{"id":269255,"date":"2026-06-17T05:36:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T05:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/269255\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T05:36:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T05:36:14","slug":"riverheads-baran-and-marshak-card-best-finishes-in-school-history-at-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/269255\/","title":{"rendered":"Riverhead’s Baran and Marshak card best finishes in school history at states"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSenior Colby Baran at his third and sophomore Madison Marshak at her second state golf tournament. (Credit: composite of courtesy photos)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Only 18 golfers from Suffolk County make it to the New York State championship: nine girls and nine boys. Riverhead, for the second straight year, sent a representative from each side, Colby Baran and Madison Marshak.<\/p>\n

But just being there wasn\u2019t enough for the two Blue Waves; they left with school records in tow.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a testament to the program we\u2019ve been building here,\u201d coach Steve Failla said. \u201cThey don\u2019t settle for anything less, and to be one of the best in Suffolk County is a major accomplishment for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior Colby has made the state tournament for three consecutive years, which had never been done before in Riverhead golf history. Madison, a sophomore, made it for her second year in a row as she looks to shatter every record in sight while she progresses through her career.<\/p>\n

Baran spearheaded a boys\u2019 golf program<\/a> that has continually excelled within division play every year he\u2019s been on the team. Riverhead has won six straight league championships, and Baran has been leading the team for five of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not someone you can replace,\u201d Failla said. \u201cHe\u2019s put in the work to get to where he is. He\u2019s super confident in his play, and he finished his Blue Wave career at a high point.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Senior Colby Baran is the first Riverhead golfer to make the state tournament for three consecutive years. (Credit: Courtesy photo)<\/p>\n

The senior lefty traveled upstate to Mill Creek Golf Club in Churchville on June 7 and 8 to play against the best of the best. Baran has been the epitome of consistency over the years and put that on display in the championship rounds.<\/p>\n

After shooting a 74 (+3) in the opening round, Baran followed that up with a 75 (+4) in the final round to secure not only his best finish \u2014 18th \u2014 but also the best finish out of any Riverhead golfer in history at the New York State championships, where 99 golfers qualified.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never seen him so relaxed and locked in,\u201d Failla said. \u201cHe\u2019s been here before. It was his last high school tournament ever. He just went out there and enjoyed it. We played a few rounds leading up to it, and he was just in a great mental space.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before his senior year, his best finish was last year when he finished 30th in the state tournament.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As impressive as Baran\u2019s tenure as a Blue Wave has been, Marshak\u2019s trajectory may outpace the senior.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is no knock to Colby, but Colby has always wanted to be the best around here,\u201d Failla said. \u201cMadison wants to be the best in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proof is in the pudding. <\/p>\n

\"\"Madison Marshal has been a force since joining the varsity squad. (Credit: Courtesy photo)<\/p>\n

Since joining varsity in her seventh-grade year, Marshak has continually improved. She finished 10th in the Suffolk County tournament during her eighth-grade year, just one stroke short of qualifying for states back then. In her freshman season, she qualified for states with a seventh-place finish. This season, she finished in second place<\/a> and shot a career-best 77 (+4) in the final round.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe works extremely hard at her game every day,\u201d Failla said. \u201cSecond place is not good enough for her. She wants first, and she is capable of getting first any day out there. She has that killer mentality that every athlete needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the state championships, held at Wild Wood Country Club in Rush, New York<\/a>, on June 7 and 8, Marshak produced her best result yet. After shooting an 87 in the first round, the sophomore locked in on the final day, shooting a career-best 74 (+2) and securing a 31st-place finish in the championship, the best finish of any Riverhead girls\u2019 golfer in history.<\/p>\n

\u201cMountain golf is a lot different than golf here on the island,\u201d Failla said. \u201cI think on day one, it was mostly my fault for giving her too much information. I stepped back on day two, and she had her best round ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the two golfers were preparing for the championships, Failla was contacted by management for the golf courses in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey offered their golf courses for our kids to play on,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Vineyards is a lot like Mill Creek with the fescue, and Great Rock is our best simulation to mountain golf. They were like, \u2018Anything we can do to help, let us know.\u2019 We\u2019re blessed to have the support of our local golf courses, school management, and community. It\u2019s truly amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Senior Colby Baran at his third and sophomore Madison Marshak at her second state golf tournament. (Credit: composite…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[103902,103903,9,11,10,49,51,50,2578,46232,103904,103905],"class_list":["post-269255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-colby-baran","tag-madison-marshak","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-premium","tag-riverhead","tag-riverhead-golf","tag-steve-failla"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}