The Lakes Conference crowned its golf champions Monday. The girls of Spirit Lake took advantage of playing on their home track at Okoboji View Golf Course, posting a near record team score of 354 to run away with the title. Emmetsburg was second at 401, Spencer third with a 404, and Estherville-Lincoln Central finished sixth (447). All four of Spirit Lake’s golfers posted scores good enough for all-conference honors. Whitney Berkland tied for eighth with a 97, Emily Ayers was third with a 92, Maureen Owens second at 85, and Leah Hilpipre finished as the individual conference champion with a remarkable round of 80. Spirit Lake was four strokes away from
The boys’ conference meet was held at Brooks National in Okoboji and Spencer posted a 305 team score to beat out Spirit Lake’s 324 for the championship. Emmetsburg was fourth (337), and Estherville-Lincoln Central sixth (361). The Tigers’ Jay Monahan and Zach Carlson finished 1-2 individually with a 71 and 72, respectively. The Indians were led by Matt Weeks, whose 75 put him in fourth place as the result of a playoff. Scott Hummel pitched in with an 82, Matt Heaton was right behind at 83, and Zach Skopec rounded out the scoring with an 84.
Over in the Siouxland Conference the boys golf tour made its stop at George-Little Rock and once again MOC-Floyd Valley demonstrated their superiority, taking first at 169. Rock Valley was three strokes back in second, Sibley-Ocheyedan wound up third at 180, and Okoboji finished fifth with a 190. The Pioneers’ James Halbur fired a round of 43, good for sixth individually. Okoboji also counted a 46 from Ben Demuth, Mike Luhrs’ round of 49, and a 52 by Weston Burgeson.
The girls of the Siouxland Conference made the trek over to Sheldon where the Okoboji Pioneers climbed to the top of the team standings with a 191 team total, outshooting second-place MOC-Floyd Valley by five. Hannah Jones carded a 41 to lead the Pioneers and finish as the meet medalist. Kristina Kaiser and Kiley Wermersen matched 48’s, finishing in a tie for third overall. Halee Morrow also counted a score of 54. The win by Okoboji snaps a 31 match win streak by the Dutch, dating back to 2007. The Pioneers remain the only team to beat MOC-Floyd Valley since 2002.
In the Cornbelt Conference, Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire battled West Bend-Mallard in a coed dual match. West Bend-Mallard swept the night, taking the boys match 183-190. The Knights were led by Dylan Smith’s 45. On the girls side, it was West Bend-Mallard by a 212-237 margin. G-T/R-A was paced by Kelly Harris and her round of 56.
