May 24—WATERTOWN — The Mitchell High School girls golf team used Monday’s Watertown Invitational to experiment with some different shots.
The Kernels took second at the invite, which was held at Prairie Winds Golf Club. Mitchell shot a 338, while Harrisburg took first with a 334. Aberdeen Central (349) placed third.
The meet was originally scheduled for Cattail Crossing Golf Course. But was moved to Prairie Winds, which features two different course layouts and presents multiple challenges, said assistant coach Jeff Meyerink.
“Before we left the van this morning we talked about maybe trying to hit a few different shots than they normally wouldn’t otherwise,” Meyerink said. “It’s a course that they haven’t seen a whole lot. … It’s just a really difficult back nine and to shoot the scores they did experimenting a little bit, I was pretty pleased with the way they did.”
Meyerink added only Masy Mock and Ella Flippin have experienced playing on the course prior to Monday, but said “I thought they all played pretty well overall to be honest.”
Harrisburg’s Reese Jansa fired a 4-under-par 68 to secure individual medalist honors. Mitchell’s Mock (77) and Quinn Dannenbring (80) captured fourth and fifth, respectively. Allison Meyerink shot an 85 to earn a tie for eighth place.
“Those scores are all really solid,” coach Meyerink said. “The wind was blowing right away out there hard. We started on the harder nine. So they just got thrown right into it. I couldn’t be happier with the way they performed. Masy especially coming in with a five-over. It was a really good score.”
Ella Flippin (96), Lara Widstrom (99) and Maddie Childs (101) rounded out the Kernel golfers.
Up next, the Kernels will host the Eastern South Dakota Conference meet on Thursday at Lakeview Golf Course.
“I think they have high hopes there,” coach Meyerink said. “The way they are playing and the way they have been doing all season, I think they are in a good position to get it done.”
Team scores: 1. Harrisburg, 334; 2. Mitchell, 338; 3. Aberdeen Central, 349; 4. Watertown, 359; 5. Pierre, 372; 6. Huron, 373; 7. Brookings, 387.
Top-15 individual results: 1. Reese Jansa, Harrisburg, 68; 2. Delilah Fuls, Brookings, 75; 3. Danielle Podoll, Aberdeen Central, 76; 4. Masy Mock, Mitchell, 77; 5. Quinn Dannenbring, Mitchell, 80; 6. Mattie Weidenbach, Harrisburg, 82; 7. Riley Zebroski, Watertown, 83; T-8. Allison Meyerink, Mitchell, 85; T-8. Olivia Braun, Aberdeen Central, 85; T-8. Karlie Bigelow, Huron, 85; 11. Ellie Jo Simpson, Pierre, 86; 12. Mya Johnson, Harrisburg, 90; 13. Rylie Redlin, Watertown, 91; T-14. Samantha Anderson, Watertown, 92; T-14. Bryn Huber, Huron, 92.
Other Mitchell golfers: Ella Flippin, 96; Lara Widstrom, 99; Maddie Childs, 101.