First time going to state
Marathon wins sectional title to advance to state
By Casey Krautkramer
Marathon junior golfer Ben Robbins played the best game of his high school career on Tuesday to help the Red Raiders win the WIAA Division 3 sectional championship in Crivitz. Marathon’s golf team is headed to the state championships for the first time in school history.
Ben Robbins, the son of Marty and Traci Robbins, shot a 46 in the first nine holes and a 42 in the last nine holes to give him an 82 in 18 total holes at Hunters Glen golf course in Crivitz. He placed fourth behind three golfers who tied each other with a score of 79.
“I just played the course straight which made it easy for me to make par on the majority of holes,” Ben Robbins said after Marathon’s golf team arrived home from Crivitz late on Tuesday night. “It feels amazing to be the first Marathon golf team to make it to state. I’m hoping we play just as good, if not better down, at state.”
Marathon’s golf team shot a low score of 343, or two shots better than Marawood Conference foe Wausau Newman, to win the sectional championship. The Cardinals will join the Red Raiders at the WIAA Division state championships this Monday and Tuesday, June 14-15, at Trappers Turn golf course in Wisconsin Dells. Eight total teams in Division 3 will play 18 holes each day for a total of 36 at the state championships.
Red Raiders third-year head golf coach Luke Jacobson prepared his team well so it was both mentally and physically strong going into the sectional championship. Marathon practiced playing at Hunter’s Glen on Friday in preparation for Tuesday’s sectional.
“Golf is a very mentally challenging game and there are a lot of variables that happen on the course,” Jacobson said. “Golf is a really hard game to play because your swing could be different every day.” He said Marathon’s No. 1 golfer, junior Noah Gage, probably played his worst nine holes of golf since he was in middle school to start the sectional championships on Tuesday. He only shot a 46 on the front nine holes, but Jacobson credit’s Gage’s mental toughness for him battling back to shoot a 39 on the back nine holes for a respectable score of 85 for 11th place.
Marathon junior John Stoffel shot an 86 to place 13th, while freshman Alex Pawlowicz shot 90 for 16th place and freshman Dylan Dodson 109 for 50th place out of 72 golfers competing at sectionals.
Jacobson is happy his golf team is playing at the state championships already this season, instead of relying on the fact this young squad has a better chance at accomplishing the feat next year.
Prior Marathon golfers Brad Stieber and Shane Sonnentag qualified for state as individuals in the past, but this is the first season the entire Marathon golf team will play at the state championships since the varsity program began in 2004. Marathon golf started as a club sport in 2003.
