Girls golf team takes 3rd at state

MARSHALLTOWN ? Sarah Nacos continued to dominate Class 4A girls? golf this week, shooting two rounds in the 70s to win her third-straight title and leading the Demons to a third-place finish.

The Washington junior sprinkled in five birdies over the two state-tournament days and dominated the field, winning by a whopping 23 strokes.

She shot a 78 on the course Tuesday, which put her in front individually by six strokes, and closed the door in a big way Wednesday with a 76 to finish at 154.

?I knew that if I shot in the 70s again, lower than yesterday, I?d have a pretty good shot,? Nacos said after receiving her first-place medal.

?I ended my last hole on a double-bogey, which wasn?t a strong finish, but I figured if I kept on the track I was going on about hole 13 or 14, I could have a shot at it.?

Her big score was enough to help the Demons jump two spots the final day, from fifth to third to give Washington its third-straight top-three finish.

It took a team effort to get below fourth-place Grinnell and fifth-place Nevada. The Demons shot a 375 as a team Wednesday, 17 strokes better than the day before.

Megan Strabala had a huge day Wednesday. She shot a 43 both the front and back nine to finish at 86 on the day and 188 overall, which put her in 14th place overall.

Allison Vogel was third for the Demons Tuesday, shooting a 56 front nine and 50 back nine. She shot 106 on the day and 207 overall, scoring for the team both days.

Carly Burlingame had a big improvement-day, shooting a 52 front nine and 55 back nine to cut seven strokes off her score with a 107. Her final score was 221.

Emily Waite stayed consistent, shooting a 111 both days. Tuesday, she shot a 54 on the front nine and a 57 on the back nine, bringing her two-day score to 222.

Kaitlyn Mitchell rounded out the team with a 67 132 on the day, improving by 16 strokes to finish the day at 280.

After the Demons got their team trophy, Nacos talked about Washington?s day 2 improvement, which was the biggest bump of all eight teams in competition.

?I think everyone kind of got the feel of the course (and) the feel of the greens,? she said. ?I always say the first day is the hardest. I think after you get the first-day jitters out, everything goes down, and it did for us.?

Humboldt won the Class 4A meet, coming back on day two to shoot a 736 overall, nine strokes ahead of second-place Wahlert.

FINAL TEAM SCORES:

1. Humboldt, 736

2. Dubuque Wahlert, 745

3. Washington, 767

4. Grinnell, 771

5. Nevada, 776

6. Creston, 806

T7. Carroll, 812

T7. Mt. Pleasant, 812

TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS:

1. Sarah Nacos, Washington 154

2. Elyse Kalb, Dubuque Wahlert 177

3. Brooke Anderson, Humboldt 177

4. Bella Amador-Lacson, Grinnell 179

5. Claire Ausman, Nevada 182

Washington scores:

1. Sarah Nacos, 154

14. Megan Strabala, 188

30. Allison Vogel, 207

38. Carly Burlingame, 221

40. Emily Waite, 222

50. Kaitlyn Mitchell, 280