All-Metro girls golf team: Seniors honored as the best golfers from the Wichita area
.jpg "Andover Central’s Shauna Lee, who is committed to Fort Hays State, won seven of her 10 starts this season, including a league and regional championship.")
A host of seniors who wrapped up outstanding four-year careers headline The Eagle’s third annual All-Metro girls high school girls golf team, as Andover Central senior Shauna Lee captured the area’s Player of the Year honor.
The All-Metro team consists of the top six players and coach from Sedgwick, Butler and Harvey counties, based on the season’s results and area coaches’ feedback.
Here is a look at the full 2020 Wichita Eagle All-Metro girls golf team:
Shauna Lee, Andover Central senior
There’s no one who hits the ball farther off the tee, but Andover Central senior Shauna Lee isn’t all about 300-yard drives.
Lee was the most consistently great golfer in the area this season, the reason why she earned The Eagle’s All-Metro Player of the Year honor. Lee, who’s pledged to play at Fort Hays State, won seven of her 10 starts this season, including a league and regional title, and topped it off with a sixth-place finish at the Class 5A tournament.
“Hitting a bomb off the tee feels really good because even if everything else goes wrong, I know I can still launch one out there,” Lee said. “At state, I hit my best drive of the year (estimated 315 yards) on a par-5 and I was 65 yards out. I almost eagled it and that’s when I was like, ‘I’m going to be just fine.’”
That steadiness is what impressed Andover Central coach Scott Kincaid about Lee, who is the only area golfer to make all three of The Eagle’s All-Metro teams.
“Shauna doesn’t ever let the bad stuff get to her very much,” Kincaid said. “If she has a bad hole, she forgets about it and moves on. She’s always liable to make several birdies in a row. She’s pretty talented and it helps that she hits it further than most men.”
Lee didn’t learn how to play golf until she was 13. In five years, she’s progressed into one of the top golfers in the state. In her senior season, Lee carried a 76.3 stroke average per 18 holes. She finished her career as a three-time regional champion with three top-7 finishes at state (sixth in 2020, third in 2019 and seventh in 2018).
Tiffany Chan, Andover senior
Chan wrapped up a decorated four-year career at Andover with an outstanding senior season, finishing seventh or better in all 10 of her tournaments, capped by a seventh-place finish at the Class 5A tournament.
Most notably in her career, Chan won the individual Class 5A championship as a sophomore in 2018. She was a four-time state qualifier, a two-time state medalist and a two-time All-Metro pick. Her senior season was perhaps her most consistent, as Chan finished with an 18-hole average of 80.8 strokes and finished first or second in six of her 10 starts this season.
“I’ll go out to Crestview, where we practice, to pick up a few things and she’ll be out there working on her game outside of practice,” said Andover coach Ryan Harshaw. “She’s just a hard worker. She’s very consistent and always keeps her ball in play. Very rarely does she get into trouble, which is the main thing that helps her score and makes her in the top-10 of every tournament. She never makes big mistakes.”
Alexa Garrett, Kapaun Mt. Carmel sophomore
It took a team effort for Kapaun Mt. Carmel to win its first team state title since 2016, but Garrett was usually the one in the front of the pack for the Crusaders. She was a regional champion and then finished a team-best ninth at the Class 5A tournament to help Kapaun win the team championship.
Garrett finished top-10 in all seven of her tournaments, including two victories, as she posted an 18-hole average of 79.9 strokes. The sophomore, a two-time All-Metro selection, also won City League last season and notched another top-10 state finish (eighth).
“Alexa Garrett was a constant low scorer for us,” Kapaun coach Marie Thomas. “She was always steady and in control of her emotions. No moment was ever too big for her. She was always game to compete.”
Alivia Nguyen, Andover senior
No one ended the season better than Nguyen, who finished in the top four in her last six tournaments, including a fourth-place finish at the Class 5A tournament — the highest medal from an area golfer.
Nguyen, a first-time All-Metro pick who is committed to Newman, finished a superb senior season with an 80.7 stroke average per 18 holes. She is a four-time state qualifier and three-time state medalist, as well as a league champion in 2018. This season she finished top-five in nine of her 10 tournaments.
“Just like Tiffany, Alivia’s work ethic is just unreal,” Andover coach Ryan Harshaw said. “I know she puts in a lot of time outside of the team with lessons and work at Terradyne. She’s been in the weight room and she’s added some strength. She’s not real big, but she added some distance to her game, which has really helped her. She’s been a great team leader for us and her and Tiffany lead by example with their hard work.”
