Linn-Mar Girls Golf

Lions 5th at MVC Meet

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.

Lions finish 2nd at Gardner

Linn-Mar's Dionna Jensen shot a 45 to finish in a third-place tie in the medalist race, but the Lions and Washington were overwhelmed by Cedar Falls in a girls golf triangular meet at Gardner.

Cedar Falls won the meet with a 180 and the Tigers' Sonja Przybylski and Samantha Heinen were co-medalists with 44s.

CEDAR FALLS (180): Sonja Przybylski 44, Samantha Heinen 44, Megan Brewer 45, Allison Rolinger 47

LINN-MAR (199): Dionna Jensen 45, Emma Lorenz 51, Sarah Tegtmeier 51, Rachel Thrune 52

CR WASHINGTON (230): Dani Willson 53, Abbey Overland 58, Alex Stephens 58, September Fuller 61

Lions 3rd at Cougar Invite

Kimmy Askelson shot a 36 Monday to help Xavier win a five-team meet at Ellis Golf Course.

Xavier nipped Western Dubuque, 183-185, for the title.

Megan Furnish of Jefferson finished second with a 38.

Teams -- 1. Xavier 183, 2. Western Dubuque 185, 3. Linn-Mar 194, 4. Jefferson 197, 5. Kennedy 199.

Xavier (183): Kimmy Askelson 36, Maddie Bertsch 45, Grace Winker 49, Lisa Olberding 53.

Western Dubuque (185): Molly Lembezeder 43, Jill Snyder 46, Stephanie Then 47, Rochelle Beardsley 49.

Linn-Mar (194): Julie Pople 44, Emma Lorenz 50, Dionna Jensen 50, Sarah Tegtmeier 50.

Jefferson (197): Megan Furnish 38, Emily Aukes 48, Leah Grow 53, Hillary Harriman 58.

Kennedy (199): Ali Lindo 44, Haley Corkery 47, Paige Ermer 53, Sadie Schultz 55.

Lions 4th at CRANDIC

Megan Furnish missed qualifying for the Class 4A state golf tournament by a single shot last year, but it looks like she could be on course for a trip this season.

Furnish won top honors at the CRANDIC meet Wednesday and helped Cedar Rapids Jefferson claim the team championship on a cold, gray day at Hunters Ridge Golf Course in Marion.

Furnish fired a 7-over-par 79 on the 5,090-yard layout to beat Madison Goodfellow of Iowa City West by one stroke. Kimmy Askelson of Xavier finished third at 89 in the blustery conditions.

The golfers wore jackets, hats and mittens in an effort to keep warm with the temperature in the low 40s and the wind-chill lower than that. It was not a day for low scores, but Furnish topped the field of 49 golfers from nine schools.

"It shows a lot of character and heart," Jefferson Coach Dan Ray said. "She came off the front-9 with a 42 and I could tell she wasn't satisfied."

Furnish shot a 1-over-par 37 on the back-9 for the title. "That's tough to do under these conditions," Ray said.

Furnish had to beat the elements before she could beat the rest of the golfers.

"Try to stay positive and stay focused on the ball, not the weather," she said. "I tried to focus on my shots, not the other people. Stay positive, stay focused, and my putting came around a little better."

Furnish was paired with Askelson and Emma Lorenz of Linn-Mar. Askelson finished fourth in the Class 4A state tournament last year and has signed with Drake, but she struggled with a lingering calf injury and shot 43-46 for her 89.

Askelson had a pair of triple-bogey 7s on her card and a triple-bogey 8, hardly a typical day for the Xavier ace. She tore a muscle in her right calf last season and it bothered her Wednesday in the cold air.

"It was miserable," Askelson said 20 minutes after her round, her hands still cold. "It was really cold and it looked like it was going to rain all day, but it didn't. It was windy. Just not golf weather."

Furnish had a double-bogey 6 on the second hole, but otherwise avoided serious trouble.

"She's a student of the game," Ray said. "She knows her yardage, she knows the club she wants to hit.

"She's a hard worker," he said. "She really puts a lot into her game and stays the extra time after practices. She's very coachable and willing to learn, and it's all paying off for her."

Furnish, a junior at Jefferson, would like to play golf in college in two years. "I'm definitely looking at some colleges," she said. "I like Missouri State, and Iowa is definitely a possibility. I'd like to stay around the Midwest."

Furnish is aiming for the state tournament this year, and she'd like to do much more than just qualify.

"She has set her goal high," Ray said. "She wants to win state."

Jefferson won the CRANDIC team championship with a four-girl total of 393 shots. Xavier placed second at 399.

CRANDIC GOLF MEET
 At Hunters Ridge

Team Standings

1. Jefferson 393, 2. Xavier 399, 3. Iowa City West 403, 4. Linn-Mar 406, 5. Iowa City High 414, 6. Prairie 441, 7. Kennedy 449, 8. Washington 450, 9. Marion 457.

Top 5 Individuals
 Par-72

1. Megan Furnish (CRJ) 79, 2. Madison Goodfellow (ICW) 80, 3. Kimmy Askelson (CRX) 89, 4. Emma Lorenz (LM) 94, 5. (tie) Ali Lindo (CRK) 95, Alyssa Adamec (ICW) 95.

 JEFFERSON (393): Megan Furnish 79, Leah Groe 101, Hillary Harriman 104, Emily Aukes 109.
 XAVIER (399): Kimmy Askelson 89, Lisa Olberding 98, Grace Winker 100, Maddie Bertsch 112.
 IOWA CITY WEST (403): Madison Goodfellow 80, Alyssa Adamec 95, Madyson Boardman 114, Olivia Ewing 114.
 LINN-MAR (406): Emma Lorenz 94, Julie Pople 102, Sarah Tegtmeier 102, Dionna Jensen 108.
 IOWA CITY HIGH (414): Elizabeth Wheeler 100, Katherine vanderWoude 102, Rachel Stewart 106, Mackenzie Mertens 106.
 PRAIRIE (441): Jehri Wagner 104, Alyssa Beisker 106, Emily Perrin 115, Kerstin Flugum 116.
 KENNEDY (449): Ali Lindo 95, Paige Ermer 113, Sadie Schultz 115, Haley Corkery 126.
 WASHINGTON (450): Abbey Overland 101, Katie Rohde 108, Becca Herron 115, Alex Stephens 126.
 MARION (457): Ashley Reed 108, Heather McGuire 111, Alicia Livingston 117, Brooke Eichelberger 121.