The lights shone brightly on Kinslea Jones and her teammates as they were recognized at halftime of the football game Friday night for their high achieving season.

Jones won the class 5A State Championship title for the second year in a row and helped the team to a third place finish; its best showing in years. 

When asked how it felt to be a back-to-back state champion, Jones said “nothing beats it.”

“It’s the best feeling knowing that you played well, and it’s really exciting…there’s nothing that really beats it. You kinda have to experience it to get the feeling, but it’s really rewarding because you know you’ve worked hard for it,” Jones said.

At state, Jones’s total of 143 gave her the victory by three strokes over Kapaun Mount Carmel’s Meg Tilma. 

12 teams competed at state, which took place at the 36-hole Hesston Golf Course.

Charlotte Kerbs was second on the team with a score of 174. Other team members were Kira Packer, Abi Cavazos, Alexis Elliott, and Emma Hays. The Eagles finished 30 shots behind champions, Kaupun Mount Carmel High School, and five shots behind second place, Emporia High School. 

“The team is all so close that even if one of us is doing bad, we can come back together and have teammates pick each other up,” Kerbs said. “Even when I do badly, I still hope my teammates do well and being so close with one another is what makes golf fun.”

Earlier in the season, the Lady Eagles won the AVCTL League Championship and finished third in regionals to qualify for state. The Eagles not only placed in every tournament they competed in, but they also won the tournaments at Auburn Hills and Tex Consolver. 

Senior Kira Packer shared the key things that led the team to their victories. 

“We worked on short game a lot during practices, and we were constantly improving ourselves and our attitudes,” Packer said. “I truly believe that the hard work and commitment of this team paid off in the end, ultimately leading us to our third place state title.”