Girls golf team opens up season at Hayfield
Sports | Published on April 17, 2023 at 2:33pm CDT
The Minnewaska Area-BBE girls golf team was set to open up the season Saturday, April 15 at the Hayfield Invitational. That meet was added to the schedule after the Marshall Invitational (set for April 17) was canceled due to poor weather.
The girls golf team is also set to get the conference schedule underway soon with a pair of WCC meets at BOLD and Montevideo, Friday, April 21. Last year, the Bluejackets won the league title with 42 points, followed by BOLD (34 points), Melrose Area (24), Benson (17), Montevideo (16) and Morris Area-CA (13).
The Bluejackets are coming off a state berth from a season ago and will be coached by Tony Janu again with assistance from Sarah Iverson and Brett Thorfinnson. “We lost five key seniors from last year’s team so we’ve been trying to come up with our best lineup while also battling the weather,” coach Janu said.
The Bluejackets are set to host two meets this season. The Lakers will host the Minnewaska Area Girls Invitational Friday, May 5 and will also be the host for a WCC Meet at the Minnewaska Golf Club Wednesday, May 10.
Last year, the Lakers won the Section 3AA title to earn another berth at the state tourney. After the first day of the section competition, the Blue Jackets were tied with Redwood Valley for first place. The second round was just as close as Minnewaska/BBE was able to win the section title by one stroke over the Cardinals.
The Bluejackets had a total of 685 (342-343), while Redwood Valley was right behind at 686 strokes (342-344) and Fairmont was third with a 711 total.
At the section meet, Ava Kollman led the way for Minnewaska/BBE with a 170 total on rounds of 85 and 85, followed by Arivia DeBoer (81-91–172), Paige Rupp (85-89–174), Alissa Thorfinnson (93-82–175), Berkley Steffen (91-87–178) and Annika DeBoer (99-93–192).
This was the 15th time in the last 16 years the Laker girls’ golf team has advanced to state.
At the state meet, the Bluejackets shot a 539 total to place fourth overall in the State Class AA meet. Lake City won the title with a 27-hole total of 491 (330-161), followed by Fergus Falls with a 530 (357-173), Pequot Lakes in third with a 535 total (362-173) and the Bluejackets in fourth (366-173). Due to weather, the state tourney went from a normal 36 holes to 27.
Berkley Steffen had the top finish for the Bluejackets at the state tourney, shooting a 130 total on rounds of 86 and 44 to place 21st overall, while Alissa Thorfinnson placed 25th (92-40–132) and Arivia DeBoer was 33rd (92-42–134).
