The Sentinels not only won the team title going away, but occupied the top four spots individually on the leaderboard, led by senior Kaleb Chipelewski earning medalist honors with a 1-over-par 73.

Junior Jack Pond and sophomore Seve Swanson tied for second, just one stroke back with 74 each, while junior Easton Aho rounded out the MSHS scoring with 77 even as he carded six birdies.

If there was anything the competition could take away from that, it was that three other Escanaba and Gladstone golfers matched Aho’s 77.

Nevertheless, Marquette totaled 298, compared to the Eskymos’ 318, Gladstone’s 332, Kingsford’s 342 and the host Maroons’ 346.

Members of the Marquette Senior High School girls golf team pose outside Riverside Country Club in Menominee on Tuesday after they finished runners-up in the Great Northern Conference finals meet. From left are Delaney Rhoades, Roegen Hruska, Kylie Smith, Hayden Schetter and Elise Busick. (Photo courtesy MSHS head coach Ben Smith)

The Sentinels girls had a solid day, finishing runner-up with 435 to team champion Escanaba’s 391. In that race, Menominee had 451, Kingsford 504 and Gladstone 515.

“We battled tough weather conditions as we completed a sweep of the GNC (boys) schedule,” veteran Marquette golf coach Ben Smith said.

In the boys’ meet, junior Boden Moore provided Smith some insurance as he placed ninth individually with an 80.

With the GNC combining previous meets with a heavier weight on the finals meet, Chipelewski was named GNC Player of the Year. Pond, Aho, Swanson and Moore all gained First Team All-GNC honors, too, as the Sentinels won the team championship.

In the girls meet, senior Roegen Hruska paced the Sentinels with 107, good for sixth place, while junior teammates Hayden Schetter was seventh with 108 and Kylie Smith tied for eighth with 109.

Delaney Rhoades came in 10th with 111 while Elise Busick was 16th with 131.

Marquette finished third in the conference season as Rhoades won First Team All-GNC laurels and Smith and Hruska were on the Second Team.

Escanaba’s Kamrie Scott was medalist of the girls’ finals meet at Menominee with 88, while teammate Danni Hughes was second with 89. The Maroons’ Lexi Marineau was third with 92, teammate Mackenzie Doyle fourth with 101 and the Eskymos’ Lily VanDamme fifth with 105 before Marquette took the next three places.

In the boys meet, the golfers matching Aho with 77 were Escanaba’s Carson Artley and Graham Johnson and Gladstone’s Matthew Meyer. The only other sub-80 shooter was Esky’s Chayce Cousineau with 79.

The Sentinels now look forward to MHSAA Upper Peninsula Finals in Division 1 at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Island Resort & Casino’s two courses near Harris. The boys finals will be held at Sage Run Golf Course and the girls at Sweetgrass Golf Club.

Fourteen U.P. schools are in Division 1, including Gwinn, Westwood, Negaunee and Manistique for the area.

Story contents based on email received from MSHS head coach Ben Smith. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.