OTTUMWA - Megan Furnish achieved her goal of qualifying for the Class 4A state golf tournament Monday by claiming medalist honors at the regional tournament in Ottumwa.

Now the Cedar Rapids Jefferson senior has a new goal for the state meet next week in Ankeny.

"I'd like to go out and win it, but I'll just go and do my best," she said after Monday's round.

Furnish fired an 8-over-par 80 at the Ottumwa Country Club to win the regional tournament by a comfortable six shots. Her next stop will be the state meet at Otter Creek Golf Course in Ankeny on May 29-30.

Cedar Rapids Washington sophomore MJ Kamin also qualified for the state meet by finishing fourth Monday with a 15-over 87 on the tough course and tricky greens.

Furnish has been one of the top golfers in Eastern Iowa during her prep career, but the state tournament eluded her until now. She was ineligible for varsity competition as a freshman because she open-enrolled at Jefferson from the Kennedy district, then missed qualifying for state as a sophomore and junior by a whisker both times.

"I'm so happy. All my hard work paid off," she said. "It's a good feeling."

Furnish struggled early Monday and was 4-over after three holes. "I started off a little slow," she said. "I tried to just stay focused."

Furnish played two practice rounds at the Ottumwa Country Club before tackling the course for real on Monday. "I think it definitely helped," she said.

The top five individuals and top two teams advance to the state meet. There were four regionals around the state on Monday.

Ottumwa won the regional title at 361 and West Des Moines Valley was second at 392. The Xavier Saints came close to qualifying for state but finished third at 395. The Linn-Mar Lions were fourth at 400.

Maddie Bertsch and Grace Winker both shot 91 for Xavier. Ali Lindo shot a 93 for Kennedy. Dionna Jensen shot a 94 for Linn-Mar.

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Ottumwa 361, 2. WDM Valley 392, 3. Xavier 395, 4. Linn-Mar 400, 5. Prairie 428, 6. Burlington 437, 7. Iowa City West 440, 8. Kennedy 449, 9. Washington 488, 10. Indianola 495.

INDIVIDUAL STATE QUALIFIERS

1. Megan Furnish, Jefferson          80
2. Darby Patritto, Ottumwa          86
3. Dani Duerschmidt, WDM Valley  86
4. MJ Kamin, Washington             87
5. Whitney Dostal, Ottumwa        88

XAVIER: Maddie Bertsch 91, Grace Winker 91, Lisa Olberding 105, Taylor Wertzberg 108.

LINN-MAR: Dionna Jensen 91, CJ Davis 101, Rachel Thrune 102, Julie Pople 106.

PRAIRIE: Kerstin Flugum 98, Konnor Griffth 108, Alyssa Beisker 111, Emily Perrin 111.

KENNEDY: Ali Lindo 93, Sadie Schultz 111, Raemi Chavez 120, Hannah Harberts 125.

WASHINGTON: MJ Kamin 87, Kandis O'Donnell 119, Elizabeth Stanczyk 134, Anna Rohde 148.

JEFFERSON: Megan Furnish 80, Emily Aukes 114.