By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Former city high school stars Lois Deeter and Aliyah North began their college golf careers at other universities, but coming home to Topeka was pretty much a no-brainer after Washburn University announced its plans to launch a women's progam last winter.
Former Washburn Rural golf star Aliyah North (left) and Seaman product Lois Deeter will be part of Washburn University's first women's golf program this fall. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
And the opportunitiy to compete for the home-town Ichabods will become a reality for Deeter, North and fellow city star Raegan Petersen this fall.
Former Seaman star Deeter and Washburn Rural products North and Petersen, who all earned state medals at the high school level, are among seven members of the inaugural Ichabod team, which will open the season at the Central Regional Fall Preview at Adams Point Golf Club in Blue Springs, Mo. in early Sept.
Deeter played her freshman season at Arkansas Tech and North played a season at Fort Hays State while Petersen will be an incoming freshman after graduating from Rural this spring.
Deeter said she started thinking about coming home to Topeka immediately after women's golf at Washburn became a reality.
"I missed home a lot, I came back home a lot and there were lots of face time calls to my mom because I missed her and my sister and the farm animals, so when I saw that Washburn was opening up a women's golf program I was excited for Topeka and I'm excited for Washburn,'' Deeter said.
"I think being more comfortable here in Topeka and comfortable with the courses and the team and the community will help me play a lot better. Alilyah North and I always talked about Washburn opening up a women's golf program and always wanting that to happen and we're just filled with gratitude that that happened.''
North played for Fort Hays State as a freshman in 2022 before making the decision to transfer to Washburn for the 2023-2024 school year after hearing rumors that WU was about to launch its women's program.
"I was waiting for the team to start,'' North said. "I heard the rumor and I definitely didn't want to miss out on the opportunity. It's always been in the back of my mind and Lois and I had talked about it in the past.
"And growing up watching my brother (Alex) play basketball here, Washburn has always held a super special place in my heart so it was always kind of a dream to be able to do what I love here as well.''
The Washburn roster also includes junior Angelina Borg-Malec (Courcheval, France) and sophomores Susana Granados Carrion (Cordoba, Spain), Keira Ronsick (Wichita) and Allie Sullivan (Peoria, Arizona).
"Overall I am really happy with the roster we have came up with for our first year of competition!" Washburn coach Ronnie McHenry said. "We have six of seven players who have college golf experience and two of them have played at the regional and national tournaments. We were also able to bring back and keep the local talent in the area with three players from Topeka and one more from Wichita.
"Our goal will be to enjoy the learning process but to also strive to compete with the best teams in our region this first year. I think this group will mesh well as most are coming from different schools and will find out how great of a place Washburn is!"
Former Tonganoxie state champion and Missouri-St. Louis standout Colby Yates has been named assistant coach for the Washburn men's and women's teams.
Washburn women's player capsules:
ANGELINA BORG-MALEC -- A native of Courcheval, France, Borg-Malec is a junior transfer from South Mountain Community College (Arizona), where she ranked third as a sophomore in the regional and No. 46 in the National Junior College Athletic Association rankings with a stroke average of 80.4 per round.
She led the team with an 11th-place finish with a 15-over-par 231 at the district meet, finished first at the Paradise Valley Classic and won four tournaments in a row. As a freshman at SMCC she was first-team All-ACCAC, all-region and All-Southwest District. Borg-Malec played in eight tournaments and placed 44th at the NJCAA National Championships at 40 over par (328).
Borg-Malec was a member of France's under 18 championship squad.
"(Angelina) has made it to both regionals and nationals as an individual in her two seasons (at South Mountain),'' McHenry said. "She will come in with the most college golf experience out of anyone on the roster and can help lead this group from experience.''
SUSANA GRANADOS CARRION -- Carrion, who hails from Cordoba, Spain, is a sophomore transfer from Oklahoma Christian, playing 24 rounds as a freshman and recording a stroke average of 79.2 per round.
Carrion recorded a top-10 finish at the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Tournament, opening the season with an 8-over total score and finishing eighth.
