Kapaun Mt. Carmel's girls golf team claimed its seventh consecutive Class 5A state championship Tuesday, Oct. 20, setting a Kansas record for the longest streak of girls golf team titles.
The Crusaders dominated at Hesston Golf Course, posting a 36-hole team score of 635 to beat Wichita rival Bishop Carroll by 37 strokes, according to the Wichita Eagle. The previous record of six straight titles was held by St. Thomas Aquinas, which won from 2007 to 2012.
The margin was never in doubt. Kapaun entered the final round with an 18-stroke lead and more than doubled it by day's end.
Bishop Carroll finished second at 672, and St. James Academy took third at 678.
All four of Kapaun's scoring golfers placed among the top 15 individuals in Class 5A. Senior Ximena Sarinana, a two-time individual state champion and Northern Colorado commit, led the Crusaders with rounds of 72 and 74 to tie for a fourth-place finish at 4-over-par 146.
Sarinana has been Kapaun's top individual scorer in each of the team's last four state championships, according to the Eagle.
Sophomore Reese Christenson shot a 3-over 74 in the final round to climb to sixth place at 156. Emma Nguyen tied for ninth at 163. Remi Hartley placed 15th at 170. Avery Hamilton (184) and Lucy Keller (191) rounded out the lineup.
The title extends a run of dominance for coach Corey Novascone's program. Kapaun has now won 11 of the last 14 state championships, including four straight from 2013 to 2016 before the current streak began in 2020.
Bishop Carroll made it a Wichita sweep of the top two spots. Kinsley Montgomery finished seventh individually at 159, and Alexis Ross placed eighth at 161.
Andover came close to putting a third Wichita-area team on the podium, finishing fourth at 680. That was just two strokes behind St. James Academy. Isabel Hawley led Andover with a tie for fourth at 146, matching Sarinana's total.
In Class 6A at Firekeeper Golf Course in Mayetta, Wichita Southeast senior Alina Lam fired a 5-under-par 67 in her final high school round. Lam finished as state runner-up at 1-under 143.
Tuesday's tournament concluded the Kansas high school girls golf season.
