RAPID CITY – Aberdeen Roncalli’s Claire Crawford earned a top ten finish after the final round of the Class A State Girls’ Golf Tournament at Meadowbrook Golf Course in Rapid City on Tuesday.
Crawford finished with a score of 171, earning the freshman a sixth-place finish. Crawford carded a score of 90 on the final day, after scoring an 81 on Monday.
Roncalli coach Jon Murdy said Crawford got stronger as the day went on.
“She played great,” Murdy said. “Not the greatest of starts, but she battled back. She had a great back nine.”
St. Thomas More’s Rylan Horning won the individual title with a score of 156, six strokes ahead of Canton’s Olivia Sorlie (162). Dakota Valley’s Katie Betsworth finished third with a score of 164, while Vermillion’s Stephanie Carr (168) and Sioux Falls Christian’s Tori Peterson (170) rounded out the top five.
Throughout the course of the tournament, Murdy encouraged his players to keep battling to the end.
“The biggest thing we kept trying to tell them is we want them to stay in it for 18 holes,” Murdy said. “If you compete for 18 holes, you never know what will happen, and they did that. They did great from start to finish. They had some bad holes, but they bounced back right after it and just kept competing.”
Other Roncalli golf results included Grace Seyer finishing tied for 51st with a score of 200, Morgan Helms finishing tied for 54th with a score of 201, Ava Danielson tying for 72nd with a score of 219, and Reese Henrich finishing 83d with a score of 230.
Other area golfers included Groton’s Carly Guthmiller, who finished tied for 12th with a score of 175.
Murdy considered the season a success in his initial year as the head coach.
“The best part is I didn’t really know what I was getting into, but (having) the girls win conference, (having) the girls win regions was great,” Murdy said. “If we would’ve gotten a plaque for state, that just would’ve been a big bonus. Just very happy with how they improved throughout the year, and just hoping that we can keep improving as the seasons go on.”
In the team standings, Sioux Falls Christian held off Vermillion for the team title. The Chargers posted a score of 687 to capture the title, eight strokes ahead of the Tanagers (695). Roncalli finished with a team score of 791, earning the Cavaliers an 8th place finish, while Groton finished in 12th place with a score of 831.
Murdy said there is a lot that can be learned from this season that can be applied in the offseason and into next year.
“Just remind them that if they would put in a little bit of time on the course and just kind of keep doing what they were doing at the end of the tournament, and hopefully we’ll do some stuff in the offseason on the simulator at Lee Park,” Murdy said. “Hopefully, we can keep them improving and then we can come back at it next year and keep building off of what they did.”
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