Butch Harmon
Sports Scene
Many teams in tough conferences like to say that if they were in a different conference, they could have finished in first place. For the Wayland girls golf team, that statement is a fact with an exclamation mark on the end of it.
Wayland finished fourth this season in the O-K Gold Conference. To know how tough the O-K Gold is in girls golf, take a look at the Division 3 state tournament. South Christian, the conference champion, finished second at the state meet, Hastings finished third at the state meet, and Forest Hills Eastern placed fourth at the state meet. Only the state champion finished ahead of the top three teams in the O-K Gold.
“Finishing fourth in our conference is a great accomplishment,” coach Jack Deming said. “The top three teams in our conference finished two, three, and four at the state tournament, and for us to finish fourth is very good.”
Making the finish even more impressive is the fact that the Wildcats graduated four of the top six golfers from last year’s team that placed 13th at the state meet.
While the Wildcats lost four of the top golfers from last year’s team, they brought back two standouts. Seniors Sarah Arendsen and April Stora led the way for the Wildcats this season and turned in outstanding years as leaders of the team.
“April and Sarah were our only two returning starters,” Deming said. “Their leadership and abilities helped lead us to a fourth-place finish in the league.”
Arendsen was one of the top golfers in the power-packed O-K Gold. Not only did she earn all-conference honors, but she also qualified for the state tournament as an individual. She placed 46th out of 90 golfers at the Division 3 state tournament.
“Sarah has been our number one player the last three years,” Deming said. “She is a team captain, a strong student, and a very good golfer.”
By qualifying for the state tournament, Arendsen became the first female golfer in Wayland history to qualify for the state tournament two years in a row. She qualified for the state tournament by placing third at the regional as an individual.
Arendsen averaged 44.1 for the season and had low rounds of 35 for nine holes and 80 for 18 holes. During the season she won the Hamilton Invitational and was third at both the Zeeland and Lakewood Invitationals.
Stora also had a solid season. An honorable-mention, all-conference player, Stora averaged 49.7 for the season and had a low round of 43 for nine holes and 91 for 18 holes.
“April has an excellent short game and is a pretty consistent ball striker,” Deming said.