Success in team matches powers Kernel girls to retain Marchand Cup over Gazelles
May 13—YANKTON — For the fourth consecutive year, the Mitchell High School girls golf team won the Marchand Cup team event over Yankton on Tuesday at Fox Run Golf Course, winning 14. 5 points to Yankton's 5. 5 points.
In a team event, the Kernels' team skill showed off nicely, winning 9. 5 of the possible 10 points at stake in the two team formats in the event. The competition, which loosely follows the Ryder Cup, includes three mini-matches in one 18-hole round.
Four-ball best-ball matches were played for the first six holes, while holes 7-12 featured a two-player scramble and holes 13-18 were individual match play. The tournament is named in memory of Yankton High School graduate and former Mitchell golf coach Rob Marchand, who died in 2014. Mitchell crushed Yankton in the four-ball matchups, winning all five matches and the five points that came with them.
The Kernels' lead pairing of Maddie Childs and Brynlee Sabers won 3-and-1 over Yankton's Ellia Homstad and Sabrina Krajewski, while Mia Larson and Anna Eliason cruised to a 3-and-2 Mitchell win over Olivia Woods and Josslyn Elwood. In the scramble holes, Mitchell did almost as well, scoring 4 1/2 points out of five, tying the only match they didn't win. Childs/Sabers and Larson/Eliason both won 1-up on their final holes to win their matches, and Kate Schutz and Emma Reinesch cruised 4-and-2 in their match.
Londyn Hajek and Elliot Smith won convincingly 3-and-2 for MHS. The 10 singles matches between the two teams ended up in a tie, with five points apiece going to Mitchell and Yankton. Childs, Sabers, Larson and Eliason all won, while Hajek and Rorey Koch's matches each ended all square for the Kernels.