Carding seven rounds under 400, repeating as Northern Pines Conference champs and qualifying for the Section 8AA tournament highlighted a successful season for the Park Rapids girls golf team.
A total of 17 golfers competed in a varsity match this season. That group featured seniors Mariena Dearstyne, Alyza Edevold, Dana McDonald, Lexi Stevenson, MacKenzie Hensel and Talya Smith; juniors Drew Hilmanowski, Madison Steffel and Jasmine Cease; sophomores Olivia Wallace, Olivia McDonald and Amber Schroeder; and freshmen Chloe Johnson, Madison Johnson, Paige Leeseberg, Kinley Nordin and Olivia Ulvin.
In the 12 18-hole tournaments, the Panthers broke the 400 mark seven times, including in the final four meets.
Park Rapids opened the season by placing sixth at the Moorhead Invitational with a 425. Dearstyne (100), Hilmanowski (102), Dana McDonald (110) and Olivia McDonald (113) led the way. Moorhead took first in the six-team field with a 386.
At the Walker-Hackensack-Akeley Invitational at Tianna, the Panthers finished third out of 10 teams with a 471 behind Madison Johnson (117), Nordin (117), Chloe Johnson (118) and Steffel (118). Fosston took first with a 407.
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Dearstyne (93), Edevold (96), Hilmanowski (98) and Wallace (99) all carded rounds under 100 as the Panthers carded a 386 to place sixth at the 15-team Bemidji Invitational. Pequot Lakes led the field with a 346.
Dearstyne's 91 led the Panthers to eighth place at the 17-team Park Rapids Invitational at Headwaters Golf Club with a 393. Hilmanowski's 97, Wallace's 101, and a pair of 104s by Dana McDonald and Olivia McDonald rounded out the team score. Park Rapids' JV carded a 431 behind Chloe Johnson (101), Madison Johnson (107), Schroeder (108) and Steffel (115). Detroit Lakes took first with a 327.
Hilmanowski's 92 led the way as the Panthers carded a 402 to finish sixth at the 12-team Wadena-Deer Creek Invitational. Dearstyne (101), Edevold (102) and Wallace (107) completed the team score. Detroit Lakes carded a 329 to finish first.
Detroit Lakes carded a 326 to win the title at the 13-team Staples-Motley Invitational. The Panthers took 10th with a 438 as Dearstyne (105), Dana McDonald (109), Schroeder (111) and Wallace (113) led the way.
At the Mid-State Conference meet at Wadena, the Panthers finished third with a 378 as Dana McDonald (91), Dearstyne (93) and Hilmanowski (94) carded rounds under 100. Edevold's 100 completed the team score. Detroit Lakes repeated as conference champs with a 322.
Hensel (114), Nordin (115), Madison Johnson (118) and Steffel (118) led the Panthers to a 465 for third place at the 10-team Longbow Invitational. Fosston led the field with a 372.
Park Rapids carded a 384 for fifth place at the Detroit Lakes Invitational behind Dearstyne's 87, Hilmanowski's 93, Olivia McDonald's 100 and a pair of 104s by Edevold and Wallace. Detroit Lakes topped the 12-team field with a 307.
Crookston claimed the title at the North Section 8AA tournament at Headwaters with a 366 as the Panthers finished third with a 389 to qualify for the section tournament. Thief River Falls was second with a 387. Dearstyne (91), Hilmanowski (93), Edevold (99), Olivia McDonald (106), Wallace (107) and Dana McDonald (109) led the Panthers.
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Park Rapids ended the season by placing sixth at the Section 8AA tournament at Bemidji with rounds of 393 and 372 for a 765. Detroit Lakes won the section title with rounds of 328 and 315 for a 643 while Pequot Lakes took second with a 702. Crookston (709), Perham (711) and Thief River Falls (747) followed. Detroit Lakes went on to win the state Class AA title.
Dearstyne led the Panthers with rounds of 91 and 89 for a 180, Hilmanowski carded rounds of 102 and 90 for a 192, Dana McDonald had a 195 with rounds of 99 and 96, and Edevold carded rounds of 101 and 105 for a 206. Wallace (110 and 97) carded a 207 while Olivia McDonald carded a pair of 109s for a 218.
While the Panthers failed to qualify an individual for state, they did dominate the Northern Pines Conference by winning five of the six meets and scoring 6 points as 12 different golfers competed in conference play. Red Lake was second with 18 points.
In the season opener at Blueberry Pines, the Panthers carded a nine-hole score of 150 as Dearstyne earned medalist honors with a 49. Dana McDonald's 50 and a pair of 51s by Edevold and Wallace rounded out the three-player team score.
Dearstyne was again the medalist at Headwaters with a 43 as a pair of 47s by Hilmanowski and Wallace led to a winning team score of 137.
At Tianna, Dearstyne tied for medalist honors with a 48 as the Panthers took first with a 152. Olivia McDonald and Chloe Johnson had 52s to complete the team score.
Hilmanowski claimed medalist honors at Cass Lake with a 44 as the Panthers again took first with a 140. Olivia McDonald's 47 and Wallace's 49 rounded out the team score.
United North Central won the fifth meet at Blackduck with a 153 as the Panthers took second with a 156 behind Nordin's 50, Chloe Johnson's 52 and Stevenson's 54.
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Park Rapids ended the conference season at Castle Highlands with a winning score of 139 as Dearstyne earned medalist honors with a 44. Hilmanowski's 46 and a pair of 49s by Edevold and Wallace completed the team score.
Dearstyne led the conference with a 46.0 average in four meets while Hilmanowski was second with a 47.5 average in four meets. Wallace had a 49.0 average in four meets for fourth place while Olivia McDonald had a 50.3 average in four meets to place sixth. All four earned all-conference First Team honors. Edevold was eighth with a 51.0 average in four meets while Dana McDonald was ninth with a 51.0 average in four meets to earn all-conference Second Team honors.
For the season, Dearstyne finished with a 94.1 average in 10 18-hole rounds while Hilmanowski was second with a 95.7 average in nine rounds. Also playing at least nine 18-hole rounds were Edevold (103.3 average in nine rounds), Dana McDonald (104.1 average in nine rounds), Wallace (105.5 average in 10 rounds) and Olivia McDonald (109.7 average in nine rounds).
Hilmanowski was named the Panthers' MVP, Dana McDonald was named Most Dedicated and Olivia McDonald was named Most Improved.
"I thought the season went pretty well. We accomplished most of our goals by breaking 400 several times, winning the Northern Pines Conference and qualifying for the section tournament," said Park Rapids head coach Walt Harrison. "It was disappointing not to get anyone to state, but a lot of kids had an opportunity to play in a varsity match and we shot our best score of the season in our last tournament."
Looking ahead to next season, the Panthers have to replace six golfers, including three from the section team. But Harrison is counting on the Panthers to once again card rounds under 400, defend the Northern Pines Conference title and have a shot at returning to the section tournament next season.
"It's going to be tough to replace the seniors, but we have some dedicated players coming back," said Harrison. I look for the younger kids to keep improving and continue to see their scores come down. It depends on how much they play this summer, but I'm expecting another good season next year. I'm looking forward to it."
