Moore shoots 75, takes sectional medalist, helps Rochester advance again
Pioneer takes 8th, Caston 9th, Winamac 10th
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
MONTICELLO — Rochester junior golfer Molly Moore is one who can even do things that leave her teammates who see her every day in amazement.
“I am so proud of Molly,” Lily Chipps said. “She is just a golf pro at this point. It’s amazing that she shot nine less than everyone else. It’s so amazing.”
Said Lexi Haughs: “She’s our little star.”
At the Twin Lakes sectional at Tippecanoe Country Club Monday, Moore’s talents were there for everybody to see.
She shot a 75 to take sectional medalist honors and help the Lady Zs finish in third place and advance to the regional for the fifth straight year.
Logansport won their second straight sectional with a 375, Kankakee Valley was second with a 381, and Rochester had a 383.
Since 2022, Rochester has finished second, second, first, second and third in the last five sectionals.
As for Moore, her round included four birdies on Nos. 2, 6, 12 and 16, and she never had worse than a bogey on any hole. She won by nine strokes over Kankakee Valley’s Brynn Capellari.
“I feel good about it,” Moore said. “I think the front nine went very well. I was striking it amazing. I just got to a point where fairway, green, putt. It was great. I loved that. The back nine, on the other hand, I could not make a putt.”
It marks the third straight year that a Rochester golfer won sectional medalist. Olivia Bailey won it in both
2024 and 2025. Last year, Bailey shot a 72 when the sectional was held at Dykeman Park Golf Course in Logansport and won by nine over Moore.
Other Rochester scores included Lexi Haughs’ 94, Lily Chipps’ 106, Makenna Jackson’s 108 and Audrey Widman’s 110.
Among other area teams, Pioneer was eighth with a 463, Caston was ninth with a 473, and Winamac was 10th with a 482 in a field of 10 complete teams.
Rensselaer’s Aubrey Geleott, who was one of Moore’s playing partners, shot an 85 to advance as an individual on a non-advancing team along with Tri-County’s Ebba Levin (87) and South Newton’s Abigail Arrenholz (96).
Sandy Pines Golf Club in DeMotte will host the regional at 9 a.m. Eastern Saturday. Rochester players will tee off on the back nine beginning at 9:50 a.m. Eastern.
Moore’s powers of concentration came to the fore on No. 12. With a construction crew working on a house adjacent to the hole, she sunk a downhill 30-footer with a right-to-left break for birdie. She said that the putt was so fast that if she hit it too hard it would roll right off the green.
“Because those putts, I just expect a two-footer and in,” Moore said. “That’s a good two-putt for me. It was great to make it.”
Then came three straight bogeys on Nos. 13-15. On Nos. 13 and 14, she missed two-footers for par on both. But then she drained another 16-footer with a right-to-left break for birdie on No. 16.
“Luckily, 16 I birdied,” Moore said. “I really needed that. It made my positivity come back. Going bogey-bogey-bogey always hurts the mentality, so that helped.”
Moore was asked how 2025 grad Ava Thomas and 2026 grad Bailey made her better.
“Following their footsteps, that’s great,” Moore said. “They definitely taught me a lot.”
Haughs said she was “annoyed” by the third-place finish. She said she wants to improve her focus for the regional.
“I feel like the back nine is easier,” Haughs said. “There are fewer penalties on the front. I think it was because we were moving so slow, and that got in my head, and I started speeding up, and that’s what really messed me up.”
Chipps said she had worked a lot on improving her driving distance and accuracy. Her sectional score was a nine-shot improvement over her Three Rivers Conference tournament score.
Like Moore, she also birdied No. 12. Only one other player on any of the other 11 schools present birdied No. 12. Chipps said she used a pitching wedge off the tee and put it within two feet and had a tap-in.
“I was just kind of focused on what I can do instead of what other people’s scores will turn out to be because that doesn’t necessarily matter to me,” Chipps said. “I do know that people were talking about, ‘Oh, it’s going to be against Rochester and Rensselaer,’ and it was. They were very close to us. We were just going head to head with Rensselaer.”
Jackson’s score was a career best for 18 holes and the first time her score was included in the Rochester team total. Widman’s score was just one off her personal best.
“I am very happy that we have another opportunity to go and play regionals,” Widman said. “I think this team’s worked very hard. We have a lot of young players, so even seeing them be able to grow and get better, it really makes me happy.”
Pioneer
Grace Cobb led Pioneer with a 102, Kassandra Martinez and Selena Johnson each shot 119, Addie Tabler shot a 123, and Jaelyn Sweet shot a 130.
Caston
No. 5 player Alyssa Smith was Caston’s low scorer with a 109. Audrey Ault had a 119, Paisley Strasser had a 122, Lyla Gebhardt had a 123, and Ava Russell had a 127.
Winamac
Sophia Shell and Brianna Patton each shot a 109 to top the Winamac scorecard. Lila Lavender added a 129, Scarlett Browning had a 135, and Madelen Keller had a 138.
TWIN LAKES GIRLS GOLF SECTIONAL
at Tippecanoe Country Club, Monticello, Monday (par 72)
Logansport 375, Kankakee Valley 381, ROCHESTER 383, Rensselaer 391, Twin Lakes 438, North Newton 451, South Newton 460, PIONEER 463, CASTON 473, WINAMAC 482, Tri-County (incomplete team), DeMotte Christian (incomplete team)
LOGANSPORT (375): Wilburn 88, Lundy 90, Baker 98, Kranz 99, (Graham 99)
KANKAKEE VALLEY (381): Capellari 84, Putman 97, Stevens 97, DeBoard 103, (Kritlow 113)
ROCHESTER (383): MOLLY MOORE (36-39) 75, LEXI HAUGHS (43-51) 94, LILY CHIPPS (55-51) 106, MAKENNA JACKSON (56-52) 108, (AUDREY WIDMAN (49-61) 110)
RENSSELAER (391): Geleott 85, Strange 97, Kosta 97, Pickering 112, (Wireman 112)
TWIN LAKES (438): Siegle 103, Anderson 106, Nickerson 110, Woodley 119, (Hines 125)
NORTH NEWTON (451): Dortch 102, Busboom 112, Pineda 113, Grammar 124, (Anderson 125)
SOUTH NEWTON (460): A. Arrenholz 96, S. Arrenholz 109, Buckley 125, Storey 130, (Smith 131)
PIONEER (463): GRACE COBB (49-53) 102, KASSANDRA MARTINEZ (59-60) 119, SELENA JOHNSON (57-62) 119, ADDIE TABLER (60-63) 123, (JAELYN SWEET (63-67) 130)
CASTON (473): ALYSSA SMITH (57-52) 109, AUDREY AULT (57-62) 119, PAISLEY STRASSER (64-58) 122, LYLA GEBHARDT (56-67) 123, (AVA RUSSELL (65-62) 127)
WINAMAC (482): SOPHIA SHELL (54-55) 109, BRIANNA PATTON (55-54) 109, LILA LAVENDER (66-63) 129, SCARLETT BROWNING (65-70) 135, (MADELEN KELLER (65-73) 138)
TRI-COUNTY: Levin 87, Dreblow 110, McClure 126
DEMOTTE CHRISTIAN: Gore 104, Marek 117, Eylander 120
Top three individuals on non-advancing teams: 1. Aubrey Geleott (Rensselaer) – 85, 2. Ebba Levin (Tri-County) – 87, 3. Abigail Arrenholz (South Newton) – 96
Medalist: MOLLY MOORE (ROCHESTER) – 75
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