Francesca Tomp had nerves on top of not feeling well heading into this week's OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 5A girls golf state tournament at Trysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis.
But a "whatever happens, happens" attitude pushed the North Eugene junior through to her third straight individual title.
Tomp shot 75 Tuesday on the par-71, 5,415-yard course to finish with a 36-hole total of 145, 12 strokes better than runner-up Anna Latimer of Caldera.
The goal was simply to play her best and the rest would take care of itself.
"Whatever happens, happens was my mindset again," Tomp said. "As long as I played my best that's all that mattered to me."
Wilsonville won the team title with the two best 18-hole rounds of the tournament, 333 and 347 to finish at 680. Summit was second at 716, followed by North Eugene (763), La Salle Prep (771), Silverton (815), Dallas (815), Crescent Valley (824) and Caldera (827).
Tomp entered Tuesday with a seven-stroke lead on three competitors. Tomp birdied holes 9 and 10 Tuesday, but she says any nerves she had earlier in the round were gone by then.
Tomp said she's grown as a golfer in that she's not as "rattled" as she once was. She says what she believes sets her apart from others is the ability to stay "steady."
"When I was in the lead my freshman year I was so nervous, but this year I was more calm, like, 'it's OK.'" she said.
Tomp wouldn't allow herself to think about the possibility of four titles. She was solely focused on her third. Now, she says, a fourth can enter her mind.
Latimer shot 76 Tuesday to move up three spots on the individual leaderboard.
Summit's Saylor Gillet was third at 158, trailed by Wilsonville's Evie Dunn (161), Thurston's Olivia Grandberry (162), Wilsonville's Layla Sidhu (168), Redmond's Payton Richardson (170), La Salle Prep's Sydney Anderson (171) and Summit's Macy McAlister and Wilsonville's Madeline Downie (both 175) to round out the top 10.
Wilsonville and coach Chris Bensel got their second team title in three years. Summit interrupted the Wildcats' streak in 2023.
Sophia Raschko was just outside of the top 10 in 11th (176) for the Wildcats, and Malia Kaleikilo tied for 16th (184).
Bensel said what stood out most with his team was how well it bonded. Raschko, a freshman, joined two juniors and two sophomores in the lineup this season.
"Having a team work as a cohesive unit, it was pretty awesome all year," Bensel said, noting that his team played lots of rounds together on their own. "On the days off, even in the weekends, I would get photos of them playing OGA or Langdon (Farms) or something else. Probably the coolest part is they're all great friends with each other."
Bensel called Monday, as Wilsonville built a 23-stroke lead on Summit, "a very settling point."
"But I tried to keep them aware that we don't have it just yet. Nothing is certain, even with a 23-shot lead. But counting four balls, that's not a certainty, especially with a team like Summit," the coach said. "We talked about staying focused, staying true to the goal, staying true to the plan for the golf course."
Bensel said his group was motivated to move up a spot in the team standings over 2023, especially for those who experienced a state championship two years ago. From the start of the season, the Wildcats' eyes were on taking first.
"They worked hard every day," Bensel said. "I tried not to keep it on their mind, but we did have a goal and they achieved their goal today."
6A
There was no time to waste if Kate Lee was going to make a run at a state title.
The Jesuit junior got the message loud and clear and made the most of her opportunity. Lee made five birdies on the back nine holes to edge fellow round-one leader Maya Promwongsa of Tualatin and Melinee Udom of Westview by one stroke at Trysting Tree.
The winds picked up for the afternoon round, which made good scores tough to come by. But that didn't stop Lee, who was fifth at the 2023 tournament.
"The front nine was pretty tough in the beginning. But I just kind of turned it around on the back. I knew every stroke counted and ... I started being pretty aggressive with all my putts," said Lee, who made four birdies in a stretch of five holes between 13 and 17 after another birdie on 10.
Lake Oswego, state runner-up in 2023, saw a one-stroke lead on Sunset after 18 holes continue to grow throughout Tuesday's round. The Lakers ran away with the team championship at 632, followed by Sunset (646), Jesuit (649), Grants Pass (669) and Mountainside (674) in the 14-team field.
Lee followed Monday's 1-under-par 70 with a 71 for a 141 total.
Promwongsa, a senior who started her Tuesday round on the back while started on the front, had a roller coaster of a round. She had a bogey on 10, birdie on 11, bogey on 12 and birdies on 13 and 16. She then opened her second nine with a birdie on 1, followed later by a double bogey on 4, a birdie on 5 and bogies on 6 and 7.
Mountainside's Kristine Shin, like Udom just a freshman, was fourth at 143, trailed by Cleveland's Kate Ly and Lake Oswego's Hailey Lim (both 147), Clackamas' Jessi Tantog (another freshman) and Lake Oswego's Ashley Kang (both 158), Jesuit's Milla Patel (159) and Sunset's Shravya Kumar and Erika Kobayashi (both 160).
Micah Frey, Lake Oswego's first-year head coach, said the weather conditions were tough and made the greens firm.
"The girls made tremendous adjustments, hitting shots that were shorter and letting them roll, keeping the ball in play and avoiding the big numbers," he said.
With the Lakers building a cushion on the front nine, Frey encouraged his players on the back to do there best to stay away from disastrous scores.
The coach said last year's second-place finish, at the hands of Jesuit by two strokes, was "fuel" for his team.
"I knew that coming in (to the season), and something we talked about from day one is that they lost two seniors but we knew the girls coming up were talented enough to compete with anybody. That was the attitude we had all year. We didn't really focus on who we were playing."
Lake Oswego's win ended a four straight Jesuit victories in OSAA state tournaments (2018, 2019, 2022, 2023).
Lee said getting a team trophy for a top-four finish "means a lot, especially because this team is a young team so I have another year with them. I'm really proud of all the work they've put and how far we've come."
4A/3A/2A/1A
Salem Academy rallied from a seven-stroke, day-one deficit to win the team championship at the par-72, 5,352-yard Tokatee Golf Club course in McKenzie Bridge.
The Crusaders finished at 758, shooting 368 Tuesday after a 390 Monday. Crook County, the 2023 champion, was second at 772, followed by first-round leader North Bend (773), St. Mary's (779) and Marshfield (792) in the 12-team tournament.
Valley Catholic freshman Madeleine Conser shot 73 Tuesday, four strokes better than her opening round, to finish with a winning score of 150, six strokes ahead of Catlin Gabel's Vishaka Priyan and first-round leader Cassie Kennon of North Bend.
Marist Catholic's Esha Reddy was fourth (159), La Pine's Kylee Smith fifth (170), Salem Academy's Chloe Johnston sixth (171) and Dufur's Tygh Timinsky seventh (176) while La Pine's Hailey Smith, Marist Catholic's Ashlyn Thomas and Salem Academy's Alexandrea Willcoxen tied for eighth (179). Reddy tied for fourth the previous two years.
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