St. Mary’s Colgan began its defense of three consecutive state titles with nine holes on Thursday in the Columbus Invitational at the Columbus Country Club.
The Panthers finished second as a team by just one stroke. Columbus took home the top spot, shooting a 206. The Girard Trojans finished in third, shooting 235.
The Panthers fielded three of the top 10 golfers at the invitational. Juniors Molly Sweezey and Ava Scripsick led the Panthers. Scripsick finished second, shooting a 45. Sweezey finished in fourth, shooting a 46. Freshman Dani Yaghmour shot a 50 in her first tournament at the high school level. Junior Lauren O’Brien finished 18th and sophomore Eve Brown finished 21st.
Columbus’ Mallory Thompson shot a 44 to win the tournament. Reese Gundy also finished in the top five with a 47.
Girard earned two top-10 finishes to take the third spot. Karlyn Fisher finished seventh with a 53 followed by teammate Jordyn Oplotnik who finished 10th with a 58.
Frontenac’s Ruth Frederick finished eighth, shooting a 55.
Colgan, Girard and Frontenac will meet again next Thursday for nine holes in Girard.
COLUMBUS
INVITATIONAL
At Columbus Country Club
Baxter Springs-Chloe Hall 77
Columbus -- Mallory Thompson 44, Reese Gundy 47, Anna Head 56, Amory Neely 59, Suzan Crowe 64, Natalie Wary 66, Jaiden Campbell 75.
Frontenac -- Ruth Frederick 55, Kayle Hensley 62
Girard -- Karlyn Fisher 53, Jordyn Oplotnik 58, Breeanna Clugston 62, Hanna Bailey 65, Ariana Ramirez 66
Galena -- Breanna Keyser 66
Jayhawk-Linn -- Celeste Schneider 45, Camryn Thomas 58
St. Mary’s Colgan -- Ava Scripsick 45, Molly Swezey 46, Dani Yaghmour 50, Lauren O’Brien 66, Eve Brown 75
Parsons -- Madison Shepard 76
