Warsaw’s Madelyn Ray winds up for a shot off the fairway on number 9 at Stonehenge Thursday. (Photos by James Costello)

WINONA LAKE — Having played an 18-hole round exactly a week prior to Thursday’s nine-hole meet at Stonehenge Golf Club, Warsaw and Triton were looking for improvement in their latest three-way with Rochester. Triton’s 193 was a significant improvement from that first meeting. Warsaw’s 193 score was actually a little worse, but the Lady Tigers made strides that weren’t readily apparent in their team score Thursday.

While the hosts topped the team standings to move to 4-0 in dual meet play, Rochester split the meet with a 226 score ahead of the Trojans, and Lakeland Christian Academy’s lone entrant Abigail Fishel shot 43 at Stonehenge.

“I think we’re getting better at showing grittiness when rounds aren’t going our way. All five of our girls didn’t really have it tonight, but we showed some resolve to shoot 193 — that’s not a great score by any means, but to grit something out was good for us,” said Warsaw coach Tad Nieter.

Grayson Kilburn paced the field with a 46 at the meet — a score equalled by Rochester’s Kristianna Lingenfelter as the duo claimed co-low medalist finishes — while number three Madelyn Ray carded 47 in a pretty solid one-two finish for Warsaw.

“She’s coming along. She’s getting there; she’s getting close to breaking through. I think it’s only a matter of time before she starts shooting some good numbers,” said Nieter of Kilburn.

“(Ray) was hitting it really well on the range. We thought she was going to post something low 40s. Last week she shot 85 at East Noble. That was a good building block for her to get that mental hurdle out of her. She’s going to post some good numbers here soon, too.”

None of the rest of the Tigers’ top five was able to break 50 at Thursday’s nine-hole affair, but Izzy Ray and Julia Hildebrand both finished right at 50. Miriam Hagg shot 56 as the toss-out for Warsaw. But with his assistant coach unavailable at the meet, and a full 14 golfers out playing including his JV lineup, Nieter did see his players take a step forward in terms of decision-making out on the course.

“The girls are doing better at not relying on me 100 percent of the time. That’s really what I wanted them to take away from today,” he said. “My assistant was gone, so I had 14 girls I was chasing after so they didn’t have me there with them every single hole. It was good for them to say ‘OK, I’m struggling on this hole, so what do I need to do to fix this?’ It was a good building block for us.”

Like Warsaw, Triton benefitted from a good one-two Thursday. Alysha May shot 50 playing in the top flight for the Trojans, and number two Delaney Groves came in just one stroke back. Highlights included a par on number 5 for May and one on 6 for Groves.

Delaney Groves gets out of a sand trap during Thursday’s three-way meet.

“The one and two definitely showed improvement tonight and actually had a couple pars, which is unusual. So that’s a good sign. They hit the ball a little bit better,” said Triton coach Jack Carpenter.

Madi Richison shot 60 for Triton’s third score, while Samantha Edington posted 72 for the Trojans. The team is still without junior Whytnie Miller, who tore the ACL in her left knee during a basketball game all the way back in February and has yet to be cleared to play by her surgeon. She may not receive that clearance until September, but Carpenter and company are hoping she gets the green light sooner, as it would give the team a fifth score and a much greater margin for error if one of the Trojans isn’t having her best day.

“She’s ready to play now. She has no pain,” explained Carpenter of Miller. “I think she goes back right at the beginning of September. She’s trying to get that appointment moved up. She’s been hitting on the range, basically trying to keep the weight on the right foot just to be safe, but she has no pain in it. It’s just a waiting game. They’re trying. She’s chomping at the bit, which will make a big difference.”

Also Thursday, Rochester’s Ashlyn Foster and Maddie Henning carded dual 61s, and Marley Strasser posted 58. Kat Rensberger’s 68 was the Zebras’ fifth score.

The JV Tigers fired a respectable 199 with Anna Morgan leading the pack with a 49. Marie Frazzetta, Delaney Byron and Izzie Vantwoud all carded 50 in a consistent showing for the squad, and Brooklyn Fitzgerald shot 66.

Triton won’t play again until next Wednesday, when they host Huntington North at Stonehenge. Triton plays on the road at Manchester Monday.