The Star’s All-Metro girls golf team
After three straight top-eight finishes at the Missouri Class 2 girls golf state tournament, Blue Springs High School’s Mariah Peters entered her senior season expecting nothing less than a state championship. She was plenty confident she would win one, too.
But at some point during the offseason, she decided that wouldn’t be enough.
“I wanted a team championship, too,” said Peters, The Star’s All-Metro girls golfer of the year. “So over the summer, I tried to get all the girls to come out to the course, and we would chip, putt, play nine or 18 holes, everything.”
The result? A lot of victories. For Peters. And for the Wildcats.
Peters won the coveted Missouri Class 2 individual state championship, and Blue Springs edged Kirkwood by 5 strokes for the Class 2 team state title.
That was simply the conclusion to an already-decorated season for Peters and her teammates. She became the first three-time champion of the prestigious Mo-Kan Invitational when she won the event by 6 strokes. She later became a Suburban Gold Conference champion, a district champion and a sectional co-champion.
And behind a much-improved lineup, the Wildcats won the team portion of all those events.
“It was the most fun I’ve ever had playing golf,” said Peters, who will attend Western Illinois on a golf scholarship next fall. “It was just an awesome experience, especially getting to share it all with my teammates. It was very important to me for the team to win this year. I worked so hard with that goal in mind. We all did.”
THE STAR’S ALL-METRO GIRLS GOLF
India Gaume, Pembroke Hill, freshman. She began her high school career by winning a Liberty Invitational that featured some of the Kansas City area’s top talent. She shot a 68 to win the Missouri Class 1, District 6 tournament and finished sixth at the Class 1 state tournament.
Brittani Jenson, De Soto, senior. Coming off a wrist injury that shortened her junior season, Jenson roared back to win five tournaments, including the Kansas Class 4A state tournament and the regional championship. She shot a 79 at state and won in a playoff at Dub’s Dread.
Alex Larson, Blue Valley West, junior. Larson, the Eastern Kansas League’s runner-up, placed in the top four in all eight of her tournaments this season. She was second at the Blue Valley Cup, second at regionals and placed fourth at the Kansas Class 5A state tournament.
Jessica Parker, SM East, sophomore. Parker, the Sunflower League champion, placed in the top three in seven of her eight tournaments this season with an 81.68 average. She finished second in her regional and second at the Kansas Class 6A state tournament.
Mariah Peters, Blue Springs, senior. Peters, the Missouri Class 2 state champion, also became the first three-time winner of the Mo-Kan Invitational. She later won the Suburban Gold Conference tournament before claiming a district championship and a share of a sectional championship.
Jean Tyrrell, Blue Valley North, senior. The Florida Gulf Coast signee won five of her six tournaments this season, including regionals and the Kansas Class 6A state championship. She was also the Eastern Kansas League champion, an event that was based on the results of three tournaments.
This story was originally published December 11, 2014 at 7:59 PM with the headline "The Star’s All-Metro girls golf team."