MJ Kamin is naturally excited about joining the women's golf team at Iowa State next year, but she's not ready to be tugged toward Ames just yet.

Kamin wants to enjoy her final season at Cedar Rapids Washington and take a shot at winning the Class 5A state title in June.

She's off to a good start.

Kamin fired a 5-over-par 77 on a gray, blustery day at Twin Pines Wednesday to win the CRANDIC championship by two strokes over Maddie Bertsch of Xavier.

The Xavier Saints claimed the team title with Bertsch, Grace Winker and Catie Locher all finishing in the top 10.

It's been a rough spring for all the golfers with unseasonably cold temperatures. Wednesday was only slightly better, with the thermometer stuck near 50, but Kamin tamed the conditions in her first competitive 18-hole round of the season.

"I'm really proud of how I played," she said.

Kamin finished with 11 pars, six bogeys and a birdie on the 11th hole, despite not being entirely on top of her game due to the lack of serious practices.

"If I can get better from here, I'd be happy with that," she said. "I do think as the year goes on, now that it gets nicer and I get more practice time in, I'll be able to shoot lower more consistently."

Kamin placed sixth at the state meet last year. She'd like to aim for the top this time around at the Elmwood Country Club in Marshalltown June 2-3.

"I would say that's probably the ultimate goal, but I've got to focus on getting there first," she said. "It's not going to be easy to get there. Then once I get there - once our regional is over - I can bear down and focus on it."

Kamin is looking forward to wearing the cardinal-and-gold with the ISU Cyclones in Ames next year.

"I'm excited, but I'm also excited for my senior year," she said. "We're just getting started. I'm excited to be playing and I'm excited for college, too. That will come eventually."

Kamin had a steady hand with her putter Wednesday.

"I tallied 27 putts total, which is good," she said. "And a lot of those, I was just off the green, kind of putting from a foot or two off. I was able to hit a lot of those close and that really helped me out."

Xavier won the tournament with a four-girl score of 347. Bertsch placed second with her 7-over 79, Grace Winker tied for third with an 84 and Catie Locher finished ninth with a 91. The Saints topped Iowa City West by six shots.

Lauren Coughlin helped Linn-Mar finish fourth out of nine teams with an 85, good for a tie for fifth place. Sierra Hargens led Kennedy with a 92.

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Xavier 347, 2. Iowa City West 353, 3. Washington 368, 4. Linn-Mar 374, 5. Kennedy 391, 6. Prairie 400, 7. Iowa City High 408, 8. Marion 453, 9. Jefferson 458.

TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS

Par-72

1. MJ Kamin, Washington         77

2. Maddie Bertsch, Xavier       79

3. Grace Winker, Xavier         84

Sarah Overton, IC High       84

5. Lauren Coughlin, Linn-Mar    85

Tiffany Danger, IC           85

7. Olivia Ewing, IC West        88

8. Avery Kout, IC West          90

9. Catie Locher, Xavier         91

10.Sierra Hargens, Kennedy      92

Mackenzie Marsh, IC West     92

XAVIER: Maddie Bertsch 79, Grace Winker 84, Catie Locher 91, Kara Zwanziger 93, Amy Olberding 97, Melanie Wetzberger 105.

WASHINGTON: MJ Kamin 77, Brett Visser 96, Mady Goodwin 97, Kandis O'Donnell 98, Grace Claassen 108, Anna Rohde 112.

LINN-MAR: Lauren Coughlin 85, Amanda Shannon 94, Katie Harding 95, Jordan Postma 100, Allie Cahill 105, Morgan Uridil 112.

KENNEDY: Sierra Hargens 92, Raemi Chavez 95, Val Davidson 100, Avery Haefner 104, Breanna Osterkamp 107, Erica Gouchee 117.

PRAIRIE: Emily Perrin 93, Emily Machula 99, Kennedy Fisher 102, Sydney Stolba 106, Grace Lindgren 113, Mallory Bennett 115.

MARION: Ashley Ohl 102, Anna Martinson 115, Kirsten Way 115, Carli Eichelberger 121, Haley Shaffer 123, Kayla Comried 128.

JEFFERSON: Regan Grekoff 109, Marisa Dobrochowski 114, Emily Smith 117, Cassidy Simpson 118, Holly Moershel 142.