Good day for team's best

GRAND ISLAND - The Scotus Central Catholic girls golf team picked the right time to fire its best 18-hole team score of the year.

The Shamrocks all shot season-best scores for a 394 to finish sixth after the first day of the Class C Girls State Golf Meet at Riverside Golf Course Monday.

“This is the best time to be doing that,” SCC coach Tanya Niedbalski said. “I'm very excited for the girls. After our district score, which was a 432, I was a little worried what we would do when we came down here. But they held it together, and now we'll see what happens (today).”

Battle Creek led the Class C race with a 373, five better than second-place Valentine. Crofton's Dana Merkel was the overall leader as she fired a 75.

Scotus' Jacy Gasper put herself in contention for a state medal. The freshman shot an 87 to be in a five-way tie for sixth. She felt her tee shots were what helped on the first day.

“My driver worked pretty well,” Gasper said. “It hadn't been doing well for me, but it did for me today.”

However, the two holes that Gasper would like to have back are holes 13 and 18, where she three-putted to finish with double-bogeys. If not for those two holes, the freshman feels her day might have been better, but she was still happy to be in the hunt for a medal.

“I always talk about finishing strong, and hole 18 was not finishing strong,” Gasper said. “But I'm still happy though. It always seems like I'm stuck in the ties, but that's still good enough.”

Other Shamrocks at the state meet include Sara Zywiec (101), Schalise Vancura and Liz Zabawa, who each carded a 103, and Jenna Roh with a 110.

The putting continued to be a problem for the Shamrocks. Beside Gasper's two three-putts, Zabawa missed two putts on 17, and the same with Zywiec on 16. Niedbalski said that has to change if SCC wants to lower its scores today.

“We can't afford to have any three putts. We have to put the ball in the hole,” Niedbalski said. “We have struggled with putting all season long. We just can't seem to put the ball in the hole on the green in one or two strokes.”

However, Niedbalski said she felt the girls were a little more relaxed this week than they were last week. The Shamrocks finished ahead of both Syracuse and Lincoln Lutheran, the two teams that beat Scotus at the C-1 district meet in Eagle last week.

“The girls were uptight and nervous, and I could tell that even before they teed off,” Niedbalski said. “(Monday), they were upbeat and looked like they were having fun. I told them that there is no pressure on us, just go out and have fun, and I think they did that today.”

Other golfers in Class C from the Telegram area who also participated in the state meet were Boone Central's Brooke Bolin, Humphrey St. Francis' Ashley Korth, and Fullerton's Shelby Wetovick. Bolin finished the day with a 94, while Korth shot a 95, and Wetovick carded a 106.

Class C State Golf

Monday at Riverside

� Team Standings-1. Battle Creek 373, 2. Valentine 378, 3. Gothenburg 386, 4. Perkins County 390, 5. Crofton 392, 6. Scotus Central Catholic 394, 7. Minden 409, 8. Kimball 413, 9. Omaha Brownell-Talbot 422, 10. Kearney Catholic 433, 11. Syracuse 439, 12. Hartington Cedar Catholic 439, 13. Lincoln Lutheran 446, 14. Norfolk Catholic 455, 15. Bridgeport 458.

� Individual Top 10-1. Dana Merkel, CRO, 75; 2. Samantha Nielsen, Superior, 77; 3. Katie Keiser, GOT, 80; 4T. Jordan Schaardt, Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer, 86; 4T. Amy Swearer, LL, 86; 6T. Stephanie Rodgers, SYR, 87; 6T. Kaitie Meyer, PC, 87; 6T. Allison Rowden, Broken Bow, 87; 6T. Kelsey Dredge, VAL, 87; 7T. Jacy Gasper, SCC, 87; 9. Paige Barry, BAT, 89; 10. Danielle Kuchar, BAT, 88.

� Scotus Results: Gasper 87; Sara Zywiec 101; Schalise Vancura 103; Liz Zabawa 103, Jenna Roh 110.

� Boone Central Results: Brooke Bolin 94.

� Fullerton Results: Shelby Wetovick 106.

� Humphrey St. Francis Results: Ashley Korth 95.