BROOKINGS – The Aberdeen Central girls golf program carded a third place showing at the Brookings Invitational Thursday at the Brookings Country Club.
The Golden Eagles finished with a team score of 343, just two strokes back of Harrisburg and five strokes ahead of Watertown. Mitchell claimed the team crown with a 329.
“We’re building off of Monday,” said Central coach Kim Zimmerman. “We had a good score down in Sioux Falls on Monday, and had another good score (Thursday), in the low 340s. So we’re just trying to create some consistency in our scores.”
Danielle Podoll turned in a solid day for the Golden Eagles, posting a 4-over round of 76. That put the Central senior six strokes shy of medalist Reese Jansa of Harrisburg, who went two strokes under par on the day. Mitchell’s Allison Meyerink was a 3-over 75.
“We need (Podoll) to be our leader,” Zimmerman said, “and she definitely did that today. We had some other girls step up, too. Olivia (Braun) had a good round. Morgan Jones, our number six, broke 100 today, which was nice to see. So we’re moving in the right direction.”
Podoll was not alone in her efforts, as Olivia Braun tied for 10th with her round of 85. Emma Dohrer finished with a round of 90 to close in a tie for 22nd overall, while Leah Gough was two strokes back of Dohrer and tied for 28th.
While meet-to-meet score comparison isn’t a true measure of a team’s success, Zimmerman said, back-to-back scores under 345 is something that bodes well for the Golden Eagles.
“There’s some variables that play a factor, but anytime we can be in the 340s, I think we’re going to be competitive,” he said.
The Golden Eagles have one final tournament in Watertown Monday before turning their attention to the Eastern South Dakota Conference Championships next Thursday in Mitchell.
“(The Watertown tournament) is probably not going to be as large of a meet as the last few years, but it’s still a meet,” Zimmerman said. “We have some young girls that need that competitive atmosphere to go out and play in.”
Team Points: Mitchell 329, Harrisburg 341, Aberdeen Central 343, Watertown 348, Pierre 354, Yankton 355, Sioux Falls Lincoln 363, Sioux Falls Roosevelt 367, Brookings 368, Sioux Falls Washington 377. Huron incomplete.
Top 10 Finishers
1, Reese Jansa, Harrisburg, 70; 2, Allison Meyerink, Mitchell, 75; 3, Danielle Podoll, Aberdeen Central, 76; 4, (tie) Masy Mock, Mitchell, 80, and Riley Zebroski, Watertown, 80; 6, Sara Sudenga, Sioux Falls Roosevelt, 81; 7, Delilah Fuls, Brookings, 82; 8, Tatum Hohenthaner, Yankton, 83; 9 Haley Nadeau, Pierre, 84; 10, (tie) Olivia Braun, Aberdeen Central 85, Halle Stephenson, Yankton, 85, and Morgan Sandness, Sioux Falls Lincoln, 85.
Other Aberdeen Central golfers: 22, (tie) Emma Dohrer, 90; 28, (tie) Leah Gough, 92; 38, (tie) Morgan Jones, 96; 45, (tie) Hayley Wirebaugh, 98.
