Knights open season with win in Monticello

Mother Nature was mostly kind on April 10 when the St. Michael-Albertville girls’ golf team opened the season in Monticello. Seventeen teams took to the course at the Monticello Country Club and the Knights were the cream of the crop.

Playing conditions were as nice as anyone could have hoped for this early in the season compared to the last couple of years.

Three teams separated themselves at the top. STMA beat Legacy Christian Academy by one stroke for first in the 18-hole invitational. The Knights shot 349, led by Abigail Labrador. Labrador finished fourth individually after she shot a team-low 82. Raquelle Nelson (Legacy Christian Academy) shot a meet-low 76.

Southwest Christian (352) took third. Rogers (fourth, 365) and Becker (fifth, 366) were the next closest Class AAA schools. Monticello, a Section 7-3A rival, finished ninth (389).

Three juniors, Martha Effertz, Faith Johnson and Renae Foster, scored inside the top 20 and won the tournament for the Knights. Effertz and Johnson (88) tied for 13th. Foster (91) tied for 20th.

Junior Maddie Tillman (97) and senior Lauryn Mikolich (116) also played for STMA. Team scores are made of their top four individual scorers.

STMA played against Buffalo, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka and Wayzata in a Lake Conference Meet at Wild Marsh Golf Club on Monday, after press deadline. On Wednesday, (after deadline) they played at Bluff Creek Golf Course. On Wednesday, April 24, the Knights play in the Alexandria Invitational starting at 10 a.m.