Billings Central.

Whitefish posted a 370 four-player score on Friday, but came back with a 352 on Saturday to keep it close.

Katie Frank, of Sidney, won the girls' individual title with rounds of 76-82 for the two days. BreAnna Cameron placed second with rounds of 86-82 for the two days at the Polson Bay Golf Course. This is Cameron's second All State honor as a Bulldog golfer.

"With her length off the tee and with her irons, she is only going to get better and better as her career continues," Nelson said. "She's one of longest hitters in the state of Montana, with tee shots towering over 260 yards."

Quinn Micklewright finished her high school golf career with her third consecutive All State honor. She's played on two state championship teams and two second-place teams. Micklewright posted a 39 on the front nine on day two of the tournament en route to her top-10 finish.

"Quinn has the total golf game to continue at the college level if she chooses to keep playing competitively," Nelson said.

The tournament was played on a combination of the old (1934) course and the new nine at the Polson Bay Course. The older nine played pretty tough, given the green speeds on the undulated greens.

Kiley McConnell, a sophomore, finished off her last round with an impressive 40 over the last nine at Polson. She had the best round for the girls on that side of the course during both days of the tournament.

"Kiley, too, played her way to All State honors this year and is a very competitive player who is only going to get better and better," Nelson said.

Danielle McCully, another sophomore, had a great season for the Lady Bulldogs and anchored the fourth spot on the squad.

"She made tremendous improvement this season and had several rounds in the 80s during our tournament schedule," Nelson said. "Danielle is such a good athlete that with time, her golf scores are going to be really impressive."

Ellen Scheffer, a senior, had a very consistent year, and she, too, improved all year long, posting good rounds at numerous tournaments.

"Ellen has just started to hit the ball aggressively and has surprised even herself with how far she can hit the ball," Nelson said. "Ellen's leadership will be hard to replace on the future teams at Whitefish High School. She's been our designated spokesperson."

Next year's girls team returns everyone but Micklewright and Scheffer and should be right in the middle of the 2009 state title race.

"We have several juniors who I expect to contend for the top-five spots on the 2009 version of the Whitefish Bulldogs," Nelson said.

Two former Lady Bulldog golfers played on the varsity for Glacier High School in their 2008 Class AA state tournament.