Washington golf teams open year with wins

Nacos opens season with 71, as Demon girls win by 19 strokes

The Washington girls? golf team started the season strong on Thursday.

In their first regular season action since claiming a state title last June, the Demon girls showed what they could do to start the year, winning a five-team, 18-hole tournament in Keokuk by 19 strokes.

Washington posted a team score of 344 on the day, finishing ahead of Fairfield (363), Mt. Pleasant (373), Burlington (435) and Keokuk (465).

?It was a great way to start the season,? Washington girls? golf coach Leonard Kull said. ?The girls started to get a little tired near the end, but this would be a good score for the middle or end of the year.?

Washington was led by sophomore, and reigning 4A individual state champion Sarah Nacos, who cruised to meet medalist honors, shooting a 71 (34-37) to open her second varsity season.

Senior Deanna Peiffer notched runner-up honors, posting an 82 (38-44), while sophomore Megan Strabala carded a 51 out, 43 in for a 94.

Senior Brenna Burlingame carded a 97 to round out the scoring, while Allison Vogel posted a 106 (53-53) for the Demons.

After a strong score to open the season, Kull said he is focused on everyone improving as individuals, which will help the team.

?It shows we have great potential,? Kull said. ?We?ll be working with everyone individually, because while it?s a team sport, it?s the individual things that will help us get better as a group.?

Fairfield?s Lindsey Repp (who took second in the Class 4A state tournament last year) was the top non-Demon competitor, scoring an 83.

Van Osdol leads Demon boys to victory over Mt. Pleasant

The Demon boys? golf team faced a familiar opponent in Mt. Pleasant to open their season, and every stroke mattered on Thursday.

Washington won the dual meet against the Panthers by three strokes, edging Mt. Pleasant 160-163, in the nine-hole event.

?I think that?s definitely an expectation I have of these group of guys,? Washington head coach Mark Berhow said. ?They have a lot of experience and we have some high expectations. We had consistent scores overall.?

Leading the charge for the Demons was sophomore Jacob Van Osdol, who carded a low round of 39 for his nine-hole round.

?I was really proud of him playing well,? Berhow said. ?He has that potential in him and he was really excited about how he played. He said he hit a lot of fairways and was playing consistently on the night.?

Van Osdol was joined by a pair of Demons who shot 40s in Derek Anding and Tanner Coleman.

Noah Enfield notched a 41 on the day, while Mason Rich carded a 43 and Dalton Myers recorded a 45.

?(Having balanced scores) is really going to help us this year,? Berhow said. ?In the past we?ve been relying on a couple of guys to score low, and then the other guys wouldn?t. We are hoping this is a good start of a pattern for us. That should relieve some of the pressure on everyone, because they can relax and just play their best.?

Mt. Pleasant?s Trevor Mabeus won meet medalist honors with a 38 on the day.

In the JV event, the Demons were edged by the Pathers by one stroke, with Demon senior Lane Burlingame posting a low JV score of 45 to lead the way.

Washington?s boys? and girls? teams will be in action in Kalona next week, when they face Mid-Prairie and Columbus in a triangular meet at the Kalona Golf Course.