Experienced Mercy readies for big finish
GIRLS GOLF NOTEBOOK - Special to The Detroit News
Wednesday, September 28, 2022
By: Matthew Scheidel
Farmington Hills Mercy's team is in a unique situation. For the first in 45 years as coach, Vicky Kowalski has the same six golfers she took to the state finals the previous year.
“We had no seniors on the top team last year,” Kowalski said.
As one could imagine, that creates a lot of comradery, even though the top lineup consists of two seniors, two juniors, and two sophomores.
“They all get along really well,” Kowalski said. “They all look out for each other. They all cheer each other on, and they console each other when somebody doesn't have a good day.”
Mercy doesn't have a whole lot of competition in Division 2, but what they do have is a juggernaut. They are in the same division and now the same region - as South Lyon.
However, that has not fazed them at all. On Sept. 9, Mercy beat them at the Farmington tournament at Glen Oaks Golf Course, shooting a school record 311 in the process.
“I know South Lyon and us have the two best teams in the state,” Kowalski said. “It's just a matter of who's playing their best on those given days.”
Mercy is led by two seniors - Chole Vig, who shot a personal best 74 in the win over South Lyon - and Mia Juday, who has consistently been shooting in the mid 80s this year.
“(Vig) is having her best season,” Kowalski said. “(Juday) has really improved a lot and is doing great things for us.”
Kowalski, who also teaches math at Mercy, planned on retiring from teaching after last school year, but came back on a part-time basis this year. She said she plans on coaching at least two more years.
“We've probably got nine really good sophomores,” she said. “So I'm definitely going to see them out until the end for sure.”
Kowalski said she thinks her team has a shot at the state championship, despite having to go through South Lyon twice now.
“My girls want to win that regional,” she said. “We won it last year and they know they have to beat South Lyon to win that regional, and the same thing is going to happen at the state finals.”
Cranbrook's balance
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood won the Division 3 state championship last season, but lost three starters from that team. They have no seniors on the team, having a couple juniors and a sophomore leading the way.
“When I took the program over five years ago, I had one senior, no juniors, two sophomores, the rest were freshmen -and we played those freshmen,” Cranbrook coach John Minnich said. “Got them playing experience. And right now we've got experience at the top and we're trying to build experience at the bottom so that we never have these voids where we have players that don't have that playing experience. There's nothing like it, so you got to get them out to play.”
His two co-captains this year are juniors Sienna Ilitch and Mackenzie Behnke, who shot a 76 and 78, respectively at last Saturday's Orange Theory Invitational, but Minnich has been particularly impressed with sophomore Sophia Kouza's development this season.
“She's now playing in our No. 3 spot,” Minnich said of Kouza. “She's really having a nice season, very consistent. Her ball striking has improved dramatically, and she's a competitor.”
Minnich said the biggest challenge so far this year didn't start until the girls started school. Early in the season, they weren't in school, so they had all the time in the world to practice and get on the golf course. Now, finding that balance as student-athletes has proven to be more difficult than expected.
“We're fortunate in that we don't start school until after Labor Day,” Minnich said. “We scheduled a large part of our season while the girls were still out of school so that they could play and practice and not have to worry about the schoolwork and missing school. And now that we're back in school, they're still kind of working to get that balance right - the balance of being a student athlete - being able to accomplish both things on a proficient level.”
Minnich said they are “as good as anybody in Division 3” when they play to their ability, but said the Oakland County Championship today will be a good litmus test for them.
“I always like to see how we fare in that event because...we're going against the best teams - some of the best teams in the state regardless of class.” Minnich said.
“I think we've got a nice team. I think we've got a good chance to perform well, definitely a top finish at the regionals.”
Matthew Scheidel is a freelance writer.
