Iron Mountain's Rediet Husing (right) accepts the U.P. D1 Girls Golf Finals individual fifth place medal from Escanaba assistant coach Jake Berlinski at the Sweetgrass golf course in Harris Wednesday. (Justin St. Ours/Daily Press photo)

HARRIS — Persistence paid off for the Escanaba girls Wednesday as they earned their first Upper Peninsula Division 1 golf title in four years by carding a 411.

The Eskymos were followed by Negaunee 417 and Marquette 422, Westwood 431 and two-time defending champion Menominee 440.

Kingsford finished at 444 for sixth, while Iron Mountain did not field enough golfers for a team score.

Iron Mountain’s Rediet Husing was the top local finisher with a 93, good for a fifth-place medal. The Flivvers were led by Grace Maki’s 103.

Escanaba assistant coach Jake Berlinski said his girls came through when it mattered most.

“Last year, they were playing for the first time,” Berlinski said. “This year is a little bit different. They made it a sport they really care about. We ask a lot of these girls. They miss a lot of school, which is stressful for them. We’ve been asking them to miss two days a week for the last five weeks.”

Esky junior Cierra Scott took fourth with 90 strokes, finishing two places higher than a year ago.

“I’ve been more consistent with my long game,” she said. “My drives were pretty good today, but putting is something I need to work on. Going into this season, taking the team title was top priority. Our team has improved so much. We were behind Marquette all year. A lot of people doubted us, and we wanted to show what we were made of. We just kept playing our game.”

Negaunee junior Rachel Niskanen, who carded an 82, secured her first individual title by sinking a 25-foot birdie putt on the No. 18 hole.

Menominee senior Madison Derusha had a chance to force a playoff hole, then narrowly missed an 18-foot eagle putt before settling for runner-up honors at 83.

“I started with par on the back nine, then I double-bogeyed the next three holes,” said Niskanen, who led by six strokes at one time on the back nine. “Both of us had bogeys. She was five down going into 11.