YANKTON – The Aberdeen Central girls’ golf team earned the team title and placed four individuals in the top 10 at the Yankton Invitational on Friday.

The Golden Eagles, coming off a team championship in Huron on Thursday, won the team title with a score of 316, eight strokes ahead of Mitchell.

Individually, Central was led by Olivia Braun, who finished third with a score of 75. Braun was pleased with her performance as she felt she played better on Friday than she did on Thursday at the Huron Invite.

“Today I got off the tee a little bit better and made a few more putts than yesterday,” Braun said. “I think I played really well. My putting was really good for a short period of time. I had five 3-puts. Probably could’ve saved a few strokes there. Irons were really well. Our team did really well, too.”

Braun edged out teammate Kyley Wirebaugh by three strokes, as Wirebaugh also improved from Thursday’s performance to score a 78 and finish in fifth place.

“I played very well both days. I’m very happy with how I played,” Wirebaugh said.

While pleased with her week, Wirebaugh knows there is room to improve.

“There’s always room for improvement, but positive mindset in golf is a huge part of how you play, and as long as you stay happy and uplifting it’ll be a very good day for you.”

Central also had top ten finishes from Emma Dohrer and Morgan Jones. After winning the individual title in Huron on Thursday, Dohrer tied for seventh place on Friday with a score of 81, while Jones rounded out the top 10 with a score of 82.

Central coach Kim Zimmerman was encouraged to see the balance of scores from the team.

“It was great because even as of yesterday, the more balanced you are the better off because it allows for some leeway for some of the girls to maybe not have their best round,” Zimmerman said. “To me it doesn’t really matter, as long as you put four scorers together. Very pleased. Great team effort.”

The day began with clouds in the sky and chances of rain, but the teams were able to avoid precipitation as the sky opened up in the afternoon.

“I was hoping that it wasn’t gonna rain, because there was rain in the forecast,” Wirebaugh said. “Luckily it got nice and warm out.”

Zimmerman noted that it was important to be outdoors this week due to the difficult weather the teams in the Aberdeen area have faced this season.

“(It was) very important from the standpoint of up north we’ve just been out like recently within the last week or so, so we haven’t had a lot of outside practice time, and I know a lot of other teams haven’t either,” Zimmerman said. “We’ve been really penalized up there with being able to get out, so now we’re starting to just get a feel for being out and getting accustomed to our short game and practicing that. It was very beneficial for us to get out and play back-to-back days.”

Braun said she felt the meet was a great way to learn more about how to strategize when on the course.

“I think today was a great learning experience from playing safe and playing away from the water and building our team up,” Braun said.

Moving forward, Zimmerman hopes the momentum can continue for his team and knows the meet gave his team state tournament-like experience for the final stretch of the season.

“Sometimes it’s tough to put back-to-back good rounds together, and we were able to do that, but that’s what you’re going to have to do in a state tournament is go back-to-back,” Zimmerman said. “So, I wasn’t sure how we’d bounce back after yesterday’s great round, but it was just a great team win.”

Team Points: 1, Aberdeen Central, 316; 2, Mitchell, 324; 3, Rapid City Stevens, 340; 4, Yankton, 342; 5, O’Gorman, 344; 6, Harrisburg, 345; 7, Pierre, 348; 8, Watertown, 358; 9, Brandon Valley, 388; 10, Brookings, 389.

Top 10 Individuals

1, Allison Meyerink, Mitchell, 68; 2, Ellia Homstad, Yankton, 71; 3, Olivia Braun, Aberdeen Central, 75; 4, Mattie Weidenbach, Harrisburg, 77; 5, Kyley Wirebaugh, Aberdeen Central, 78; 6, Tanna Phares, Rapid City Stevens, 79; T-7, Erin Hurd, O’Gorman, 81; T- 7, Emma Dohrer, Aberdeen Central, 81; T-7, Hattie Baldwin, Pierre, 81; 10, Morgan Jones, Aberdeen Central, 82.

Other Central golfers: T-20, Leah Gough, 87; T-26, Chloe Vikander, 89.