Thursday’s golf tournament at Lee Park was billed as the Roncalli Invitational and it turned out to be a fitting name for it.

Aberdeen Roncalli took all four individual places and captured the team championship with a total of 315. From top to bottom, the Cavaliers were in total control throughout the event.

“Each event, I just tell them we’re improving on something. … Everything just has to improve,” said Roncalli coach Jon Murdy, “and they’re doing a pretty good job of doing that now.”

Led by a career-best round from Claire Crawford, the Cavaliers claimed the top four individual positions.

Crawford fired a round of 72, one stroke over par.

“Just fairways and greens and two-putts, that’s really all it was,” Crawford said. “Sometimes it felt kind of boring. It was like, can I just please make a birdie, but you’ve got to stay patient and not get too caught up with it.”

The junior said sometimes she notices the competition she is facing, and other times she just focuses on the course.

“It’s kind of a little bit of both. The first hole, Carlee (Johnson) from Groton, she got a birdie and I got a par, and I was kind of like c’mon she got me on this hole,” Crawford said, “but then I was like no, this is a par, it’s the first hole, who cares? If they’re playing good it motivates me to play better, but if they’re not playing good, just stay in my lane and do what I do.”

And when Crawford does what she did on Thursday, there aren’t many golfers who can beat her.

“It’s fun to just go out there and play and compete; play and see what you can shoot,” Crawford said. “Like today, I didn’t come out here thinking I’m going to shoot one over par, but I did and I’m happy with that, and it just gets better from there, hopefully.”

Teammate Mackenzie Wegehaupt finished runner-up with a 76, Ava Danielson was third with an 82, and Grace Seyer was fourth with an 82.

Seyer credited Murdy with helping her out of some tough situations out on the course.

“I have a really, really good coach and I have a tendency to get in my head a little bit,” Seyer said. “With Jon being our coach, every time I have a bad shot, he’s always there. He walks me through the next shot. He knows that I can hit a good, strong, solid shot.”

While Seyer was pleased with her round, she said her left some shots out on the course, but kept things in perspective.

“I know that even if I struggle, I have amazing teammates … and we pick each other up,” Seyer said. “I’m proud of how we all did.”

Groton’s Carlee Johnson finished fifth with a round of 84. The sophomore said she tries not to pay attention to the competition.

“I don’t really think about it,” Johnson said. “I just focus on my shots and doing the best I can.”

She said she doesn’t play the Lee Park course much, so it was a bit of a challenge.

“It’s a little intimidating, I guess,” Johnson said. “You don’t know all the shortcuts and hazards.”

Still, Johnson was pleased with her round on the day.

“My chipping was really good,” Johnson said, “and my mid-range shots were clean.”

There are few people busier this spring than Sisseton’s Elliot Hortness. The junior is currently competing in golf, softball, and track and field.

“Practices are hard. I have to split them,” Hortness said. “I go to golf practice the most, and I don’t really go to the other two practices, but that’s OK.”

Following her round in the tourney on Thursday, Hortness was gearing up for another competition in the evening.

“I play first base and I have a game tonight, so we gotta to get back for that,” Hortness said of softball. She does three events in track and field. “I run the 100-meter hurdles, and I long jump, and I triple jump.”

There is no question which of the three spring sports is her favorite.

“Golf is my favorite in the spring, so I put the most time into that,” Hortness said. “I play softball because it’s fun and I also do track because it’s fun, but I definitely put the most time into golf.”

There’s a reason why Hortness concentrates so much on golf. She has competed in the past four state tournaments and is focusing on getting back there again next month.

“I want to go back to state golf so bad,” she said, “so I put the most time into that.”

Like most of the other golfers, Hortness was pleased with her round on Thursday. She finished with an 87 that put her in seventh place.

“It’s been the best round of the year, so that’s good,” Hortness said, “and I had a really good group today, which made it a lot more fun.”

Roncalli competes at the Groton Invitational on Monday, before heading to Madison for a tourney on Thursday.

To see complete from the Roncalli Invitational, click on the following link:

https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/11182627105215134759