Watertown Invite: Three weeks left, three takeaways for the Arrow girls golf team

Head coach Zach Wevik feels Watertown High School's girls golf team is capable of making a strong finish to the 2022 season.

The Arrows hosted the Watertown Invitational on Tuesday at Cattail Crossing Golf Course and shot 365 to finished third behind Aberdeen Central (323) and Harrisburg (335) in the seven-team meet, which included a second team of Watertown golfers.

Harrisburg's Reese Jansa shot a 2-over 74 on the Yellow and Red nines and earned medalist honors by three shots.

With only three weeks remaining before the state Class AA tourney, here's three takeaways for the Arrows.

On course with preseason expectations

In the preseason, Wevik said a good goal for his squad was top-6 finish at state. Aberdeen Central, Harrisburg, Rapid City Stevens, Mitchell and Sioux Falls O'Gorman have solidified themselves as the top 5 teams.

The battle is more wide open after that.

Watertown plays Thursday in the Brookings Invite at the Brookings Country Club and will head to Pierre Tuesday for the Eastern South Dakota Conference tournament before concluding its season June 6-7 in the state tourney at Brookings.

"It's going to be tough for us to catch those top 5 teams, but there's a mix of us in the 6-10 range who are all pretty even," said Wevik. "We've probably been closer to 9 or 10 than 6, but we just haven't put it together yet. In a two-day format for state, along with our familiarity with Brookings, that maybe can help us a little bit."

Zebroski keeps leading the way

Tuesday's home meet gave Wevik the opportunity to have 11 Watertown players compete and the team's final lineup has not been finalized for Tuesday's Eastern South Dakota Conference tournament.

One player who will be the lineup, barring unforeseen circumstances, is Riley Zebroski. She has been the Arrows' leader all season and did it again Tuesday by placing fourth with a 79. She battled Jansa and runner-up Bryn Huber of Huron to the wire before taking a 9 on a hole.

"Riley has been finding herself in the top 3 in almost every single meet and there she was Tuesday battling against Jansa (the No. 1 player in the state), Huber and other good golfers from Aberdeen and Harrisburg," said Wevik. "Riley has solidified herself as a top 5 golfer in the state. It's been fun to watch her progress as the years have gone on and also as this year has gone on."

Sisters Shelby and Natalie Pearson, Jordyn Geerdes, Samantha Anderson and Aspen Reynolds also represented the top Watertown team on Tuesday. Maia VanLaecken, Ellie Zink, Rylie Redlin, Avery Palmquist and Hannah Loehrer played with the second team.

"We've had eight girls play a varsity meet this year and our 2-8 golfers have all had good rounds and have really struggled in some  others," said Wevik. "They're all very similar in ability and that's a good thing, because it's created some competition."

Picking up the pace

The spring season got out to a slow start for the Arrows, who didn't get much of a chance to practice for much  of April because of the weather.

Better weather has led to a busy schedule and more practice time, which has also led to improve scores.

"We've played a lot in the last two weeks. We had two meets last week and should have three this week and we've also been able to get out every single day to practice," said Wevik.

"Our scores have bounced around, but our team scores have dropped. It's just a matter of us putting it all together. We just need to find a way to get a couple of other girls into the 80s, or for sure the low 90s."

Watertown Invitational

• Team Scores — Aberdeen Central 323, Harrisburg 335, Watertown 365, Pierre 369, Brookings 375, Watertown Purple 395, Huron 422.

• Top 10 Golfers — 1. Reese Jansa, Harrisburg, 37-37—74; 2. Bryn Huber, Huron, 39-38—77; 3. Leah Gough, Aberdeen Central, 41-38—79; 4. Riley Zebroski, Watertown, 40-39—79; 5. Emma Dohrer, Aberdeen Central, 40-39—79; 6. Olivia Braun, Aberdeen Central, 39-42—81; 7. Mattie Weidenbach, Harrisburg, 40-42—82; 8. Kyley Wirebaugh, Aberdeen Central, 41-43—84; 9. Ashton Austreim, Brookings, 43-43—86; 10. Izzy Driscoll, Harrisburg, 44-43—87.

• Other Arrows — 18. Shelby Pearson 48-46—94; 20. Maia VanLaecken 50-45—95; 21. Natalie Pearson 47-48—95; 23. Jordyn Geerdes, 48-49—97; 24. Ellie Zink 44-53—97; 28. Rylie Redlin 47-53—100; 31. Samantha Anderson, 55-48—103; 32. Avery Palmquist 53-50—103; 33. Aspen Reynolds 52-52—104; 36. Hannah Loehrer, 56-63­—119.

James Valley Christian Invite

HURON — Medalist Bailey Landmark carried Deubrook Area to the girls division title and De Smet won a tiebreaker to take the boys division on Tuesday in the James Valley Christian Invite at the Broadland Creek Golf Course.

Landmark shot a to win the girls division by four shots over teammate Abby Olson. Deubrook Area shot 292 and won the team title by 23 shots.

De Smet and Ipswich each shot 247s in the boys division. Luke Peterson of Ipswich won a scorecard playoff over Kalen Garry of De Smet for medalist honors. Peterson and Garry each shot 76s.

• Girls Division Team Scores — Deubrook Area 292, Howard 315, James Valley Christian and De Smet each 343, Wessington Springs 352, Webster Area 358.

• Girls Top 10 — 1. Bailey Landmark, Deubrook Area, 42-50—92; 2. Abby Olson, Deubrook Area, 48-48—96; 3. Jadyn McDonald, Chester Area, 48-50—98; 4. Mia Glanzer, Howard, 53-46—99; 5. Jacie McCune, De Smet, 50-51—101; 6. Piper Thompson, Howard, 49-53—102; 7. Kamryn Landmark, Deubrook Area, 52-52­—104; 8. Sophia Borras, Wessington Springs, 55-50—105; 9. Dayton Easton, Sanborn Central-Woonsocket, 48-57—105; 10. Belle Niederbaumer,  James Valley Christian, 53-57—110.

• Boys Division Team Scores — De Smet and Ipswich 247 (De Smet won tiebreaker), Chester Area 256, Webster Area 263, Howard 268, Doland 280, Wessington Springs 282, Sanborn Central-Woonsocket 293, James Valley Christian 297, Deubrook Area 303.

• Boys Top 10 — 1. Luke Peterson, Ipswich, 38-38­—76 (won scorecard playoff); 2. Kalen Garry, De Smet, 35-41—76; 3. Blaize Amdahl, Webster Area, 41-40­—81; 4. Chet Peterson, Ipswich, 42-40—82; 5. Rett Osthus, De Smet, 41-42—83; 6. Lane Hodges, Howard, 46-38—84; 7. Chase McDonald, Chester Area, 39-45—84; 8. Ashton Olivier, Chester Area, 44-41—85; 9. Blake Larson, Wessington Springs, 47-40­—87; 10. Preston Dorow, Chester Area, 44-43­—87.