From heartbreak to hug: Andover golfer captures her elusive state title
The hug said everything.
Moments after Andover senior Regan Dusenbery tapped in her final putt to seal a state championship that had long eluded her, she walked off the 18th green at Emporia Golf Course on Tuesday and found her dad, Troy.
She didn’t say a word. She just wrapped her arms around him and held on tight.
“It just meant everything,” Dusenbery said. “Both of my parents have sacrificed so much. They’ve given up their summers, driving me around to travel golf and skipping work to go watch my tournaments. They’ve been so supportive and there’s no way I would be where I am today without them. It just felt like a full-circle moment.”
That embrace was years in the making — years of shared moments, thrilling highs and heartbreaking near-misses, including back-to-back runner-up finishes at state the previous two falls. This time, though, there were only smiles and tears of joy.
“I will always remember that hug,” Troy said. “I’m always proud of her. She’s the best daughter that I could have ever wished for as a human being. But I’m just really happy that she finally got herself one. I couldn’t be more happy for her.”
Andover’s Regan Dusenbery finally claims state title
By the time Dusenbery teed it up for her final high school tournament, she had already proven herself as one of Kansas’ best.
A college offer to play Division I golf at Minnesota was secured, her resume on the summer circuit was filled with accomplishments and every coach in the state knew her name.
She didn’t need a state title to validate her talent — but she desperately craved one after coming so close the last two years.
“I knew I could do it,” Dusenbery said. “But I had to actually do it.”
Dusenbery didn’t just win the Class 5A state championship. She dominated the tournament.
She opened the two-day tournament with a 3-under round of 68 on Monday that included seven birdies, which gave her a seven-shot cushion on the field. Then, on a windy Tuesday when nearly everyone else struggled to stay afloat, she delivered an even-par 71 — again the low round of the day — to finish with 139 strokes for the tournament.
What made her victory so impressive was the way she earned it. The Emporia Golf Course was unrelenting: hard, fast greens and swirling wind that punished anything less than perfect. But Dusenbery never cracked. She didn’t chase birdies. She didn’t play scared. She played smart.
“My other years at state, I was always thinking about the end result,” she said. “But this year, I decided not to worry about that and only think shot by shot. I knew if I just focused shot by shot, I could do way better than thinking about the end result because that will stress you out.”
Her 36-hole total was nine shots clear of Kapaun Mt. Carmel junior Ximena Sarinana, the two-time defending champion who had edged Dusenbery out at the state tournament the last two years — in a playoff in 2023, then by two strokes in 2024.
The mindset shift from Dusenbery came through experience and maturity.
“It was the best two days of golf I’ve ever watched her play,” said Troy Dusenbery. “From a dad perspective, it was unbelievable to watch her finish growing up right in front of your eyes.”
Andover coach Ryan Harshaw said the emotional response from Dusenbery after her breakthrough was proof of how meaningful it was to her career.
“It just showed how much winning a state title meant to her,” Harshaw said. “You could tell how much it meant to her to finally accomplish that.”
More than one trophy for the Andover girls golf team
Dusenbery’s performance didn’t just bring her personal redemption, it lifted her teammates as well.
Behind her dominant play, Andover finished second in the team standings, the program’s best showing at state since 2018. Dusenbery also became just the third individual state champion in Andover girls golf history, joining Katy Nugent (2005) and Tiffany Chan (2018).
The Trojans also featured another individual medalist in junior Isabel Hawley, who placed 15th with a score of 180. Other members of the squad included junior Grier Hand (186), senior Maren Nelson (190), senior Bella Davis (193) and sophomore Emily Meyer (204).
“That team trophy is honestly more important to me than the individual win because we’ve never placed at state during my career,” she said. “I know all of the girls on the team are so pumped about it because we knew we could do this.”
Kapaun wins sixth straight Kansas girls golf title
The Crusader dynasty in the Kansas high school girls golf world rolled along this week in Emporia.
Kapaun Mt. Carmel won its sixth straight Class 5A team championship, once again in dominant fashion, as the Crusaders’ winning team score of 647 strokes beat out second-place Andover by 48 strokes. It was the second-largest margin of victory for Kapaun during its title streak, as the program claimed its 12th championship overall.
The team was led by junior Ximena Sarinana, the two-time defending individual champion who placed second overall this year with a 36-hole total of 6-over, 148.
The rest of Kapaun’s scoring lineup also placed in the top-10 individually, as senior Natalee Runyan (161) tied for fifth, freshman Reese Christenson (167) took eighth and sophomore Remi Hartley (171) placed 10th. Other team members included sophomore Emma Nguyen (183, 19th) and junior Avery Hamilton (213).
With four of its five individual medalists slated to return next season, the end of Kapaun’s reign is nowhere in sight.
Other Wichita-area girls golf state medalists
At the 6A state tournament, played at Hesston Golf Course, Wichita Southeast junior Alina Lam fired back-to-back 5-over rounds of 76 to take fourth place individually with a 36-hole total of 152 strokes — four behind winner Ella Slicker of Shawnee Mission East. Lam, the City League champion, has notched three straight top-10 finishes at the state tournament, as the fourth-place finish was the best of her career.
At the 5A state tournament, played at Emporia Golf Course, Newton junior Naomi Koontz notched a third-place finish with a 36-hole total of 11-over, 153 to headline other Wichita-area medalists. Other local medalists included Bishop Carroll senior Mary Bina (170, ninth), Arkansas City junior Aspen Colquhoun (177, 13th), Goddard senior Sydney Chapman (181, 16th) and Bishop Carroll junior Alexis Ross (182, 18th).
At the 4A state tournament, played at Carey Park in Hutchinson, Wellington finished runner-up to Wamego (660) with a team score of 699 strokes. The Crusaders were led by a pair of top-10 individual finishes by senior Taryn Viramontes (164, fifth) and senior Claire Ginter (166, seventh). Other team members included freshman Georgia Gulick (181), freshman Raynee Miller (188), freshman Kaselynn Carroll (190) and senior Presley Cornejo (195).
Other Wichita-area medalists in 4A included McPherson senior Brodie Kuhn (161, third), Winfield senior Lilli Sympson (166, seventh), Buhler sophomore Anika Paulsrud (170, 12th), Buhler junior Macy Miller (171, 15th) and McPherson senior Andi Buschbom (172, 17th).
At the 3-1A state tournament, played at Salina Municipal, Cheney senior Raegen Black (174, 12th) was the lone Wichita-area individual medalist.
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