Brophy (Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

 

 

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Xavier junior standout Ashley Menne joined a very select group of golfers after she captured her third straight Division I state championship this week at the Omni Tucson National. Menne joins former Xavier and Horizon standout Grace Park and former Xavier standout Heather Farr as the only golfers, boy or girl, to win three state championships.

Menne finished 3-under-par after shooting a 70 on the Catalina Course on Monday and a 71 on the Sonoran Course on Tuesday, just enough to hold off challenges from Chaparral standout Grace Summerhays (73-70, 143), Liberty standout Mattison Frick (74-71, 145) and Xavier standout Breyana Matthews (74-71, 145).

Menne’s two-day total of 141 looked like it was going to carry the tournament after she left the scoring area but Frick made things interesting by pulling to within one stroke with three holes to go but she was unable to keep up her incredible pace down the stretch.

“I’m excited, I’m relieved and I’m honored also,” Menne said. “I’ve heard that only two other girls have done this and I’m just glad to be part of that honor.”

Ashley Menne (Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

 

Park won a state title as a freshman at Xavier in 1994 but she transferred over to Horizon where she won her next two titles. She retired from professional golf in 2012. Farr won all three of her titles playing for Xavier from 1979-1981 and she passed away in 1993 from cancer after a rich professional career. Park attended Arizona State and Farr played three years at ASU before turning pro and that’s where Menne will play also after committing to the Sun Devils as a sophomore.

Menne also helped lead her team to another state championship, the 36th in program history with the first coming in 1980. The Gators have claimed 43% of the 84 championship trophies handed out under the guidance of Sister Lynn Winsor and co-head coach, former ASU standout, Tui Selvaratnam.

Xavier shot a 12-over 588 to finish ahead of Pinnacle (621) and Hamilton (631). Hamilton was the last team to beat Xavier in championship play (2010).

Things also got exciting on the boy’s side with Sunrise Mountain standout Ben Lorenz and Chaparral standout Preston Summerhays entering the final round tied at 4-under.

The boys moved over to the Catalina Course on Tuesday and Lorenz continued to shoot well and he finished 3-under for a 7-under 136 total. Still, he was unable to celebrate with several golfers gaining behind him.

Brophy standout Zack Missigman shot 4-under on the day but he was unable to get that final birdie to close the gap and he came in with a 137 for second place. Perry’s Caden Christopherson and Brophy’s Tony Hendricks tied for third place, four shots back.

“It feels good. A lot of hard work and it feels good winning it after my brother won it last year. It’s a pretty cool feeling,” Lorenz said. “I was getting updates along the way and I had some good shots. It all worked out in the end.”

Ben’s older brother Blake shot an impressive 134 to win the D-II state championship last year and he is now playing for Oklahoma. Though there has never been a three-time champion on the boys’ side, Ben could be one of 11 boys to win two state titles if he comes back and challenges in his senior year.

Ben Lorenz. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

 

Northwest Christian standout Frankie Capan won back-to-back state titles in 2016 and 2017 but Hamilton’s CJ Kim was the last golfer to win two titles from a D-I or D-II program and he did that in 2008 and 2009.

As a team, Brophy finished 5-under to hold off Hamilton 567 to 575 and Chaparral shot 578 to take third place. Brophy took second place to Chaparral last year by one stroke, 574 to 575.

It is the eighth state championship for Brophy dating back to 1985.