Golf (6/23)

Falcon Girls Take Third at State Golf

The run may be done.  For it to continue, Fillmore Central girls golf will need a major retool.  In the program’s 11th consecutive state appearance, the Falcons could not author an encore to last year’s share state championship.  Despite returning four of six from last year’s team, the Falcons have struggled with consistency this year, sometimes shooting around 40, other times 45 or higher.  The state tourney was similar with a few too many scores being the later.  After Day 1’s first 18 holes, FC (366) sat in third place behind leader Dawson-Boyd (338), the defending co-champ, and Park Christian (348).   Murray County Central (377) sat behind FC in fourth place.  Myleigh Scheevel, FC’s top golfer last year (third-place-tie), was the lowest scorer for the team (86).  She sat in tied for ninth place with a 40, but then a 46 (including a quadruple-bogey on the 14th hole).   Lily Miller (43/50) and Ella Diersen (46/47) each shot 93’s with Miller also inconsistent from one nine holes to the next.  They finished the day in a five-way tie for 36th place.   FC’s two other golfers, Annika Mensink (49/45 > 94) and Maddie Topness (48/56 > 104), sat tied for 41st and tied for 61st respectively, as the team took just five girls to state (versus the typical six).   Unlike the previous two seasons, which saw FC take second by one stroke (2023), and tie for a state title (2024) amidst weather causing the event to be shortened, there was not a whole lot of team drama Day 2 this season.  The top four maintained their positions with Murray County Central making it closer with FC.  Dawson-Boyd (338/331 > 669) took first over Park Christian (348/339 > 687) and the Falcons (366/379 > 745) with MCC (377/371 > 748) taking fourth.  FC was the only school of the four to not cut strokes from Day 1 to Day 2.  Blackjack Lindsey Lund (39/39/36/38 > 152) grabbed the individual title over Border West’s Paige Beyer (40/40/39/38 > 157).  Lund shot eight-over for the 36-hole tourney, Beyer 13-over.  Lund repeated as state champ.  Scheevel (40/46/43/44 > 173) finished tied for 12th place, shooting 29-over-par.  The senior finished top 10 the past two seasons.  Miller (43/50/49/49 > 191) took 40th place.  Diersen (46/47/51/51 > 195), a freshman, tied for 50th place in her first state meet. Topness (48/56/43/49 > 196) tied for 52nd place and Mensink (49/45/51/56 > 201) tied for 57th place.  Of FC’s four returnees, only Topness improved her position from a year ago.  In FC’s 11-year run, it is their second third place showing, joining year one in 2014.  Seniors Scheevel, Miller, and Mensink have competed at Becker five, four, and four times respectively.   It is absolutely the end of the Miller/Scheevel family girls golf dynasty.  There has been one Scheevel or Miller sister on the team every year since the onset.  Madison Scheevel went from 2014 thru 2019.   Grace Miller went from 2014 thru 2018.  Younger siblings Myleigh Scheevel and Lily Miller went from 2021 thru 2025 (though the latter did not compete in 2022).  The 2020 season was annulled per COVID.  Only Topness (junior) and Diersen (freshman) are set to return next year.  If the run is over, on top of the two third place finishes, FC has been state runner-up four times (2015, 2017, 2018, 2023), and state champion twice (2016, 2024).  It has been a crazy span of golf success for the program with now eight top three finishes in the 11-years with coaches Lane Powell and now Aaron Mensink (plus assistant Andy Todd) guiding the program. 

R-P Boys Golf Takes Fifth at State

For a fleeting second, Rushford-Peterson boys golf led the Class A state meet.  Luke Rye’s group did so early Day 1 but by the end of the first 18 holes at Becker’s Pebble Creek golf course, the Trojans (328) were in third place behind Walker-Hackensack-Akeley (315) and Legacy Christian Academy (319) with Park Christian (333) and Lac qui Parle Valley (334) not too far back in fourth and fifth places.   Brothers Sam LaFleur (41/39 > 80) and Will LaFleur (42/39 > 81) posted nice scores to sit in 25th and tied for 26th places for the Trojans.  Jaxson Meldahl (39/43 > 82) was right back of that, tied for 30th place.   When Day 2 completed, W-H-A (315/298 > 613) cut 15 strokes off its Day 1 total to top Legacy Christian (319/312 > 631) for the team title.   Lac qui Parle Valley (334/327 > 661), Park Christian (333/329 > 662), and the Trojans (328/334 > 662) were then in a log jam in the middle of the with a mere stroke separating the teams, R-P tying for fourth overall.  HCA’s Alex Rhode (36/37/35/28 > 146) topped LCA’s Braylon Ylkanen (40/34/38/36 > 148), and Ashby/Brandon-Evansville’s Traeton Nelson (35/37/39/37 > 148) for the individual crown.  Rhodes was two-over par, the other two four-over par, at the 18-hole, par-72 course.  The elder LaFleur, junior Will, led the Trojans (42/39/38/41 > 160) by shooting 16-over-par.  He tied for 23rd place overall, offsetting a couple double bogeys with a trio of birdies, otherwise putting up pars or bogeys.   Sam LaFleur (41/39/38/43 > 161), a freshman, took 30th place shooting 17-over-par.   He had four double bogeys, one birdie, otherwise putting up pars and bogeys.  Meldahl (39/43/43/40 > 165), a junior, tied for 32nd place shooting 21-over-par.    He had one triple and two double bogeys, otherwise shooting par or bogey.  R-P’s three other golfers were in the bottom of the field.  Freshman Kellen Drinkall (49/43/46/45 > 183) tied for 76th place.   Junior Jace Dvorak (43/42/45/54 > 184) tied for 78th place.  He was R-P’s most enigmatic performer, posting three birdies (each on Day 1), but also two triple bogeys and a 10 on a par-five.  Sophomore Gus Hoiland (44/46/51/47 > 188) tied for 82nd place.  Not one of the six Trojans to compete is a senior.  R-P’s last trip to state in boys golf, in 2022, the Trojans took 8th place.  Assistant Coach Andrew Hoiness (37th place) was their top golfer that year.

