ShawneeDispatch.com

Photo by Chris Wristen

Jessica Kelsey, a Mill Valley senior, watches her putt roll toward the hole on No. 18 on Monday at the Class 5A regional golf tournament at Overland Park Golf Course. Kelsey knocked down a 10-foot putt on the final hole and finished her round with a 104. That score was good enough for her to join teammates Carly Santaularia and Megan Kelley in qualifying for the state tournament.

Overland Park — The individual scores weren’t electrifying, but Monday still was a historic day for the Mill Valley girls golf team.

Seniors Carly Santaularia and Jessica Kelsey and junior Megan Kelley became the school’s first girls golf state qualifiers. All three are state-bound after firing scores low enough to advance them to the Class 5A state tournament on Monday, Oct. 20, at Salina Municipal Golf Course.

“Going into this year I really wasn’t sure what we were going to have,” Mill Valley coach Adam Wessel said. “The expectations were I wanted us to compete, but being a first-year program you never really know what you’re going to get. To get three girls to qualify this year is beyond what we expected. The progression throughout the season has been great, so I’m very pleased with today.”

Mill Valley spent the regular season playing as a combined squad with De Soto High School, but Class 5A Mill Valley and Class 4A De Soto had to split up for the postseason. De Soto’s Monday regional at Clay Center was rained out.

Mill Valley was unable to qualify a full squad by finishing in the top three in the team standings. Defending state champion St. Thomas Aquinas was the regional champion with a four-player score of 311, followed by Bishop Miege with 402 and Gardner-Edgerton with 438. Mill Valley was fourth with 456.

Aquinas’ Gianna Misenhelter, the reigning individual state champion, ran away from the field with a 66, 15 strokes better than runner-up Bailey Hopper of Miege.

Santaularia was Mill Valley’s top overall performer. She earned medalist honors by placing eighth overall with a 90. Kelsey shot a 104 and Kelley was the last individual qualifier from the regional with a 128.

For Santaularia, who spent the past few seasons playing on Mill Valley’s boys team, the opportunity to help start a girls program and become a state qualifier was special.

“For a brand new program, it’s hard to start off,” she said. “We started off slow, but we finished strong this year at regionals, and it means a lot to have a girls team now and to be respected now.”

Santaularia admitted she wasn’t particularly pleased with her score. She played well off the tee and in the fairways, but she struggled with her short game and had multiple three-putts. If she cleans up that part of her game, she thinks she can be a contender at state.

“I hope to place in the top 20,” she said, “which I think I’m capable of doing as long as I get rid of the three-putts.”

Wessel agreed.

“I think Carly can make a mark at state,” he said. “She’s capable of going much lower than she did today. There’s still some golf left to play.”

Wessel also was pleased to see Kelsey and Kelley advance — Kelley in particular.

“This is only Megan’s third varsity tournament,” Wessel said. “At the beginning of the year she wasn’t playing varsity and she’s kind of turned it on as of late so I played her up in a couple varsity tournaments and she played well. Today she told me ‘I don’t think I played that well,’ but she’s qualified (for state), so that’s pretty exciting.”