Tyler McCann and Trevor Berry enjoyed playing in the state golf tournament in 2009 as sophomores.

They'd love to finish their careers at Linn-Mar High School with another trip this season as seniors.

The Lions finished sixth at the Class 4A state meet in 2009.

"We're trying to get back to that level. We had a great team then," McCann said Thursday. "We didn't do as well as we wanted at state, but our goal this year is definitely to make it back."

McCann and Berry appear ready to do their part after firing sub-par rounds at the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet at Twin Pines Golf Course Thursday.

McCann shot a 5-under-par 67 to place third in the individual standings behind Kennedy's Brigham Stewart (64) and Cody Bell (66). Berry shot a 1-under 71 and tied for ninth.

"It's a good start to the season. It's great to do well individually," said McCann. "It was a good day for me, but we're looking to do better as a team."

McCann began his round with an eagle on the par-5 second hole, which measures 507 yards from the white tees. He drained a 10-foot putt for the eagle-3.

"That was a good start, and I just kept it going for the whole round," he said.

Clay Vieth shot a 5-over 77 for the Lions, but none of the other Linn-Mar golfers cracked 80. The Lions finished in sixth place in the 14-team field at 8-over-par 296.

Berry might have finished with a 69, but a wayward shot on the fourth hole led to a double-bogey that spoiled his round.

"It was a frustrating day. A lot of pars," he said. "I couldn't make the putts."

Berry won the 18-and-under title at the Pribyl golf tournament this month, setting the stage for what he hopes will be a good season with the Lions. "I had a pretty good tournament," he said.

The Mississippi Valley Conference begins the golf season with its Super Meet, bringing all 14 teams together just three days after the official start of practice.

"It's kind of a reality check to have it at the beginning, because you have to make sure your game is good all summer to prepare for one of the biggest meets of the year," said Berry.

Berry has been playing for Linn-Mar's varsity since he was a freshman and was a regular as a sophomore when the Lions went to the state tournament in 2009.

"Probably one of the stronger teams at Linn-Mar in years," he said. "We all played extremely bad at state and we were still in fifth place after the first day. That was a pretty strong team."

There were four seniors on that club in 2009. Now Berry and McCann are seniors, trying to get back.

"We should be pretty good this year," said Berry. "We should be pretty competitive."

MVC GOLF SUPER MEET

At Twin Pines
Par-72

Team Standings

1. Kennedy 274, 2. Hempstead 285, 3. Xavier 286, 4. Cedar Falls 287, 5. Iowa City High 294, 6. Linn-Mar 296, 7. Waterloo West 302, 8. Prairie 305, 9. Washington 307, 10. Jefferson 308, 11. Iowa City West 312, 12. Wahlert 329, 13. Dubuque Senior 337, 14. Waterloo East 374.

Top 10 Individuals

1. Brigham Stewart, Kennedy, 64; 2. Cody Bell, Kennedy, 66, 3. Tyler McCann, Linn-Mar, 67; 4. Brad Miehe, Hempstead, 68; 5. (tie) Jason Beer, Xavier, 69; Carson Hillery, Hempstead, 69; 7. (tie) Ben Sagers, Xavier, 70; Grant Simpson, Iowa City High, 70; 9. (tie) Tyler Berry, Linn-Mar, 71; Jacob Bermel, Cedar Falls, 71; Wil Hunemuller, Cedar Falls, 71; Jared Deines, Cedar Falls, 71.

Kennedy (274): Stewart 64, Bell 66, Martin 72, Wilding 72, Moore 73, Koberg 76.
Hempstead (285): Miehe 68, Hillery 69, Breitbach 74, Streff 74, Viertel 79, Vanderlee 82.
Xavier (286): Beer 69, Sagers 70, King 72, Thinnes 75, Junge 78, Keller 80.
Cedar Falls (287): Bermel 71, Hunemuller 71, Deines 71, Braun 74, Skarlis 80, Kloos 82.
Iowa City High (294): Simpson 70, Jordan 74, Duncan 75, Goddard 75, MacMillan 77, Bedford 79.
Linn-Mar (296): Ty McCann 67, Berry 71, Vieth 77, Tr McCann 81, McGovern 84, Gingrich 85.
Waterloo West (302): Jackson 73, T. Richter 75, Holton 76, Rafferty 78, S. Richter 78, Shirey 79.
Prairie (305): Edl 75, Snyder 76, Wagner 77, Digman 77, Smith 84, Kehoe 90.
Washington (307): Rodriguez 72, Bergstrom 75, Strand 80, Gothard 80, Hoyt 88, Classen WD.
Jefferson (308): Denny 74, Lehmkuhl 76, Willems 76, Williams 82, Jourdan 84, Otis 88.
Iowa City West (312): Haas 75, Muzzin 77, Federici 78, Lehnertz 82, Whitehead 85, Boysen 85.
Wahlert (329): Rapp 77, Smith 83, Siegert 83, Glab 86, McCaffery 87, Krueger 87.
Dubuque Senior (337): Jantsch 80, Grant 83, Dawson 85, Foley 89, Weeber 90, Wagner 95.
Waterloo East (374): Wilkinson 79, Frost 92, Scribner 100, Plummer 103, Kirchman 106, Bryant 108.