Abby Wolff, Kapaun Mt. Carmel senior
Over the last four years, Wolff has made a strong case as the area’s most improved golfer. As a sophomore, she was occasionally cracking 100 and finished 66th at the 2018 state tournament. As a senior, Wolff finished second on a state championship team with an 80.5 average per 18 holes, won two tournaments, and finished 12th at the state tournament.
The Crusaders don’t win their first Class 5A team championship since 2016 without Wolff, who became a needed senior leader. Her hard work and improvement have also paid off for her career, as she earned her first All-Metro honor and is pledged to play Division II golf at William Jewell.
“Abby Wolff really worked hard on improving her game coming into her senior season,” Kapaun coach Marie Thomas said. “She showed great leadership this season with her hard work ethic and a quiet confidence in her ability.”
Britney Wessley, Maize South senior
It’s been a memorable last three years for Wessley at Maize South, as she finished as a two-time league champion, a regional champion and a three-time state medalist who finished 11th or better at all three state tournaments.
That kind of consistency has landed Wessley, who’s pledged to Newman, on the All-Metro team for the second straight year. She finished with an 82.0 average per 18 holes and finished out her career playing her best golf, as she won league by 6 strokes, finished runner-up at regionals and took 11th at the Class 5A tournament.
“Britney Wessley has been a very special golfer for us at Maize South,” Mavericks coach Kendall Heide said. “What has made her great this year has been her ball striking and consistency. Britney hits quality shot after quality shot and rarely misses. She has spent a lot of time practicing to perfect her game and now she is reaping the rewards with consistent performances.”
Marie Thomas, Kapaun Mt. Carmel coach
It only took Thomas two years to return Kapaun Mt. Carmel back to winning state championships. After surprising some with a fourth-place finish at the state tournament last season, the Crusaders ascended to the top this season by winning the Class 5A championship by 7 strokes over Mill Valley.
Despite not having anyone contend for individual medalist honors, Kapaun was able to win its first title since 2016 and seventh overall. The Crusaders were led by a balanced effort from a trio of sophomore Alexa Garrett (ninth at state), senior Abby Wolff (12th at state) and junior Eleanor Navarro (12 at state) to go along with seniors Riley Byrd and Quynth-Thi Nguyen.
“They said they wanted to win a state title at the beginning of the season and they knew what they had to do to get that done,” Thomas said. “We just kept stressing to them the whole season that you guys have got to continue to grind and work hard because that feeling of winning a state title is the most amazing feeling. These girls had the mindset and the determination all along, we just had to steer them in the right direction and I’m so proud of what they were able to accomplish.”
The Wichita Eagle All-Metro Second Team
Jaela Albers, Andale senior
Finished top-four in all three postseason tournaments, starting with league (fourth), regionals (second) and state (fourth). She was a three-time state qualifier and two-time state medalist, including a career-best fourth place finish in Class 4A this season.
Brooklyn Blasdel, Maize senior
A steady four-year performer for the Eagles, Blasdel ended her career as a four-time state qualifier. She finished 24th overall in Class 5A this season.
Mati Newman, Valley Center senior
A four-time state qualifier at Valley Center, Newman saved her best performance at state for last with a seventh-place finish in the Class 5A field her senior year.
Eleanor Navarro, Kapaun Mt. Carmel junior
Kapaun was one of the most-improved teams this season, thanks in part to Navarro elevating her game for her junior season. She ended the season finishing fifth at regionals and 12th at state to help Kapaun win its first team state championship since 2016.
Lexie Ridder, Maize senior
One of the best big-tournament golfers around, Ridder was always near the top of the leaderboard when it counted the most. She finished her career as a two-time regional champion with three straight top-10 finishes at the state tournament to her name, most recently a ninth-place finish in Class 5A.
Keira Ronsick, Bishop Carroll sophomore
The sophomore has started her career off with back-to-back top-15 finishes at the state tournament, this year finishing in a tie for 14th in Class 5A. Her best tournament of the year came in a dual against Kapaun Mt. Carmel, where she won individual medalist honors with a 9-hole score of 39 at MacDonald.
Irv Schueller, Andale coach
Andale finished with a team score of 362 on the second day of the state tournament, the lowest score of either day of the tournament. But a slow start on Day 1 held Andale back to settling for a third-place finish in Class 4A behind seniors Jaela Albers, Maggie Morris and Anna Berblinger, as well as Arabella Clevenger and Hillary Nieman.
This story was originally published October 28, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
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