Blue Jays place third at region meet

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Maria LeFevre placed ninth at the West Region Tournament on Monday in Mandan. The Blue Jays placed third as a team and qualified for state. Dean Kraft For The Sun

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On Monday, Sierra Bennion wasn’t able to recapture the magic of her Sept. 11 performance at Prairie West Golf Course in Mandan.

Still, the Jamestown High School freshman was among the best in the field, turning in an 82 to tie for second place at the West Region meet Monday in Mandan.

“She wasn’t as sharp as she was when we were there a couple of weeks ago,” JHS coach Dean Kraft said. “I think she struggled a little bit putting. She had 38 putts, that’s way too much. There were too many bogeys coming after good drives.”

Jamestown carded a 388, which is nine strokes better than its best finish of the season. The score was good for third place, behind Bismarck Century (339) and Dickinson (374). Dickinson’s Rachel Jahner was the medalist with a 75.

“It was a great day for us,” said Kraft, who was honored as West Region co-coach of the year. “It’s the culmination of a lot of effort to get some very inexperienced players ready to play at the end of the year.”

Bennion’s performance wasn’t her season best. Remarkably, everyone else’s was.

The remaining five Blue Jays either bettered or tied their best mark of the year, led by Maria LeFevre and her 88. Both LeFevre, a junior, and Bennion were named to the all-West Region tournament team for the second straight year.

“This is two years in a row that (Maria) has made top 10 at the region tournament,” Kraft said. “Her game has really come together last couple of weeks. She’s narrowing the golf course.”

Caitlin Mullowney followed with a 108, and Sarah Azure fired a 110. Mara LeFevre (113) and Savannah Kramlich (130) rounded out the Blue Jays’ scoring.

“I thought (Savannah) really stuck it out,” Kraft said. “There’s good things to say about all our players.”

The state meet is at the same course and starts on Monday.

West Region Tournament

At Prairie West, Mandan

5,452 yards, Par 72

Team results

(Top 5 qualify for state)

1, Bismarck Century 339; 2, Dickinson 374; 3, Jamestown 388; 4, Mandan 393; 5, Bismarck 401; 6, Minot 405; 7, Williston 433.

Individual results

(Top 10 qualify for state)

1, Rachel Jahner, Dickinson, 72; 2, Alex Hopkins, Century, 82; T2, Sierra Bennion, JHS, 82; 4, Kayla Barke, Williston, 84; 5T, Alex Leidholm, Century, 85; 5T, Lindsay Reede, Century, 85; 7, Annie Nelson, Century, 87; 8, Riana Cooper, DHS, 87; 9, Maria LeFevre, JHS, 88; 10, Sydnie Mongeon, Mandan, 90; 11, Bri Flynn, Century, 91; 12, Katie Kasper, BHS, 92; 13, Kayla Helbling, Mandan, 94; 14, Gretta Gilge, BHS, 96; 15, Rachel Lantz, DHS, 97.

Other JHS results

T23, Kaitlin Mullonwey, 108; 28, Sarah Azure, 110; 30, Mara LeFevre, 113; 42, Savannah Kramlich, 130.

Sun sports writer Chris Aarhus can be reached at (701) 952-8462 or by email at caarhus@jamestownsun.com

Tags: sports, jays, golf