PIERRE — In a potential preview of the Class AA state golf competition in six weeks' time, the Mitchell High School girls golf team was right at the top of the leaderboard on Tuesday afternoon at the Pierre Invitational.
Mitchell finished with a team score of 327, deadlocked with Aberdeen Central for the team title at Hillsview Golf Course in the 15-team event, which was moved back to later in the day as chilly weather and light rain moved through the central part of the state. The Kernels won the team title tiebreaker on the strength of the fifth team score, which was Jayli Rients, who shot an 89, three shots better than Aberdeen's fifth golfer.
Individually, Mitchell junior Quinn Dannenbring won medalist honors with a round of 77. She finished her round sharing that mark with Rapid City Stevens' Tanna Phares and Harrisburg's Mattie Weidenbach and claimed the scorecard playoff by having the lowest back-nine score.
Among the teams, the host Governors were third at 339 strokes and Rapid City Stevens and Yankton each shot 343 as a team. The Class AA state meet is at Hillsview in Pierre on June 5-6.
Dannenbring posted her best round of the season with a 6-over-par round of 77. It included three birdies, including one on the par-5 second and at the par-4 11th and 15th holes. She played the final nine holes of the day in 1-over-par 36.
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Allison Meyerink finished tied for seventh place with an 80 on the card. Meyerink had a 2-over-par score of 38 on the front nine and battled through a tough stretch of holes to start the back side to close with two pars and a birdie among her final four holes. Maddie Childs continued her consistent play with a round of 83 to tie for 13th place.
Lara Widstrom posted an 87 to finish in 26th place out of 95 competitors on the course on Tuesday, while fellow senior Jayli Rients was tied for 32nd with a final score of 89. Ava Eliason shot 96 to tie for 55th place.
Mitchell is back in action at Broadland Creek Golf Course in Huron on Thursday for the second week in a row, taking on the host Tigers, Aberdeen Central, Brookings and Pierre. The five-team meet was scheduled in lieu of the Aberdeen Central Invitational, which was canceled due to course conditions.
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