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BROOKINGS — Led by the lone under-par round of the first round, recorded by Allison Meyerink, the Mitchell High School girls golf team sits atop the team standings at the Class AA state golf tournament Monday at Brookings Country Club.
Mitchell's team mark of 326 strokes has the Kernels, who took third at the Eastern South Dakota Conference Invitational on May 24, one stroke clear of ESD Invite team champion Aberdeen Central (327) and four clear of Pierre (330). Harrisburg, O'Gorman and Rapid City Stevens are tied for fourth at 335 to round out the top six teams from the first day of play.
The team score of 326 was a season-best for the Kernels, and was the third time since May 19 that Mitchell has shot 330 or better as a team.
Meyerink came in at 1-under-par, accounted for by two birdies to just one bogey on the front nine. Following a bogey on hole 12 and a double bogey on hole 14, Meyerink was 2-over-par, but the sophomore responded by carding three birdies over the final four holes to finish with 71 total strokes and come in with sole possession of first place out of 84 competitors. The performance was well ahead of her season-low of 77 entering the tournament.
In all, 14 golfers finished single-digits above par after the first day, including Mitchell's No. 2 finisher, Quinn Dannenbring, who sits in a tie for 13th at 9-over-par.
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Madelyn Childs (+14, tied for 26th), Lara Widstrom (+16, T-32) and Jayli Rients (+17, T-35) account for the other Mitchell scores after 18 holes. Mitchell's sixth golfer in the event, Mia Larson, was disqualified in the first round.
O'Gorman's Lauren Sutcliffe (+2) and Harrisburg's Reese Jansa (+4) are the only two competitors within five strokes of Meyerink at the midway point of the tournament. Just like the team standings, there's a three-way tie for fourth, as Aberdeen Central's Emma Dohrer, Brookings' Ashton Austreim and Stevens' Tanna Phares all sit at 6-over-par.
Meyerink individual push and Mitchell's team pursuit of a state title will resume Tuesday, with the second round scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m.
