The members of the Xavier High School golf team thought Monday might be a good day for one of them to fire an eagle at Twin Pines.

They were wrong. Three of them did.

The Saints rode their surge of eagles to a 26-shot bulge in the race for top honors in the Valley Division of the Mississippi Valley Conference standings.

Xavier has a 36-hole total of 588 for a 26-shot lead over Linn-Mar heading into the final round at Hunters Ridge on Sept. 24.

Matt Junge, Ben Sagers and John Drahozal all shot eagle-3's on par-5 holes. Junge and Sagers collected their eagles on the 502-yard 11th hole while Drahozal got his eagle on the 455-yard 13th hole.

Junge rode his eagle to an even-par 72 to finish second in the individual standings Monday. Greg Lange of Wahlert topped the field with a 2-under 70.

"The eagle on 11 took me from 1-over to 1-under, so that's what helped," said Junge.

Junge reached the green in two shots, then sunk a long putt. "It was about 35 feet. So a nice putt," he said. "Pretty straight. A little right to left.

"I actually thought I left it short. But they cut the greens and rolled them, so it got there just by that much."

Junge and Sagers are tied for first place in the individual Valley standings after 36 holes at 144. Sagers shot a 68 at the MVC Super Meet Aug. 9 and followed with a 76 Monday, while Junge has fired a 72 in both rounds.

Junge needed only 28 putts Monday to continue his string of success. He won the CRANDIC title last week and has played well this season.

"I've always hit it pretty good this year, but I've started to putt well lately, especially today, which is kind of big news for me," he said.

The Saints posted five of the top-8 scores Monday to beat Linn-Mar by 12 strokes. Junge shot his 72, Robbie Thinnes had a 74 and Sagers, Drahozal and John Ingwersen all finished with 76's.

"I couldn't be more pleased," said Xavier Coach Tim O'Brien. "We're coming together as a team and I'm pretty happy about that."

Trevor McCann of Linn-Mar shot a 4-over 76 Monday and sits in fourth place in the Valley Division standings with a 36-hole total of 148. Dominic Rodriguez of Washington also shot a 76 Monday and is tied for seventh overall at 153.

Thinnes is sitting in fifth place at 149 and Drahozal is tied for seventh at 153.

VALLEY DIVISION
At Twin Pines Golf Course

Team Standings
1. Xavier 298, 2. Linn-Mar 310, 3. Wahlert 312, 4. Waterloo West 314, 5. Washington 315, 6. Prairie 315, 7. Cedar Falls 325.

36-Hole Totals
1. Xavier 588, 2. Linn-Mar 614, 3. Wahlert 617, 4. Waterloo West 628, 5. Washington 632, 6. Cedar Falls 634, 7. Prairie 641.

Top 10 Individuals
36-Hole Totals
1. Ben Sagers, Xavier        68-76--144
2. Matt Junge, Xavier        72-72--144
3. Greg Lange, Wahlert       76-70--146
4. Trevor McCann, Linn-Mar   72-76--148
5. Robbie Thinnes, Xavier    75-74--149
6. Alec Braun, Cedar Falls   73-78--151
7. Charlie Smith, Wahlert    76-77--153
8. John Drahozal, Xavier     77-76--153
9. Dominic Rodriguez, Wash   77-76--153
10. Will Shirey, West        75-78--153

Monday's Results

XAVIER (298): Matt Junge 72, Robbie Thinnes 74, Ben Sagers 76, John Ingwersen 76, John Drahozal 76, Jordan Even 82.

LINN-MAR (310): Trevor McCann 76, Jacob Sevcik 78, Elliott Siefert 78, Drew McGovern 78, Kile Bean 79, Jason Gingrich 82.

WASHINGTON (315): Dominic Rodriguez 76, Matt Strand 78, Austin Bergstrom 78, Jon Landis 83, Zach Gothard 84, Evan Jankwietz 87.

PRAIRIE (315): Matt Edl 78, Harry Knutson 78, Collin Vondracek 78, Drew Digman 81, Cal Clark 81, Blake Seda 86.