CARMEL – Few athletes get to do what Wawasee’s Mikala Mawhorter did this weekend. The senior golfer walked off the course for the final time and did it on her sport’s grandest stage, the IHSAA Girls Golf State Finals. Mawhorter rebounded from her first day score of 97 to sign for a 93 in her final 18 as a prep golfer.

Over the past four years Mawhorter solidified herself as a prominent golfer in the Northern Lakes Conference and surrounding region. As a junior she helped lead Wawasee to its first team berth into the state finals since 1986. Her senior season was full of a fair share of ups a downs but when it came to crunch time, Mawhorter rose to the occasion in the postseason to work her way back to state.

“My season started out pretty rough,” began Mawhorter. “Things got a little better then I fell off a cliff, then things got a little better.

“I’m not happy with how I played but I also know that I wasn’t really ranked coming into this tournament. This was more about the experience for me. I was glad to have the chance to play here my senior year, my last season.”

Mawhorter cited the performance she had to get her to state as the true defining moment for her.

“The regional is really where it mattered for me,” she said. “I knew that if I wanted to get to state that I had to play my best. Down here (at state) it’s the cream of the crop. The weather is usually bad and the course is just so different from what I am used to playing. Having the experience is what I got out of this.

Mawhorter, who finished second in her regional field at Noble Hawk in Kendallville, had three pars in Saturday’s round but highlighted her day with a birdie. The senior sank a 40-foot birdie putt on the par three No. 15. Mawhorter made a nice memory on that hole as a junior when she chipped-in for birdie on day one of last year’s finals. Saturday’s back nine total for Mawhorter was 46, five strokes better than Friday’s round.

With her career slowly winding down as she played the finals few holes, Mawhorter said she never really felt like it was the end until, well, the end.

“It hasn’t fully set in yet,” Mawhorter said about realizing that her high school golf career had drawn to a close Saturday. “I became aware of it coming to an end during my last two holes but even as I finished the hole it didn’t hit me.

“I guess when it really hit me was when my uncle gave me a hug after I was done, we both started to cry and he told me how much he has enjoyed watching me over the past four years. That was when I really felt it.”

Mawhorter has little time to reflect on the impressive golf career she has had as she will switch gears for her final season in the pool for Wawasee. Mawhorter has qualified for state as a swimmer and acknowledged that she has big aspirations for her senior campaign.

Top-ranked Evansville North successfully repeated as state champion with a score of 651 (332-319) while Lake Central’s Alexis Miestowski captured medalist honors with her score of 145 (76-69).

Local golfers included the NorthWod girls golf team and Rochester’s Kinley Lingenfelter. NorthWood (15th) was led by Linnzie Richner who shot a 171 (86-85). Summer Stillson (185), Madison Richner (203), Mackenzie Weaver (205) and Abby Slabaugh (222) rounded out the scores for the Northern Lakes Conference champion Panthers.

Lingenfelter had a stellar second day shooting a 76, 10 strokes better than Friday’s round. The junior finished tied for 16th with her score of 162.