FINDLAY — Lima Central Catholic took another step toward becoming the first Division II team to win three consecutive girls golf state championships when it won the district tournament at Sycamore Springs Golf Course by 45 strokes on Monday.
LCC shot a team score of 324. Bellevue was second at 369. Van Buren was third with a 375 and Wauseon finished fourth with a 385.
Those four teams, along with the top four individuals not on qualifying teams, advanced to the Division II state tournament next Friday and Saturday at Ohio State University’s Gray Course.
LCC’s Mary Kelly Mulcahy was the district medalist with a 73. Erin Mulcahy shot 80, Bridget Mulcahy had an 81 and Emma Mayers had a 90 for a 324 team score. No. 5 player Carlie VanMeter shot a 93.
St. Henry’s Ellen Naumann had the second-lowest score overall with a 76 and qualified for state as an individual.
The other individual qualifiers were Lakota’s Kyleigh Dull with a 77, Gibsonburg’s Sydney Leyerle with a 77 and Shelby’s Nicole Jones with a 78.
LCC qualified for the state tournament for the fourth year in a row. It was Division II state champion in 2019 and 2018 and was third in 2017.
The only two teams to win more than two consecutive girls golf state championships in Ohio are Dublin Jerome, which won five Division I titles in a row from 2011-2015, and Mason, which was Division I champion three years in a row from 2008-2010. LCC’s two state titles in a row are already the record for Division II, which came into existence in 2008.
LCC’s 324 total was 10 strokes better than its district-winning score of 334 at Sycamore Springs last year when it finished 43 strokes ahead of runner-up Huron.
The Thunderbirds coach Dan Reinicke avoided saying this lower team score meant LCC was better than a year ago, though.
“I don’t know that we’re better but we’re more experienced,” he said. “And I think that experience made them better.”
Sophomore Bridget Mulcahy’s 81 was 12 shots better than her score a year ago in the district, which was a major factor in LCC getting a lower team score.
“I definitely played better this year. Overall, I just got a lot better from last year,” she said. “I’ve improved my short game a lot. My long irons have definitely gotten a lot better and my fairway woods for sure.”
Mulcahy said winning another state championship is obviously a topic of conversation that is frequently brought up by people outside the team. But she said the players don’t get caught up in that.
“We just try to take it one step at a time. We can’t jump to far forward in our thinking. I just try to play each round at a time and not think too far ahead,” she said.
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