Dearborn Golfers Have Much to Celebrate

The Dearborn High School girls golf team is celebrating several firsts this season, including counting “Ms. Golf” – the state’s top high school female golfer – as one of its co-captains and, for the first time in DHS history, winning the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) Girls Regional Championship.

The team also was recognized Academic All State team, with a team grade point average of 3.67.

Team Coaches Howard Inch and Kevin Barkoff attribute the golf teams’ success to hard work by all eight team members under the leadership of Co-captains Madison Renko and Elayna Bowser. Both girls are seniors who have played on Dearborn High’s team for four years and have been recognized by the MHSAA as being among the best of Michigan’s high school female golfers in 2014.

Following an outstanding 2014 season that concludes a four-year high school golf career filled with accomplishments, Elayna Bowser was named Michigan’s Ms. Golf, the highest recognition in the state for female high school golfers. The winner of the Ms. Golf title is chosen from the eight players selected for the state’s Super Team which represents golfers from all schools across Michigan, regardless of school size. This is the second year Bowser was named to the Michigan Super Team.

Bowser was named to the Michigan Super Team and subsequently given the Ms. Golf title after winning first place in nine and second place in two of the 12 tournaments in which she played this season. She was regional champion for 2014-15 and finished third in state finals. She finished second at state finals in 2013. Bowser has an average of 72.5 per 18-hole tournament in addition to setting many other records.

DHS Golf Coach Howard Inch reflected, “Elayna did not begin to golf competitively until her freshman year in high school. She began high school shooting around 100 and then proceeded to set every school golf record at Dearborn High. I have never seen anyone work so hard and improve so quickly in high school golf. Her high school tournament accomplishments and team leadership are unrivaled.”

Another outstanding DHS golfer, Co-captain Madison Renko was named to the 2014 All State Team. She is one of 13 golfers on the Division 1 team which represents Michigan’s largest high schools. Renko also received an individual Academic All Star Honorable Mention recognizing her academic success.

The other golfers on the 2014 DHS team sharing in the season’s accomplishments are: Grace Fiscelli, Casandra Fisher, Caroline Marcon, Molly Morey, Brenna Shelton and Jessica Wensley.

“On behalf of the school district, I congratulate the girls on the Dearborn High golf team. We appreciate their drive to succeed on the course as well as in the classroom, which is illustrated by their recognition as an Academic All Star team,” stated Dearborn Public Schools Superintendent Brian Whiston.

“We are fortunate that our district has dedicated coaches and student leaders who work hard to provide opportunities for students to become proficient in sports that offer challenges for personal growth, camaraderie and even the potential for college scholarships.”

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Photos: In the first photo are members of the team (from left) Molly Morey, Jessica Wensley, and Grace Fiscelli; (seated in golf cart) Coaches Kevin Barkoff and Howard Inch; (on ground) captains Elayna Bowser and Madison Renko; and Casandra Fisher, (kneeling) Brenna Shelton, and Caroline Marcon.

In the second photo is his year’s “Ms. Golf” recipient is Elayna Bowser, a member of the regional tourney winning team.