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Section 7AAA

Chisago Lakes

BOYS

The boys golf team got two qualifiers to the state tournament and the girls team moved one on after their section meets on Thursday, May 30.

Senior Andrew Swanson is making a return trip to the state meet and sophomore Max Koch will be making his debut.

Swanson played Hinckley Grand National wonderfully in his second round, shooting a 70, which was the second best score of the second round behind meet winner Jack Schmitz. But, he had opened with a 76, which left him tied with Anoka’s Tyler Gandrud for second place. Gandrud went opposite of Swenson, shooting an opening 70 before falling to 76 in his second round.

Koch’s strong round was the first, as the youngster carded a 72 to put him among the leaders in the clubhouse. He scuffled a little bit on the second day, shooting an 81, but he did enough to punch his ticket into the state field.

Other boys who golfed for CL were Brett Hanson, Joe Alexander, Henry Phelps and Lucas O’Malley. None of them qualified for the second day. Hanson carded the best score of the four with an 82, missing the cut by two strokes.

Girls

Kali Hanson qualified for the state meet with a seventh place finish in the girls field. She opened the tournament with a very nice 79, and then held on for a state spot with an 85 on the second 18. She combined to shoot a 164, which tied her with Elk River’s Tillie Johnson, but Hanson held the tiebreaker.

The junior was just one stroke behind Abby Schintz of Duluth East, who finished in sixth place.

The other girls who participated in the section meet for Chisago Lakes were Joee Westland, Alivia Claesen, Audra Behnke and Neve Colucci. Westland had the best score of the fourth, with a 96, but that didn’t qualify her for the second round of play.

Both Class AAA boys and girls state tournaments will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 11 and 12 at Bunker Hills Golf Club in Coon Rapids.

Section 5AA

North Branch

The Vikings play in a class lower than Chisago Lakes, but they are still in a tough section that features many private schools, and private schools typically have strong golf programs.

Boys

Nick Melvin, the uber-talented eighth grader, will be making his second straight trip to The Ridges at Sand Creek in Jordan after he finished in sixth place in the section. He shot a 78 in the opening round at Pebble Creek Golf Course in Becker before backing it up with a 75 in the second round.

The Vikings’ whole team made the cut as they finished third in the section, but some of the other state hopefuls fell just short. Carters Magnison, a freshman, finished in 11th place with a 163. Tyler Minke, who made the state tourney two years ago as a freshman, finished in 17th place with a score of 167. Drake Dimich, another ninth grader, finished with 169 over the two days. Aiden Peterson had a 175 two day score, and Ian Smith scored 190 at the tough course out west.

Totino-Grace – the top ranked team in Class AA – won the event with a 597, Annandale came in second with 651 strokes, and North Branch was right behind them with a total of 652.

Girls

Junior Ashley Bistodeau was the lone qualifier for the NB girls, carding an opening round 83 and a closing round 90 to finish in seventh place. She had a strong start to the tournament, and was able to hold her spot despite some tougher conditions in the second round.

The girls had two other section finalists, with freshman Jenna Minke scoring an even 200 to finish in 18th place and sophomore Annabelle Lattimore coming in 26th place with a score of 209. Other golfers who didn’t make the second day for NB were Lauren Thiel, Gabby DeRosier and Vada Bassett.

Bistodeau and Melvin will take on The Ridges at Sand Creek in Jordan on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 11 and 12.

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