The Luverne boys’ and girls’ golf teams competed in the Big South Conference championship meet on Monday, May 16, at the Dacotah Ridge Golf Club in Morton.
In the boys’ meet, the St. Peter Saints came out on top with a team score of 324. The Cardinals shot a team score of 348 to finish in fourth place out of the 12 teams in the conference.
The Cardinals were led by sophomore Henry Hartquist, who shot an 80, which placed him in a tie for fourth place out of 71 golfers at the meet.
Junior Brady Bork tied for ninth individually with a score of 85, and LHS sophomore Owen Sudenga finished in 15th place after a round of 87. Freshman Levi Gonnerman also contributed to the team score with a round of 96.
Also competing for Luverne were Colin Schoenman (96) and Tyler Arends (98).
The LHS girls’ team finished with a team score of 432 to place ninth out of 10 teams at the meet. The Cardinals from Redwood Valley were the overall meet champion with a team score of 354.
Luverne was led by junior Lauren Hansen, who shot a 104. Senior Morgan Gonnerman trailed Hansen by one stroke at 105. Junior Jocelynn Mann shot a 111 and senior Cheyenne Schutz scored 112 to contribute to the team score for the Cardinals.
Also competing for Luverne were Perceyis Trierweiler (126) and Mallory Nelson (134).
The meet was the culmination of four conference meets for the boys’ and girls’ golf teams. Each meet’s results awarded team and individual points to determine final standings and All-Conference award winners.
Thanks to his stellar play all season, Hartquist came out on top of the individual boys’ standings and took home first place overall in conference play.
“Henry had an awesome season and to be the top player in the entire conference at the end of the year is a tremendous accomplishment,” said LHS boys’ coach John Sichmeller.
Hartquist came into last year’s conference championship with a chance to earn first place overall, but a poor final round kept him from capturing the top individual award last season.
“Coming back from last year this was a big improvement. It felt nice to do well and earn the top spot this year,” Hartquist said after the meet.
Bork also placed inside the Top 10, finishing in sixth place in the final conference standings to also earn All-Conference recognition.
“Brady loves golf and plays more than anyone on our team. It was good to see him rewarded for all his work and earn his way onto the All-Conference team,” said coach Sichmeller.
Next up for the Cardinals will be an 18-hole meet at Buffalo Lake on Wednesday for the boys followed by section play on May 25 for the girls and May 26 for the boys.