MARSHALL - Last June, the Lincoln HI girls golf team got its biggest win of the 2011 season at Marshall Golf Club, clinching the Section 3A tournament for a berth in the state tournament.
And to start the 2012 season, the Rebels were back at MGC, playing another stellar 18-hole round of golf.
Fueled by Kyra Gores' second-place round of 94, Lincoln HI took the team title at the Marshall Tiger Invitational with a score of 393, narrowly passing Ortonville by three strokes.
Article Photos
Photo by Joe Brown
Lincoln HI’s Malorie Midtaune watches her ball fly from the tee box at the No. 3 hole at Marshall Golf Club during the Marshall Tiger Invitational girls tournament on Monday. Midtaune carded a 98, helping the Rebels take the team title with a score of 393.
"Coming in, we were kind of thinking that that if we could get a 400 on a day like this, it'd really be something," said Rebels head coach Greg Gile. "But we went below that and I was really pleased. It was a great team effort."
Marshall Black (403), Montevideo (420) and Minneota (427) rounded out the top five.
Along with Gores, Malorie Midtaune shot a round of 98, with Taylor Ness (100) and Chelsey Benz (101) filling Lincoln HI's score.
Fact Box
Marshall Tiger Invitational
Team Scores: 1. Lincoln HI 393; 2. Ortonville 396; 3. Marshall Black 403; 4. Montevideo 420; 5. Minneota 427; 6. MACCRAY 447; 7. Lakeview 454; 8. Marshall Orange 481. INC-Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, Canby.
Top 5 Individuals: 1. Rikki Roscoe (Ortonville) 92; 2. Kyra Gores (LHI) 94; 3. Hannah Kruger (RTR) 94; 4. Kelsey Amborn (Monte) 95; 5. Jessica Blanchard (Marshall Black) 96.
Lincoln HI Individual Results: Malorie Midtaune 98, Taylor Ness 100, Kyra Gores 94, Chelsey Benz 101, Danielle Buseth 109, Miranda Jerzak 131.
Ortonville Individual Results: Rikki Roscoe 92, Bree Ninneman 106, Janae Schneider 100, Amber Sorenson 98, Amber Goergen 119, Hope Hasslen 110.
Marshall Black Individual Results: Jessica Blanchard 96, Hanna Peterson 96, Kirsten Webskowski 110, Laura Mitlyng 117, Allie Pogatchinik 101, Sarah Vogl 118.
Montevideo Individual Results: Erin Balken 116, Kelsey Amborn 95, Kendyl Anderson 104, Rose Reinert 110, Stina Ostlie 112, Tori Kuhlmann 111.
Minneota Individual Results: Katelyn Kack 103, Alyssa Engler 117, Megan Evers 111, Allison Bot 117, Charlie Josephson 106, Heidi Guttormsson 123.
MACCRAY Individual Results: Bailee Hauser 109, Kendra Kienholz 102, Karissa Kienholz 105, Tiffany Mogard 131.
Lakeview Individual Results: Steph Werner 97, Hailey Matthys 104, Whitney Fischer 113, Briatta Buntjer 140.
Marshall Orange Individual Results: Hannah Pfeiffer 105, Lizzie Archbold 115, Morgan Saugstad 136, Eden Deutz 125.
RTR Individual Results: Hannah Kruger 94, Kelsey Stanek 109, Lindsay Moberg 143.
Canby Individual Results: Kristy Schmidt 116, Natalie Morris 114, Scarlet Thorston 111.
Gores shot a solid front-nine score of 48, but where she really pulled away from the pack was on the back-nine. With the winds knocking most of the golfers off-course, Gores was able to lower her score on the back with a 46 in the final nine holes.
"Kyra's got the nickname, 'The Firecracker.' She's just go, go, go, go, go," Gile said. "She had a great day and that was wonderful to see."
The only golfer to finish ahead of Gores was Ortonville's Rikki Roscoe, who took medalist honors with a 92.
"On the back nine, the wind really picked up," Gores said. "I was putting really well and that just made things easier.
"With the scores we put up, we should be pretty good this year, hopefully."
With Roscoe and Gores pacing the field, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton's Hannah Kruger finished in third with a score of 94. Montevideo's Kelsey Amborn (95) and Marshall Black's Jessica Blanchard (96) closed out the top five individuals.
A state participant last year, Blanchard got off to a hot start in the front nine with a 45. But like most of the golfers on Monday, the windy back nine was unkind to the Tigers' freshman.
"The front nine went well and I was hitting them good. The wind wasn't really affecting me," Blanchard said, "but the back nine is much more open and it got the best of me."
Hanna Peterson tied with Blanchard for Marshall Black's top score of 96. Allie Pogatchinik carded a 101, and Kirsten Webskowski completed the foursome with a 110.
Hannah Pfeiffer had Marshall Orange's top score with a 105, as the group of Pfeiffer, Lizzie Archbold, Morgan Saugstad and Eden Deutz took eighth place.
"We had a couple decent scores, especially Hanna and Jessica getting under 100," said Marshall head coach Nancy Blanchard. "Allie came back on the back nine and helped us out quite a bit. There's obviously some room for improvement, but by in large, I'll take a round like that."
Among local teams, senior Katelyn Kack was Minneota's top golfer on Monday, carding a 103 and helping the Vikings to a fifth-place finish. Lakeview finished in seventh place with a team score of 454, led by senior Steph Werner's round of 97. Both RTR and Canby had incomplete team scores, with Kruger (94) leading the Knights, and Scarlet Thorston (111) taking the top score for the Lancers.
Day 2 of the Marshall Tiger Invitational is today, as the boys will take to the course for 18 holes.