Xavier High School junior Maddie Bertsch is thinking seriously about playing golf in college in a few years.

Don't bet against her.

Bertsch fired a 3-over-par 75 Wednesday at Gardner Golf Course to help the Saints run away with the annual CRANDIC tournament.

Bertsch finished with an eight-shot victory over MJ Kamin of Washington for medalist honors. Xavier finished 35 shots ahead of Linn-Mar for the team title.

Bertsch collected an eagle-3, one birdie, 10 pars and six bogeys during her smooth trip over the 5,418-yard course on a warm, sunny day.

"I'm really happy about it," she said after dominating the competition.

There were Saints all over the leaderboard Wednesday. Hailey Sojka and Lisa Olberding tied for third with 88's, while Kara Zwanziger and Grace Winker shared sixth place with 90's.

Bertsch showed the way for everyone with the best score of her life in a competitive round of golf. She averaged 44 shots for nine holes last year as a sophomore, but has chopped about four shots off that score in the early going this year.

She said she's more determined to succeed now.

"I think my motivation probably changed a little bit," she said. "I'm a junior, so I've got to step it up.

"I'm leaning toward playing college golf. I just wanted to be more competitive for high school and get my scores lower."

Bertsch tied for second place at the Linn-Mar Invitational last week and shared fourth at the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet on Monday.

The highlight of her round Wednesday came on the par-5, 401-yard 11th hole at Gardner. "I was on in two and sunk, I don't know, like a 30-foot putt," she reported.

She avoided serious trouble all day.

"When I would hit a bad approach, then my chipping game was really good," she said. "I'd hit a chip really close and then I'd be able to tap it in for a par.

"If one part of my game wasn't good on a hole, my next part would kind of pick it up."

Bertsch, a slender 5-foot-9, can belt a golf ball about 260 yards "on a really good day," she said, and consistenly hits her drives about 240 or 250 yards.

"She's got a natural swing," said Xavier Coach Julie Kadlec. "She's powerful."

Kadlec said Bertsch is more determined to succeed this year and improve her game.

"Maddie is definitely a player who will battle, and sometimes battle within herself," said Kadlec. "She knows what she wants to be and she keeps striving for that.

"She doesn't want to hear that a shot was good. She thinks in her head it could have been better. So she's always striving to improve her game and be more consistent."

Bertsch helped the Xavier Saints win the Class 4A state basketball title this winter and enjoys being a two-sport athlete.

"I kind of like it, to get my mind off one or the other," she said. "I practice golf a little bit during the winter, but it's kind of hard with basketball practice every day. I kind of like the balance and everything."

TEAM STANDINGS
1. Xavier 341, 2. Linn-Mar 376, 3. Iowa City West 383, 4. Prairie 404, 5. Iowa City High 414, 6. (tie) Kennedy & Washington 421, 8. Marion 479, 9. Jefferson 487.

TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS
1. Maddie Bertsch, Xavier          75
2. MJ Kamin, Washington           83
3t. Hailey Sojka, Xavier              88
3t. Lisa Olberding, Xavier           88
3t. Katie Harding, Linn-Mar        88
6t. Kara Zwanziger, Xavier        90
6t. Grace Winker, Xavier           90
8t. Tiffany Danger, IC West     91
8t. Ali Lindo, Kennedy               91
8t. Taylor Utter, Prairie             91
8t. Jordan Postma, Linn-Mar     91

XAVIER (341): Maddie Bertsch 75, Hailey Sojka 88, Lisa Olberding 88, Grace Winker 90, Kara Zwanziger 90, Morgan DeLong 96

LINN-MAR (376): Katie Harding 88, Jordan Postma 91, Lauren Couglin 94, Emma Lorenz 103, Georgia Kolf 105, Kristen Eiles 109

PRAIRIE (404): Taylor Utter 91, Emily Machula 100, Emily Perrin 102, Mallory Bennett 111, Grace Lindgren 118, Kennedy Fisher 124

KENNEDY (421): Ali Lindo 91, Raemi Chavez 98, Amanda Wiedemeier 116, Morgan Schwab 116, Val Davidson 119, Breanna Osterkamp 120

WASHINGTON (421): MJ Kamin 83, Kandis O'Donnell 103, Brett Visser 108, Anna Rohde 127, Kate Nash 137

MARION (479): Ashley Reed 99, Ashley Ohl 109, Haley Schaffer 132, Anna Martinson 139

JEFFERSON (487): Emily Aukes 105, Lyndsey Lykkegaard 118, Cassidy Simpson 130, Hannah Hopkins 134, Allison Johnson 137, Alysha Lykkegaard 141