With help from the Riverside Brookfield High School girls golf team making history, senior Lucia Vazzana achieved a personal triumph Monday, earning her first individual berth to the Class 2A state meet by tying for 14th overall (8-over-par 80) at the Lockport Sectional at Broken Arrow and placing among the 10 best scorers not among the three advancing teams.
The 2A state meet is Friday and Saturday, Oct. 10-11, at Hickory Point in Forsyth.
“Making state is a huge accomplishment for me, as it’s been something I’ve wanted all four years, but just haven’t been able to stick through,” Vazzana said. “I played as best as I possibly could. My nerves and the need to stay cool under pressure definitely dented the score a bit, but my good holes made up for it.”
The Bulldogs, who achieved their first sectional trip as a team, finished 10th (361), four strokes from eighth. Lyons Township was seventh (353) with no individual qualifiers and Nazareth Academy had four individuals.
The past three seasons, Vazzana had been an individual qualifier. Last year, she was the Bulldogs’ lone representative at sectionals.
“I think [the team’s presence Monday] made a difference for sure without me even realizing it. Knowing that I had familiar faces around me and having my teammates there when I finished was a huge relief,” Vazzana said. “Especially in the hour time period waiting to see if I made the cut or not, my teammates stayed with me and were very supportive, rooting me on. I really appreciate my team and the coaches for the constant support, it makes all the difference.”
LTHS senior Amelia Van Vuren, a state competitor the past two seasons, and Nazareth Academy senior Gabriella Giangrande shot 85s.
The Bulldogs’ other scorers were senior Tali Schultz (91), sophomores Fiona Lombardi (92) and Harper Jesswein (98), senior Jessica Kot (103) and junior Alexis Busse (105).
LTHS junior Mekayla Genovesi shot 88, followed by sophomore Caroline McNaughton and senior Brynn Evans (90s) and seniors Winona Waite (91) and Bea Waite (100).
Nazareth’s other sectional qualifiers were senior Claire Krema (92), freshman Layla Rucinski (96) and junior Elizabeth Salerno (100).
Vazzana had three birdies and was 3-over-par after 13 holes. That strong start helped her withstand a triple bogey and two bogeys over her last four.
“It was great [that she qualified]. She’s beaming, really excited about it,” RBHS coach Doug Schultz said. “We’re excited for her, a lot of hard work she’s put into the game of golf and she’s doing really well with it.”
When she finished, Vazzana was two strokes from the cut but then later finishers fell back. She then prepared for a sudden-death playoff to reduce to 10 advancing individuals. However, the No. 7-10 individual qualifiers tied at 80. Three other individual candidates shot 81.
“There was a lot of ups and downs and at one point Coach Schultz and I went to the putting green to start preparing for a playoff,” Vazzana said. “After analyzing past mistakes, I knew my mental game was going to be the hardest thing to overcome. I made sure to go into it with a positive attitude and know that the most beneficial thing for me to do was keep my head high and worry about the next shot ahead.”
At the Sandburg Regional, Sept. 30, the Bulldogs needed a top-three finish to advance. Their third-place 363 at Silver Lake north (363) was seven strokes ahead of fourth-place Nazareth (370), a team state qualifier the past two seasons in 1A. LTHS was second (341).
The Bulldogs also repeated as Upstate Eight Conference champions. Vazzana, Schultz and Jesswein again earned All-UEC honors based on dual and UEC Meet results and were joined by Lombardi.
“It feels really good to play a part in making the (sectional team) history,” Lombardi said after regionals. “It feels good to see improvement and how it played out.”
At regionals, Van Vuren was third (80) and Vazzana tied for fourth (84). Winona Waite (86), McNaughton (87) and Genovesi (88) were sixth, seventh and eighth and Evans and Bea Waite tied for 11th (91). The Bulldogs’ other scorers were Schultz (92), Jesswein (93), Lombardi (94), Kot (112) and Busse (124).
Last season, the Lions finished fourth at regionals, one stroke from third place, but Van Vuren and Genovesi were among three individual sectional qualifiers. The Waite twins also competed at regionals.
“From the start of the season a goal that we all set in place was to advance as far as we could as a team, and making it to sectionals was a big step towards that,” Winona Waite said after regionals.
Besides golf, the Waites have been teammates in hockey for the St. Jude Knights.
“Having Bea as a teammate is really special and adds a fun sibling competition to our season. We learned how to play golf together side by side at a young age. Therefore she knows my swing better than anyone,” Winona Waite said. “[Bea] is always there to help me at practice and I am there to help her as well. Our strengths balance each other out. She is a great putter and I’m stronger around the greens with chipping, so it makes us a great scramble team.”
Correction, Oct. 9, 2025, 5:45 p.m.: A previous version of this article misspelled the name of an LTHS sophomore. She is Caroline McNaughton. The Landmark regrets the error.
