Jahner wins medalist at West Region

• Rachel Jahner

Courtesy Photo by Kari Jahner Dickinson junior Rachel Jahner watches her tee shot during the West Region Tournament on Monday at Prairie West Golf Course in Mandan. Jahner won medalist shooting a 75.

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MANDAN — Dickinson junior Rachel Jahner has finished second in five consecutive girls golf tournaments after one medalist finish this season.

Now, she can make that two medalist wins. The newest came at a very good time too.

“Throughout the season, I kept taking second and I couldn’t quite get that first place,” Jahner said. “It just came at the right time in the season.”

Jahner fired a 75 to win the West Region Tournament to lead the field and help the Midgets to a second-place finish as a team on Monday at Prairie West Golf Course.

“Rachel has been having a great year and she’s been playing really well,” said Sara Berglund, Dickinson High’s first-year head coach. “She really stepped it up today.”

The junior from Dickinson Trinity was consistent.

She finished with 15 pars and three bogeys on her scorecard.

“My putting really saved me,” Jahner said. “I putted so well today and I was hitting my driver really well too.”

Jahner’s teammate and fellow junior Riana Cooper shot an 87 for a tie for seventh place with Century’s Annie Nelson.

While Cooper wasn’t exactly happy with her performance, she and the rest of the Midgets get another shot at Prairie West Golf Course, the site of the two-day Class A girls state tournament that starts on Oct. 1.

“She knows next week she’ll be able to improve on certain areas,” Berglund said. “I think putting is an area that she wanted to improve on.”

Bismarck Century placed first as a team with a score of 339, while Dickinson came in second with a 374 and Jamestown was in third with a 388. The top five teams make it to the state tournament. Mandan (393) and Minot (401) rounded out the top five.

Century’s Alex Hopkins and Jamestown’s Sierra Bennion finished in a tie for second with an 82, while Williston’s Kayla Barke placed third with an 84.

Dickinson’s Rachel Lantz shot a 97, Kelsey Yon had a 115, Katherine Kessel added a 117 and Sydney Charchenko supplied a 118. Berglund was pleased with the performance from Lantz, who had been trying to get under that 100 mark.

“We’re really happy for Rachel Lantz, because she’s been around the 101 to 104 mark all season and she finally broke a 100,” Berglund said. “She played really well and she’s come a long ways.”

The Midgets have about a week of practice before traveling back to Mandan for the Class A girls state golf tournament. Berglund said being so familiar with the course should be beneficial.

“We’re getting a lot of experience playing this course,” Berglund said. “We’re just hoping we can continue to improve, especially around the greens. The greens are very quick and that’s really where they are going to score, is in their short game.”

Tags: high school golf, dickinson midgets, sports, golf