St. Louis High School’s Varsity golf team was ranked third in their region in Mt. Pleasant Oct. 6, 2022, yet they came home with the championship– a first in program history.

Overall, the whole team put in their best effort, and it surely paid off. The team won by eight strokes. Coach Biehl said, “My biggest worry was Ithaca because they beat us last. And Shepherd, who has always won.”

Coach Biehl described the day as a repeated back and forth with team scores. She explained that for a while, they were coming in between third and fourth over and over, before suddenly they were going between second and third. As the game progressed, they were tied in first place, but later won by eight strokes. 

Danielle Thelen, who scored 114, said, “It was the last hole of the game. It became a tight finish against a girl from Shepherd, who was having a rough hole.” Thelen explained that she got up on the green in three shots. When it came down to it, the Shepherd girl shot into a hazard. From there, the teams had to wait for a rule judgment for over five minutes. 

“The wait was almost too tense. I was waiting on scores and hoping that I was going to win. I finished with six and the Shepherd girl ended with a nine,” Thelen continued. When they put the scores in, the Sharks Won regionals. “I am terrified for state, as I have never competed at a state level,” Thelen said. She hopes to do well during state and help lead her team to victory.

This is Coach Biehl’s second group she gets to take to state Her first group was her team in 2019. Coach Biehl and the girls will be going to Forest Akers golf course Oct. 14-15, where there will be two 18-hole rounds. “It’s a neat experience, and I’m just really excited that the girls get to experience this.”