MORNING SUN — Survive and advance.
When it comes to the postseason in any sport, those are the three words any team will be happy to utter when the day is over.
After all, it’s much better than ‘the season’s over.’
The Centerville girls golf team advanced to the Class 2A, Region 5 championship tournament by surviving tough conditions on a tough course. The Redettes posted a team score of 396, pulling away from Mediapolis and a pair of South Central Conference rivals to punch their ticket to the next round of postseason play.
“Anytime you get into any type of postseason, no matter what sport it is, you just want to advance,” Centerville head girls golf coach Matt Kovacevich said. “We survived the day. We survived the conditions. The set-up of the course left a little bit to be desired. Our girls battled and did what they needed to do to get the job done and move forward.”
Centerville produced three of the top 10 individual scores in the tournament, paced by Gracie Zaputil’s round of 90 finishing fourth overall. Taya Belloma, who qualified for the state track and field meet in the girls shot put less than 24 hours earlier, finished sixth in the Region 5B tournament working her way around the Heritage Oaks course for a round of 95 denying Mediapolis sophomore Kate Wischmeier an individual regional berth.
“I was able to get done with my throws early over in Eddyville, so I was able to get over here and drive the course a little bit,” Belloma said. “This course was hard, but I knew it was going to be difficult going in. I’m excited to be moving on. It’s going to be a busy week. I’ll be trying to qualify for state in golf on Wednesday before throwing at state on Thursday.”
Albia senior Emma Kipfer returned to the regional finals after finishing third at Heritage Oaks, posting a round of 89. Kipfer found herself tied for the lead with Mid-Prairie junior Olivia Swartzendruber at six-over-par before a quadruple-bogey on the 14th hole dropped Kipfer out of the lead.
“I just started to not play very well,” Kipfer said. “There are things I need to improve on. Everything needs to be critqued if I want to make it back to state.”
Albia finished fourth overall as a team with score of 430, edging Davis County by three strokes as both SCC squads faded behind Centerville in the chase for a regional team berth. Mustang junior Jayden Koenig finished fifth overall in the Region 5A Tournament with a round of 92, extending her season.
“I did really good on the back nine, which is where I started, so I think I got a little bit ahead of myself,” Koenig said. “I lost my ball twice on the front nine. That’s when I started to get down. I started talking with the girls I was playing with and I realized there was no point in getting down on myself because it was only going to get worse.
“What happened was going to happen. I can’t do anything about it in the moment. I focused on just trying to finish with a smile.”
Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont’s season came to a close at Heritage Oaks as the Rockets finished seventh with a team score of 467. Ella Stevens finished 20th overall to pace EBF with a round of 112.
In Class 1A, the Sigourney Savages were able to advance in regional play finishing third at the Brooklyn-Victor Club posting a score of 389. Ella Bruns led Sigourney to the Region 3 finals, finishing sixth overall with a score of 92.
“Our goal is to just keep getting through each round,” Sigourney head golf coach Zach Tremmel said. “We’ve got some really good teams to go up against, but you never know when you show up. I definitely think Ella has a shot if she can get it together for 18 holes.”
Van Buren County finished just short of advancing in Class 1A, Region 5 placing third at Deerwood Golf Course with a team score of 440. Sophia Jirak earned a trip to Heritage Oaks for the regional finals, winning the individual title at the 5C tournament with a round of 89.