JORDAN-Pequot Lakes junior Alex Stone fired an even-par 72 on Day Two to finish fourth in the Class 2A girls state tournament Wednesday at the Ridges at Sand Creek.
Coupled with a first-round 78 that had her in sixth place, she completed the tournament with a six-over par 150 in her fourth state appearance, topping her previous best finish of eighth place last year. She tied for 36th in 2013 and tied for 29th in 2014.
Senior Kate Smith from Detroit Lakes set a state record with her fifth state title finishing five under at 139. She shared the 2A championship with Visitation junior Anni Heck. Sophomore Alayna Eldred of Osakis was third at 146.
Stone's teammate, senior Amanda Nies, playing in her fifth tournament, tied for 22nd, the same place she finished last year. She turned in an 82-85 for a two-day total 167.
Staples-Motley's Olivia Klefsaas tied for 18th with a 166 and teammate Hailey Koenig finished at 186, tied for 53rd. Both are seniors and were playing in their first state tournament.
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Stone had two holes left to play and was two over par in Tuesday's opening round when severe weather halted play for the day. When play resumed at 7 a.m. Wednesday, she triple-bogeyed her 17th hole and bogeyed the last to finished with a four-over 78.
"I didn't have my best day (Tuesday), I knew I should have shot lower," said Stone. "Today I just wanted to have fun and play up to my potential. My goal was to move up after the first day."
"She actually played two pretty similar rounds," said Pequot Lakes head coach Jon Dale. "The difference was the two holes she had to finish this morning. We had to get up at 5:30 this morning to get to the course in time to get warmed up and ready to go by 7 a.m."
"I birdied the first hole (of the second round) and felt it was going to be a good day," said Stone. "My putting was really good today and I was confident in my putts. I made a 20-footer from the fringe on one hole for a birdie and had four birdies today.
"I'm already looking forward to being back next year and getting back on the podium in the top three."
Dale added, "I was really proud of her. She had to start a new round around two hours later and was mentally tough enough to shake off the last two holes from the morning. Amanda played solid too and also had a great tournament."
Staples-Motley coach Glen Hasselberg said he was proud of the Cardinals' Klefsaas and Koenig.
"Both of them held up quite well in their first state appearance," he said. "Both of them had their moments where they were playing well and both had some what we call blow-up holes."
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Class 2A Girls
Individual medalist: (tie)-Kate Smith (Detroit Lakes) 69-70-139, Anni Heck (Visitation) 71-68-139
Staples-Motley results: 18(t)-Olivia Klefsaas 80-86-166, 53(t)-Hailey Koenig 93-93-186
Pequot Lakes results: 4-Alex Stone 78-72-150, 22-Amanda Nies 82-85-167
Israelson ties for 23rd
JORDAN-It wasn't the way Andrew Israelson wanted to end his high school career but his coach, Glen Hasselberg, says he has nothing to hang his head about.
The Staples-Motley senior shot a 76-79 two-round total 155 to finish tied for 23rd place in the Class 2A state tournament Wednesday at the Ridges at Sand Creek.
He was named the first Mr. Minnesota Golf Sunday night, had tied for the 2A title in 2014 and tied for fourth in 2013 and last year. He was 16th as an eighth-grader in 2012.
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"He just didn't get off to a very good start and had an off-day," said Hasselberg. "He played 35 holes of golf today because he was only on the second green (Tuesday) when play was suspended. Then he had approximately a three-hour wait for the second round and just didn't get it going."
Israelson finished with a 39-37-76 for the first round and 40-39-79 for Round Two.
"I'm sure he's disappointed, but he's pretty level-headed and knows he can go out tomorrow and play a better round of golf," Hasselberg said. "Other people did just fine with all the hub-bub, but today just wasn't his day.
"His career and even this year up to today stands on its merits. He didn't win the Mr. Golf award because he didn't deserve it. Now he moves on to bigger and better things."
Israelson will play for North Dakota State University next year.
Blake's Derek Hitchner won the individual title with a 134 pacing his school to the team championship.
Wadena-Deer Creek senior Jordan Kern cut seven strokes off his first-day score to finish with a 171 for 76th place. He finished the opening round with an 89 and carded 41 strokes on the front and back nines for a Day Two 82.
Class 2A Boys
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Individual medalist:Derek Hitchner (Blake) 65-69-134
Staples-Motley results: 23(t)-Andrew Israelson 76-79-155
Wadena-DC results: 76-Jordan Kern 89-82-171