Lanesboro, FC, GMLO and Caledonia Individuals Take on State Golf Tourneys

A foursome of Lanesboro kids (Jack Brogle, Addison McCabe, Ellie McCabe, Jentrey Schreiber), a pair of Fillmore Central kids (Aiden Arnold, Brody Srsen) plus GMLO’s Gabby Tangren and Caledonia’s Hayden Harms took on their respective state golf meets from an individual perspective.  In Class A on the boys side, Lanesboro’s Jack Brogle highlighted the action.  He was probably disappointed by his Day 1 effort, but the sophomore had a good Day 2 to post a second straight strong showing.  Brogle, who almost never shot 40 or above during the regular season, struggled the first 18 holes of the meet at Becker’s Pebble Creek Golf Course.   A year ago, Brogle tied for 14th place overall (156) but after 18-holes in 2025, he was tied for 33rd place having posted an 83 (41/42).  A trio of double bogeys hurt the cause while he also had seven singular bogeys.  He rallied on his second 18 holes, tallying numbers more like the rest of his season (37/38 > 75).  Brogle had just one double bogey, and four bogeys.  Aided by a trio of Day 2 birdies (five overall), the strong round moved him up the leaderboard into a tie for 19th place, as he finished with a 14-over par 158 (41/42/37/38).  He was just a couple shots back of last year’s pace.  One of his Day 2 playing partners was FC’s Aiden Arnold.   The senior, in his third state meet, posted a 165 (39/44/45/37) to tie for 32nd place.  During his two good rounds, he had no double bogeys.  During his two not-so-good rounds, he had two doubles and a quadruple bogey.  Arnold shot a 162 (42/44/38/38) last year to tie for 33rd place.  Falcon teammate Brody Srsen also took on his third state meet.  The sophomore had 13 pars, but seven double bogeys or worse.  Posting a 178 (45/42/44/47), he took 71st place (of 88).  Srsen shot a 173 an 8th grader in 2023 and a 185 a year ago, tying for 57th place and taking 78th place respectively.   Heritage Christian Academy’s Alex Rhode (36/37/35/28 > 146) topped Legacy Christian Academy’s Braylon Ylkanen (40/34/38/36 > 148), and Ashby/Brandon-Evansville’s Traeton Nelson (35/37/39/37 > 148) for the individual crown.  Rhodes was two-over par, the other two four-over par, at the 18-hole, par-72 course. 

On the 1A girls side of things, Lanesboro’s Addison McCabe had a very strong Day 1.   In her second state meet, the 8th grader shot an 84 (44/40).  It put her in a fantastic fifth place.    But Day 2 was more difficult.  McCabe shot a 95 (43/52) including a rough round on holes 10 thru 18 where she had four double bogeys and two triple bogeys.   She had just five double bogeys or worse her other 27 holes combined.  Finishing with a 179 (44/40/43/52), McCabe finished tied for 26th place, still a quality placing.  She was the second highest 8th grader in the field.  A-McCabe moved up from a 45th place finish a year ago.  Jentrey Schreiber was the next best of three Lanesboro individual qualifiers. Like A-McCabe, the sophomore shot well Day 1 (48/43 > 91) to find herself tied for 29th place.  But she also tailed off on Day 2, posting a 102 (47/55).  Holes 10 thru 18 were also unkind.  Schreiber had six double bogeys or worse, equaling the amount she had the other 27 holes combined.  She finished with a 193 (48/43/47/55) to tie for 44th place.  Ellie McCabe was just below her on the leaderboard.  The senior was in 41st place after shooting a Day 1 94 (45/49) but Day 2 was less kind.  The elder McCabe sister shot a 100 (43/57).  Day 2 holes 10 thru 18 revealed six double bogeys or worse, the same as her other 27 holes combined.  Finishing with a 194 (45/49/43/57), she tied for 46th place.   She moved up the leaderboard after taking 51st last year.  Grand Meadow/LeRoy-Ostrander’s Gabby Tangren had three consistent rounds and then one big number.   In her second state tourney, the sophomore shot a 203 (46/59/48/50) to tie for 60th place overall.   She had seven of her 18 double bogeys or worse in the 59 score.  Tangren tied for 45th place last year.  Eighty-five girls finished the tourney.  Dawson-Boyd’s Lindsey Lund (39/39/36/38 > 152) repeated as the individual champ over Border West’s Paige Beyer (40/40/39/38 > 157).  Lund shot eight-over for the 36-hole tourney, Beyer 13-over. 

In Class AA, Caledonia’s Hayden Harms took on her first state tourney at 18-hole, par-72, Ridges at Sand Creek Golf Course outside Jordan.  The sophomore shot an 89 (44/45) on Day 1 of the meet.  It left her tied for 40th place (of 88 golfers).   Her Day 2 numbers fell off a bit, as she posted a 93 (44/49).  It left the Warrior golfer with a 182 (44/45/44/49) for the tourney.  She tied for 52nd place shooting a 21-over-par.  Harms shot a 171 at sections.  Pequot Lakes’ Genevieve Birkeland (148) shot a four-over-par to top Hawley’s Sophie Cook (152) for the Class AA individual title.  Detroit Lakes (646) topped Minnewaska Area (655) for the Class AA team title.  Harms is Caledonia’s first state golf qualifier since Jenna Wiebke finished 8th overall, shooting a 164 in 2021.