Photo by Steve Woltman/Aurora University Athletics

By Ray Hamill — Former Arcata Tiger Avary Henry will cap another impressive year playing college golf at Aurora University with a trip to this week’s NCAA Division-III women’s championships in Florida.

The action got under way on Tuesday at the El Campeon Golf Course in Howey-in-the-Hills and will run for four days.

Avary, a former H-DN champion who graduated from Arcata High in 2020, has been one of Aurora’s top performers since breaking into the team as a freshman.

Through 10 tournaments this school year, the junior standout is shooting an 82.2 average, which is third best on her team, and she has six top-five finishes and a season-best round of 74.

The former Arcata Tiger also has been named a scholar athlete in all six semesters while attending the Illinois university.

And a couple of local coaches have helped pave the way for her success.

According to Avary, she credits her success to four people in particular, including Arcata coach Troy Ghisetti, her swing coach, Brian Rasmussen of the Redwood Empire Golf and Country Club, and her college coach Justin Wyeth.

But especially, she says, her father, Monte Henry, who was responsible for instilling a love of golf in her at an early age.

This will be her second trip to the NCAA national tournament.