Carroll finishes third at Class 5A golf | The Wichita Eagle

NEWTON — At various times throughout the season, the Bishop Carroll boys golf team has had many of its golfers shoot in the 70s, but only once did it happen in a regular season tournament.

Carroll coach Mark Berger thought that if his team could have that one special day when they all went low, then good things would happen.

At the Class 5A State Championship Monday afternoon at Sand Creek Station, the Eagles finally put everything together, shooting 304, taking third — the top finish for an area team.

St. Thomas Aquinas won the team title with a 284 and was led by medalist Joseph Winslow's 6-under par 66. It was Winslow's third individual state title and the Saints second title in four years.

"We haven't had bad scores this season, they just haven't been as good as we would have liked," Berger said. "But finally today we got the four scores we've been looking for and got the job done."

Cooper Hoefling led Carroll with a 74. He bounced back nicely after opening his round with a double bogey on 10 (he started his round on the back nine). He made birdie on 11 and 15, then added two more on five and eight.

Carroll's other scores in the 70s were Joey Koester's 75, Ben Dreiling's 77 and Nate Hoffman's 78.

"We've been setting out this year to not just finish first, but compete with some of the best teams," Hoefling said. "I think this course favored us because it wasn't about how far the ball went."

It wasn't the ending that Kapaun Mount Carmel was looking for as the Crusaders entered with aspirations of winning the title only to shoot 306 and take fourth.

Freshman Sam Stevens led Kapaun with 73, while seniors Jack Cantele and David Auer shot 76 and 77 respectively.

"Aquinas played phenomenal and we didn't play our best," Kapaun coach Dan Phillips said. "We got in some bad situations and had some ugly holes and it added up from there."

Andover's Corbin Mehelic was the area's top individual, shooting a 1-under par 71 to finish fifth. He was steady throughout his round, carding three birdies, with just two bogies.

"I thought the course was there for the taking," Mehelic said. "It was playing so short that I didn't need to hit driver off every hole, but I would still have wedges in my hand." Winslow benefited from playing the white tees, with no wind and being long and accurate with his driver.

More often than not, Winslow had less than 100 yards for his approach shots on the par fours and fives. He birdied three of his first four holes and had just two bogies — both on par threes.

"I felt like in my practice round that I needed to go low and make a ton of birdies," said Winslow, who will be playing at Iowa next year. "I was hitting the driver well and I thought to myself 'Hey let's go for it.' "

At Sand Creek Station

Team results

1. St. Thomas Aquinas 284 (Joseph Winslow, Cameron Wiltse, Tommy Williams, Kevin Buchanan), 2. Blue Valley 296 (Austin Jackson, Dakota Clark, Rick McCaw, Michael Kreamer), 3. Bishop Carroll 304 (Cooper Hoefling, Joey Koester, Ben Dreiling, Nate Hoffman), 4. Kapaun Mount Carmel 306, 5. Hays 307, 6. Blue Valley SW 309, 7. Andover 321, T8. Salina Central 324, T8. Topeka Seamen 324, T8. Shawnee Heights 324, 11. Newton 335, 12. Topeka West 351

Individual results

1. Joseph Winslow, Aquinas, 66; 2. Trey Herman, Hays, 69; 3. Robbie Hughey, Blue Valley SW, 70; 4. Cameron Wiltse, Aquinas, 70; 5. Corbin Mehelic, Andover, 71; 6. Sam Stevens, Kapaun, 73; 7. Austin Johnson, Blue Valley, 73; 8. Dakota Clark, Blue Valley, 73; 9. Cooper Hoefling, Carroll, 74; 10. Tommy Williams, Aquinas, 74; 11. Kevin Buchanan, Aquinas, 74; 12. Thatcher Keast, Salina Central, 74; 13. (tie). Rick McCaw, Blue Valley, 75; Travis Mays, Blue Valley SW, 75; Joey Koester, Carroll, 75; Michael Kreamer, Blue Valley, 75; 17. (tie). Ben Shoupe, Salina Central, 76; Jack Cantele, Kapaun, 76; Taylor Smith, Ark City, 76; Greg Graves, Blue Valley, 76.

Class 6A — Shawnee Mission East won the team title at Reflection Ridge, and Olathe East's Alex Forristal took medalist honors by shooting a 68. Wichita Heights was the top local finisher, coming in ninth, and the Falcons' Hunter Leichner tied for 17th by shooting a 78.

at Reflection Ridge Golf Course

Team results

1. Shawnee Mission East (Schrock, 73; Hanna, 75; Simpson, 73; Sallaz, 80; Kasmiskie, 77; Clark, 78), 298; 2. Olathe East (Springer, 79; Johnson, 86; Tannahill, 79; Churchill, 79; Forristal, 68; McAnulty, 79), 305; 3. Olathe Northwest (Green, 73; Kleinsorge, 76; Andrade, 81; Matt Sinclair, 82; Pearson, 80; Mike Sinclair, 86), 310; 4. Blue Valley North, 312; 5. Hutchinson, 312; 6. SM Northwest, 317; 7. Dodge City, 319; 8. Derby, 321; 9. Wichita Heights, 322; 10. Maize, 323; 11. Washburn Rural, 324; 12. Olathe South, 341.

Individual results

1. Alex Forristal, OE, 68; Kramer Howell, MZ, 69; 3. Jackson Foth, SMNW, 72; 4. Conner Schrock, SME, 73; 5. Matt Green, ONW, 73; 6. Henry Simpson, SME, 73; 7. Derek Lehman, HUT, 74; 8. Alex Higgs, BVN, 75; 9. Chase Hanna, SME, 75; 10. Levi Bone, DC, 75; 11. Wes Kleinsorge, ONW, 76; 12t. Tyler Wright, WR, 77; 12t. Gabe Millikan, BVW, 77; 12t. Ross Thornton, BVN, 77; 12t. Zack Kasmiskie, SME, 77; 12t. David Woods, Manhattan, 77; 17t. Tucker Clark, SME, 78; 17t. Zach Tate, BVN, 78; 17t. Sam Galliart, HUT, 78; 17t. Chad Carlson, BVW, 78; 17t. Tanner Jarman, SMNW, 78; 17t. Hunter Leichner, Wichita Heights, 78; 17t. Brad Hutton, DC, 78.