Mitchell sits third after first round at Class AA girls golf tournament

Jun. 1—WATERTOWN — After 18 holes on Monday, the Mitchell High School girls golf team holds control of third place at the Class AA state tournament at Cattail Crossing Golf Course.

>All four scoring golfers on Mitchell's team scorecard came in at 78 strokes or better, combining for 308 strokes, just three off of the program's single-round tournament record. Defending champion and Day 1 leaders Aberdeen Central recorded 295 strokes, which was 7-over-par cumulatively, and O'Gorman (304) checked in ahead of MHS through the first round.

>The two-round tournament concludes with a second 18-hole round on Tuesday.

>The 13-stroke gap between Mitchell and Aberdeen Central matches the cushion the Kernels have over fourth-place Sioux Falls Lincoln (321). Brandon Valley (330) rounds out the top-5 of the team standings.

>Maddie Childs paced the Kernels on Monday with a 3-over 75 on the par-72 course. Childs is part of a three-way tie for eighth place in the individual standings with Watertown's Gabi Olson and Aberdeen Central's Chloe Vikander. Brynlee Sabers, who notched a team-best four birdies during her opening round, shot a 77 and is in solo control of 12th place, as Mia Larson and Londyn Hajek each posted scores of 78 strokes to tie for 13th place.

>Anna Eliason (84) and Elliot Smith (100) were also on the course for Mitchell, with Eliason involved in a four-way tie for 25th place. The top 25 individual finishers after Day 2 earn an all-state medal.

>O'Gorman's Ari Jacobs posted the only below-par round of Day 1 with a 2-under 70 to lead the 79-golfer field, while Aberdeen Central's Olivia Braun sits in second place at an even-par 72 and Sioux Falls Lincoln's Abbigail Westra is third at 1-over 73. Just ahead of Mitchell's Childs and the three-way eighth-place tie is a four-way fourth-place logjam including O'Gorman's Erin Hurd, the Aberdeen Central duo of Emma Dohrer and Kyley Wirebaugh and Brandon Valley's Vanessa Smith, all at 2-over 74.

>Mitchell enters the second round looking to extend a streak of five consecutive seasons in the top-two of the Class AA tournament standings.