Ly and Hefele win PIL golf individual titles, Cleveland sweeps team crowns

Published 9:28 pm Tuesday, May 6, 2025

By Austin White

Another year, a couple more victories for the duo of Cleveland High School junior Kate Ly and Lincoln senior Quinn Hefele in girls and boys PIL golf.

The two both won the individual medal last year and repeated following the league’s final tournament Monday, May 5 at Heron Lakes Golf Course.

For the team race, Cleveland took home both titles, which qualified both teams straight to the state tournament set for May 19-20 at the OGA Golf Course in Woodburn for the boys and Emerald Valley Golf Course in Creswell for the girls.

Hefele’s individual win sends him directly to state along with his teammate Ethan Chang who finished second in the PIL standings by a single stroke.

On the girls side, Ida B. Wells freshman Lennon Schmidt and Grant junior Abby Amico grab the two individual spots heading straight to state as Ly is already heading there as a part of the Cleveland team.

“They definitely improved a lot,” Ly said of her Cleveland squad. “I remember my freshman year, we had five players and I was the only one who went to state. This year we qualified and we’re PIL winners. It’s really fun to see.”

Helping the Warriors take first alongside Ly was sophomore Brielle Schneider, freshman Sarah Maderos, freshman Sydney Hamel, junior Mei Tyvand and Jessica Julum.

The road doesn’t end here for the teams who didn’t win the league title as Wells and Lincoln will head to the Special District 1 regional tournament May 8 at Stone Creek Golf Club.

Grant’s Annie Haraguchi, Roosvelt’s Freya Stocek and Franklin’s Edie Stanley and Nala Day will also head to the regional tournament.

At the regional tournament, PIL squads will take on teams from the Metro and Pacific leagues with three more team spots to state on the line. Three more individuals will also qualify for state who aren’t on one of the three qualifying teams.

On the boys side, Grant, Lincoln and Wells will all head to regionals after taking second, third and fourth, respectively.

Three individuals will join those teams May 8 at Stone Creek in Ian Stocco from Benson, Jackson Mailey from McDaniel and Alex Riedl from Roosevelt.

The winning Cleveland boys team is made up of senior Sam Faherty, senior Will Paulus, senior Jack Robertson, junior Riley Mortola, senior Brady Ryan and Calvin Souther.

As for the individual winner in Hefele, taking home the PIL gold once again is a nice feeling for the departing senior who is still undecided on where he’ll play golf in college.

“I feel like there’s been a lot of disappointments in my high school golf career and there’s been some good moments, and this is definitely one of the cool moments,” Hefele said. “I can think back on this in 20-30 years and I’ll still be a champion of the PIL no matter where the golf career goes.

“It feels cool to win something because of how many days you spend losing in this game.”

The senior was pushed all year by his junior teammate in Chang, the latter of which won the final tournament of the year with a 2-under 70.

The team still has a shot to send everyone to state through regionals, something Hefele and Chang can try to help accomplish together for their Cardinals.

“I love watching (Chang) play good golf,” Hefele said. “He was (in the group behind me) today and it seemed like he was throwing a dart at every single flag. I’m really excited to see what he’s going to do at state.”

For Ly on the girls side, there’s not too much left to say as she now heads to state as one of the favorites to win it, like she has been her freshman and sophomore years.

For the regular season though, Ly still had plenty of lessons to take from the courses of Portland this spring.

“My biggest lesson is to just stay in the present instead of dwelling in the past,” Ly said. “Like missing a putt. Just stay in the present and stay positive.”

As a freshman in 2023, Ly took second at state with a 3-over 147, falling two shots short of first. And last year as a sophomore, Ly took fifth with a 5-over 147, six shots short of first.

Almost all the golfers from the top five last year are back, giving Ly plenty of competition as she heads to Emerald Valley in search of a state title to match her older sister Kyra, who’s currently a golfer at Oregon State.

“I think this year I’m a lot more confident, I’ve focused a lot more on my short game this year,” Ly said. “(To prepare for state I’m) working on keeping my drivers in play, in the fairways and making a lot more birdie putts.”

Hefele has played well at state also, tying for 10th as a freshman in 2022, tying for 12th as a sophomore in 2023 and taking eighth last year.

With the last high school tournament of his career coming up, Hefele’s plan is to simply enjoy the moment.

“I think the mindset is to enjoy it,” Hefele said. “I put too much pressure on myself a lot, and I kind of expect to play really good a lot of the time and I don’t always enjoy it when I’m playing good. You always feel like you can do a little better.

“For me, it’s just gonna be two more days, enjoy it and then move on.”

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