Shooting to a state berth

For the third season in a row, the Washington girls? golf team has pushed its season as long as possible.

With a strong showing in their Class 4A regional tournament in Grinnell on Monday afternoon, the Demons took second in the 12-team tournament, carding a score of 356, qualifying them to return to the state tournament.

?Our goal was to get to state, and even though we didn?t win, you are still going,? Washington sophomore Sarah Nacos said. ?We are looking forward to getting back there and trying to shoot lower.?

The Demons will have a target on their back at the, as they represent the reigning champions, after winning the 2015 Class 4A state meet by more than 20 strokes a season ago.

?The expectations have always been high, sometimes maybe even a little too high,? Nacos said. ?Last year was so awesome, and now when we don?t shoot that, everyone is upset with themselves. We are greatful for how we are playing, but we?ve set the bar higher than last year.?

Although the front-nine wasn?t exactly as the Demons planned it, they recovered for the second-place finish and claimed the state berth.

?Our goal was to move on, and I thought we started off a little shaky,? Washington girls? golf head coach Leonard Kull said. ?When we don?t do our very, very best, then they think everything is going to fall apart. The score we came up with was pretty representative for us on the whole year. We finished well and that was fine. We got our object taken care of and we are pleased about that.?

Nacos claimed individual medalist honors with a 75, shooting consistently by carding a 38 on the front nine, and following that up with a 37.

?I was driving the ball really well today,? Nacos said. ?I really felt like I was letting the ball go well and I was hitting my drives well today. It was setting me up for birdies and if not a birdie, then a par.?

Deanna Peiffer took a 46 on the front nine, but came back with a 41 to finish with an 87 on the day, while Megan Strabala weathered a 10 on hole eight to finish up with a 97.

Brenna Burlingame also shot a 97, rebounding from a 50 on the front nine to shoot a 47 on the back nine.

Allison Vogel shot a 110 on the day, while Carly Burlingame set her career best, notching a 110 as well.

?She got a new record going,? Kull said. ?I have to give her all the credit in the world. She came out as a favor to the other girls and had a rough start, but she?s starting to have some success and shot well above average for the whole tournament. She definitely deserves a pat on the back.?

With the regionals now done, the Demons will watch the focus turn to the state tournament, and Kull is hoping his team is able to hit the reset button for a new tournament.

?We need to find out what we need to do up there,? Kull said. ?Most of our scores were fine, but we just need to refocus on what we need to do so we can be as successful as possible.?

The Demons, who were ranked No. 1 in Class 4A coming into the meet, in front of conference foes Fairfield (No. 2) and Mt. Pleasant (No. 3), will next compete at the state meet in Ames starting on Tuesday, and will join the regional champion Panthers there.

Mt. Pleasant won the region with a team score of 345.