There was a lot of improvement on the second day. They looked more relaxed and having a good time and were able to sit back and enjoy it. – Desert Hills coach Laurie Dyer
The Desert Hills golfing dynasty continues to march along.
The Thunder dominated the 4A state meet at Sunbrook Golf Club in St. George on Thursday, winning the team title by 32 strokes as it captured its ninth straight state championship.
Desert Hills backed up an opening-round 337 Wednesday with a 332 on Thursday to finish with 669 strokes. Park City was second with 701, followed by Uintah with 712.
“This is a great way of ending, they’ve been playing really hard and really well all season,” said Desert Hills coach Laurie Dyer. She said her players displayed some uncharacteristic nerves Wednesday, but it didn’t carry over to Thursday’s round.
“There was a lot of improvement on the second day. They looked more relaxed and having a good time and were able to sit back and enjoy it,” said Dyer.
Desert Hills’ top individual finisher was senior SUU commit Tori Thomas, who finished in fourth-place with a two-day total of 156. Her senior teammate K’Jahna Plant shot a 162 to finish seventh.
Medalist honors belonged to Snow Canyon senior Lexi Hamel, who backed up a first-round 75 with a scintillating 69 on Thursday.
Hamel, an SUU commit, won with a 144, followed in second place by Lehi’s Apelila Galea’i and Ridgeline’s Alexis Wilson, who each shot a 73 on Thursday to finished with 151.
Desert Hills sophomore Robin Kim shot a career-best 84 after shooting 91 Wednesday. It was the third-best round on Thursday for the Thunder.
Team Scores
At Sunbrook Golf Club
1. Desert Hills, 669; 2. Park City, 701; 3. Uintah, 712; 4. Snow Canyon, 721; 5. Lehi, 722; 6. Ridgeline, 728; 7. Stansbury, 754; 8. Dixie, 768.
Individual results
144 — Lexi Hamel, Snow Canyon
151 — Apelila Galea’i, Lehi
151 — Alexis Wilson, Ridgeline
156 — Tori Thomas, Desert Hills
159 — Bailia Milne, Pine View
161 — Rheagen Hartfiel, Bear River
162 — K’Jahna Plant, Desert Hills
168 — Mckenzie Schow, Park City
170 — Grace Donahue, Park City
173 — Kali Ofahengaue, Lehi
175 — Robin Kim, Desert Hills
175 — Zoyee Thomas, Green Canyon
176 — Abby Leitze, Desert Hills
176 — Meghan Pierce, Uintah
176 — Brittnee Buckingham, Stansbury
177 — Rachel Gardiner, Uintah
178 — Gabby Meyer, Snow Canyon
178 — Megan Paskvan, Stansbury
179 — Maicee Smuin, Uintah
179 — Kinzie Kelsch, Dixie