"(Susana's) team at (Oklahoma Christian) was a top-25 team in the country and loaded with talent,'' McHenry said. "Susana played every tournament for them as a freshman and helped them to NCAA regionals, where they just missed out on nationals by a few strokes. She has participated in some of our biggest tournaments at the Division II level in just one year. I think that will really help her lead this team because she has seen the best players at our level and even had them on her team.''
Former Seaman star Lois Deeter, a three-time state medalist, will compete for Washburn this fall after a season at Arkansas Tech. [File photo/TSN]
LOIS DEETER -- The former Seaman star played her freshman season at Arkansas Tech, appearing in two tournaments and recording a scoring average of 89.3 in six total rounds.
As a senior at Seaman, Deeter was named the United Kansas Conference player of the Year and was named to the All-Shawnee County team after winning four tournaments.
Deeter was a three-time Class 5A state medalist in her three seasons of high school golf.
"We are thrilled to have Lois back in town after her one year at Arkansas Tech,'' McHenry said. "She was a tremendous local talent out of high school in the area and I believe her best golf is ahead of her. She was part of an Arkansas Tech team that is always very competitive within our region and that experience should help her this year.''
Washburn Rural product Aliyah North is one of seven players on Washburn University's inaugural women's golf team, which will make its debut this fall. [File photo/TSN]
ALIYAH NORTH -- The Washburn Rural product played her freshman season at Fort Hays State in 2022, playing in all 11 tournaments for the Tigers and ranking second on the team with a stroke average of 81.76 across 25 rounds of competition.
North had nine rounds in the 70s and finished in a tie for ninth at 10-over 154 (77-77) at the Holiday Inn Express Classic and recorded a low two-round score of 7-over 151 (74-77) at the Newman Spring Invitational.
North placed fifth in Class 6A for Rural as a senior, earning first-team All-State and All-Shawnee County recognition. She helped the Lady Blues to a runnerup team finish as a senior. North's brother, Alex, played basketball at WU from 2010-15, scoring 1,082 points.
"Aliyah is also someone who transferred back to her home town after one year at Fort Hays State,'' McHenry said. "She has a lot of good experience with the MIAA and our competition while at Hays. Her and her family are great supporters of Washburn and we're happy she is with us.''
Washburn Rural graduate Raegan Petersen, a state medalist in golf and track and field, will compete for Washburn's women's golf program this fall. [File photo/TSN]
RAEGAN PETERSEN -- As a senior at Washburn Rural, Petersen finished 17th in the Class 6A state tournament with a 36-hole score of 166 (83-83), earning her second straight 6A state medal. She tied for seventh at regionals (85), tied for fifth in the city meet (83) and was 13th in the Centennial League (89) and was a two-time All-Shawnee County selection.
Petersen was also a Class 6A state medalist in track and field in the discus.
"Raegan is our only freshman on the roster and a local talent coming from Washburn Rural,'' McHenry said. "Raegan has a ton of upside as she is still learning and improving each year through her high school years at a great program in our state. Raegan will learn to transition into college golf and what that takes but believe we have a good group around her to help with that process.''
KEIRA RONSICK -- As a freshman at Newman, Ronsick was the highest placing finisher for the Jets in seven of 10 tournaments, finishing with four top-15 finishes, including a fifth-place finish at the Ranger Invite and an eighth-place finish at the Konzem-Capra Invitational
As a prep star for Bishop Carroll she had a stroke average of 74.3 and was a top-four finisher in all 10 events earning the GWAL runnerup and was the Kansas Class 5A regional runnerup and finished third at the Class 5A state Championships as a senior.
Ronsick was a state medalist all four seasons of her high school career.
"Keira is someone with a lot of college experience, even after just one year,'' McHenry said. "She competed well within the MIAA as a freshman and think she will just keep getting better. We are excited to get Keira and all of her MIAA knowledge.''
ALLIE SULLIVAN -- As a freshman at Oklahoma Christian, the Peoria, Arizona native played in two tournaments, finishing 37th at the Oklahoma Intercollegiate meet and 50th at the Diffee Ford Lincoln Invitational.
As a senior at Mountain Ridge High School, she finished eighth in the state at the Arizona High School state championships.
"Allie was also part of the (Oklahoma Christian program) with Susana and learned from the great players they had within their program,'' McHenry said. "She had a great high school career and we believe her best golf is coming.''
