CORALVILLE - Xavier High School senior Kimmy Askelson tore a muscle in her right calf last spring and had her appendix removed last November.

Just imagine how good she'll be if she stays healthy for an extended period of time.

Askelson fired a 6-over-par 77 Monday to win the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet by two strokes on a sunny, breezy day at the Brown Deer Golf Club.

Askelson's calf is not fully healed, but she does stretching exercises to keep it loose and limber for meets. She struggled a little with a 40 on the front-9 Monday, but was a model of consistency with a 2-over 37 on the back-9.

Askelson said she felt "pretty good" about her 77.

"This course isn't easy, especially with the wind out there," she said. "I'll take it."

Amy Ihm of Dubuque Wahlert and Allison Rolinger of Cedar Falls tied for second place with 79s. Megan Furnish of Jefferson tied for sixth place with an 82 and Jehri Wagner of Prairie placed 10th with an 86.

Askelson stands only 5-foot-5 and 105 pounds, but Xavier Coach Julie Kadlec said her star golfer has "bulked up" since last year.

"It doesn't look like it. She's so slight, but she really has," said Kadlec, laughing. "She's gotten stronger."

Askelson said she began serious weight-training last fall, then had to take a break following her appendectomy. "I couldn't lift more than five pounds for a couple of weeks," she said. "I had to take it really easy."

Askelson can smack a golf ball, but two of her biggest strengths Monday were course management and a deft touch on the greens. She avoided all the water on the back-9 and softly rolled downhill putts within a few feet of the cup.

"Kimmy is just really meticulous," Kadlec said. "She just has a knack for knowing exactly how far she's going to be able to hit each club.

"She's fun to watch. She's one of those girls that even if you knew nothing about golf, it would be fun to follow her and watch how it's done."

Askelson had two opportunities on the back-9 to hit the ball over water and try for a shortcut, but both times elected to play it safe. It resulted in the conference title.

"Course management is huge. Just give myself the easiest next shot," she said. "I told one of our girls, Maddie Bertsch, to avoid trouble here. Don't go for it, because you don't get rewarded too often. So I followed my own rule."

Practice rounds are different. "Yeah, I would go for it," she said. "It's so tempting."

Askelson, who has signed to play golf at Drake, finished fourth at the state meet last year despite battling her calf injury at the time. She said her calf "felt better" Monday with the temperature hovering around 60 degrees.

Cedar Falls won the team title with an outstanding total of 324 based on rounds of 79, 80, 82 and 83 by Rolinger, Megan Brewer, Taylor Roberts and Sonja Przyblski. The Tigers won the championship by a whopping 38 strokes over Dubuque Wahlert.

MVC SUPER MEET
At Brown Deer Golf Club
Par 71

Team Standings

1. Cedar Falls 324, 2. 2. Dubuque Wahlert 362, 3. Xavier 379, 4. Iowa City West 389, 5. Linn-Mar 396, 6. Iowa City High 401, 7. Dubuque Senior 404, 8. Prairie 421, 9. Jefferson 422, 10. Kennedy 434, 11. Waterloo West 440, 12. Washington 461.

Top 10

1. Kimmy Askelson (Xavier) 77, 2. (tie) Amy Ihm (Wahlert) 79, Allison Rolinger (Cedar Falls) 79, 4. Megan Brewer (Cedar Falls) 80, 5. Megan Miehe (Hempstead) 81, 6. (tie) Megan Furnish (Jefferson) 82, Taylor Roberts (Cedar Falls) 82, 8. Sonja Przyblski (Cedar Falls) 83, 9. Madison Goodfellow (85), 10. Jehri Wagner (Prairie) 86.

CEDAR FALLS (324): Allison Rolinger 79, Megan Brewer 80, Taylor Roberts 82, Sonja Przyblski 83.
WAHLERT (362): Amy Ihm 79, Hilary Wareham 93, Lauren Gonner 95, Kaitlyn Burds 95.
XAVIER (379): Kimmy Askelson 77, Maddie Bertsch 97, Grace Winker 101, Lisa Olberding 104.
IOWA CITY WEST (389): Madison Goodfellow 85, Alyssa Adamec 95, Madison Boardman 102, Olivia Ewing 107.
LINN-MAR (396): Dionna Jensen 97, Rachel Thrune 99, Emma Lopez 100, Sarah Tegtmeier 100.
IOWA CITY HIGH (401): Elizabeth Wheeler 96, Katherine VanderWoude 98, Jordan Theisen 103, Emily Koepnick 104.
DUBUQUE SENIOR (404): Jordan Engelken 94, Jordan Hoftender 97, Kalyn Shutz 103, Molly Timmerman 110.
PRAIRIE (421): Jehri Wagner 86, Alyssa Beisker 105, Jess Boldt 114, Emily Perrin 116.
JEFFERSON (422): Megan Furnish 82, Leah Gore 109, Emily Aukes 112, Hillary Harriman 119.
KENNEDY (434): Ali Lindo 101, Paige Ermer 104, Sadie Schultz 113, Emily O'Brien 116.
WATERLOO WEST (440): Jordan Johnston 91, Lucy Dahl 114, Kaleigh Ubben 115, Lauren Denning 120.
WASHINGTON (461): Dani Willson 110, Abby Overland 112, Katie Rohde 117, Becca Herron 122.