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

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

“The girls really came through,” said Esky assistant coach Jake Berlinski. “Last year, they were playing for the first time. 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 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. It was really intense. I just tried to take it one stroke at a time and reminded myself that I couldn’t change the past. I just had to focus on the future. On the 18th hole, I could have gone for it, then I decided to play it safe.”