Maize’s Kinslea Jones secures Kansas golf legacy as rare four-time state champion

Kinslea Jones knows a thing or two about pressure.

It came with the territory when she began her golfing career as the granddaughter of Grier Jones, a golfing legend in Kansas.

She entered high school at Maize with a reputation to live up to and expectations only raised after she won three straight individual state titles. And then she raised the bar even more when she shattered the state record earlier this season by carding a 13-under round of 58.

Jones has played in high-stakes tournaments before, but maybe never with as much pressure as she faced entering the final day of her final state tournament on Tuesday with the chance to secure a legacy as a four-time state champion.

“I definitely felt that pressure to kind of fulfill everyone’s expectations of me,” Jones said. “I know from the outside it probably looks like, ‘Oh, she’s already won three, she has to win four. It should be easy.’ But I know how hard I’ve had to work for it and how talented the other girls are, so I knew it wouldn’t be easy.”

Jones requested no leaderboard updates throughout her final round at the Class 6A state tournament at Carey Park in Hutchinson, a choice she made to take on the nerves head-on and focus on the mental battle playing out in her head. For the first eight holes, Jones felt like she was losing the battle with a one-over score.

In her time of crisis, Jones found comfort from her years of training from her grandfather. His brand of tough love instilled fortitude in Kinslea, who knew deep down she could still grind out a winning score without her best game on Tuesday.

“She’s always had a little competitive edge where she’s able to leave it all out there,” Grier Jones said. “She will battle you until the end. She wasn’t hitting the shots she knows how to hit, but the best thing she has going for her is that she competes.”

It’s that level of consistency that has always amazed Maize coach Ben Harlow, who doesn’t hesitate to label Jones a “generational” talent.

“Golf is a game where you can play with somebody who is 10 strokes better than you and you have a chance on any given day to win,” Harlow said. “For Kinslea to be able to win as consistently as she has, it’s a testament to her ability. Golf is a sport where you don’t always hit a great shot, but she is the most consistent ball-striker that I’ve ever seen.”

True to form, Kinslea rallied on Tuesday down the stretch. Without knowledge of where she was on the leaderboard, she made birdies on four of her final 10 holes. Little did she know, until the final hole, that her second-round score of 69 was more than enough.

With a 36-hole total of 139, Kinslea edged Manhattan’s Lainey Ball by three strokes to win medalist honors at the state tournament for the fourth straight year. She joined Blue Valley West’s Julia Misemer (2018-21) and Columbus’ Jill Simpson (1992-95) as only the third girls golfer in Kansas history to become a four-time individual state champion.

“It honestly doesn’t even feel real yet,” Kinslea said. “It hasn’t sunk in. When you say there’s only been two others who have ever done it in history, that’s really cool to be able to put myself in there as the third one. That means a lot to me.”

But it didn’t mean as much as the smile and hug she received from her grandfather following the victory.

During his time as a golfer and coach, Grier was known for his relentless pursuit of excellence, and he is the same way with his granddaughter. It is difficult, as Kinslea can attest, to impress him, even when you join one of the rarest champion clubs in all of high school sports and have a scholarship waiting for you at the University of Kansas.

“I am proud to see her do so well in golf,” Grier said. “But whenever you’re helping your young granddaughter, or any young person for that matter, they never work as hard as you think they ought to. You always think they should put in more time and effort. She hasn’t spent as much time on her short game as she should have, but she has put in some work and I’ve had a great time watching her play.”

That’s the thing about growing up the granddaughter of an all-time legend, you are taught to never be content, never be satisfied and always strive for more.

Kinslea wouldn’t have it any other way.

“When I walked off the green and he had a big grin on his face, that kind of said all it needed to,” Kinslea said. “That was a pretty amazing feeling to know that he was proud of me.”

Kapaun girls golf wins fifth straight 5A team championship

The dynasty of the Kapaun Mt. Carmel girls golf team rolled along Tuesday, as the Crusaders edged the field by eight strokes at Salina Municipal with a team score of 639 to win their fifth straight Class 5A team championship.

It marked Kapaun’s 11th overall title, which is tied for second-most in state history behind only St. Thomas Aquinas, and the ninth in the last 12 seasons.

“These girls continue to surprise us,” Kapaun coach Marie Thomas said. “We’ve just got really good kids who are really good golfers and they like to work hard and get better at their craft and hold each other accountable. It’s been so great to see their hard work pay off. We’re very blessed.”

Kapaun sophomore Ximena Sarinana prevailed in a thrilling three-way race between Wichita-area competition to win her second straight 5A individual gold medal. Sarinana, Andover’s Regan Dusenbery and Newton’s Naomi Koontz all fired opening-round scores of 73, but it was Sarinana (second-round 69 for total of 142) who pulled away from Dusenbery (71, 144) and Koontz (74, 147) during the second round.

Due to a weather delay from Monday, the first round was completed on Tuesday and immediately followed by a shotgun start to the second round. Because of that, Dusenbery and Koontz were paired together in a group that teed off on No. 7, while Sarinana was in a group that began on No. 1. While she didn’t know it at the time, Sarinana seized control of the lead with birdies on four of her first seven holes to start the second round.

“Sometimes you worry about the sophomore slump and I know Mena had a lot of expectations on herself and put some probably undue pressure on herself,” Thomas said. “She was a little frustrated early in the season when she wasn’t seeing the results that she thought she should see, but these last two weeks she’s just buckled down and got in the right head space and it paid off. She’s a special kid.”

While Sarinana led the way for the Crusaders at the top of the scoreboard, the team’s depth once again was critical in extending its title streak. Kapaun had five of its six golfers place in the top-20: Sarinana, freshman Emma Nguyen (162, 10th), senior Maddy Cartwright (163, 11th), freshman Remi Hartley (172, 16th) and senior Claire Runyan (172, 16th). The sixth member was junior Natalee Runyan (180, 30th).

Wichita-area state medalists from state girls golf

Class 6A

1. Kinslea Jones, Maize, 139

7. Alina Lam, Wichita Southeast, 152

Class 5A

1. Ximena Sarinana, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 142

2. Regan Dusenbery, Andover, 144

3. Naomi Koontz, Newton, 147

10. Emma Nguyen, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 162

11. Maddy Cartwright, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 163

12. Mary Bina, Bishop Carroll, 165

14. Aspen Colquhoun, Arkansas City, 169

16. Remi Hartley, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 172

16. Claire Runyan, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 172

Class 4A

2. Lilli Sympson, Winfield, 152

5. Brodie Kuhn, McPherson, 159

6. Taryn Viramontes, Wellington, 160

7. Kaylee Cox, Augusta, 161

9. Anika Paulsrud, Buhler, 163

12. Andi Buschbom, McPherson, 171

14. Claire Ginter, Wellington, 173

20. Presley Cornejo, Wellington, 181

Class 3-1A

2. Margaret Ulrich, Collegiate, 148