Eagles win team fight in POI Girls Golf Championships

AFTON — It was an incredibly tight team race Wednesday afternoon in Afton at the Pride of Iowa girls golf conference championships, but it was the East Union Eagles who pulled out the two-stroke victory, scoring 381.

Martensdale-St.Marys finished second, scoring 383. Mount Ayr also scored 383 but lost the tiebreaker, placing them third.

Mount Ayr’s Jaylee Shaffer, a junior, took the individual title with a score of 71, one shot over par. She won the title with a 19-stroke lead. She had an explosive stretch from hole 7 to hole 11, shooting -3 as she birdied holes 8, 9 and 11.

In their winning performance, the Eagles had four medalists, led by tie scores from senior Gwen Nixon and junior Kathryn Lack. The two each posted scores of 91, tying with Carly Franey of Martensdale-St.Marys and Izzy Gilbertson of Mount Ayr for third. Lack finished the meet strong, shooting par on her final hole to keep herself in third.

Nixon was in the lead group with Shaffer, Kathryn Ballard of MSM and Mallory Russell of Nodaway Valley. The quartet opened the day with each girl shooting par on hole one. Nixon had four pars on the front nine.

Junior Marlys Mitchell posted a 98, good for 10th place.

In an underdog moment, East Union’s sixth-ranked golfer, freshman Willa Hayes, went +4 through the final five holes to claim 13th place in her POI debut.

The Eagles’ final two golfers, Kaelee Buffington and Mia Tallmon, shot 106 and 112, respectively.

For the Raiderettes, Gilbertson finished strong, shooting +2 through her final four holes, culminating in a birdie on her final hole.

Abby Larson, Claire Routh and Alyssa Doolittle rounded out Raiderette scoring with round totals of 109, 112 and 130, respectively. Dallas Newton shot a 160.

Southwest Valley was led by Sidney Crill, a senior who logged one par hole on each nine. Her final score was 101. The Timberwolves finished fourth as a team with a fairly even performance among the golfers. Natalie Grizzard shot 104, Mackenzie Fast had 106, Kaya Owen scored 108, Josie Harris posted a 117 and Dayna Stomer finished with 125. Grizzard had a hot start, finishing at par on her first two holes and bogeying the third.

Nodaway Valley was led by Russell who scored 96. She opened strong with four par performances in the front nine, but a tough stretch on holes five through eight set her back. The Wolverines placed sixth with 427.

Lenox placed seventh with 442, led by Sadie Brown’s 105 performance. Lilli Vais shot 110, Genesis Wimer a 112, Jocelyn Smith scored 115 and Brynna Petersen posted a 132.

Next Friday, East Union, Lenox and Southwest Valley head to Sidney for the Class 1A Region 2C meet where the Eagles will hope for a repeat trip to the state meet. Mount Ayr and Diagonal will compete in Leon in the Class 1A Region 3A meet and Nodaway Valley will be at Tri-Center for the Region 2B meet.