A state championship was never in doubt after the commanding lead the Heart River Cougars built on Monday at the Class B girls golf state tournament at CrossRoads Golf Course in Carrington.
The Cougars continued their strong play on Tuesday and wrapped up their second state title in school history with a team score of 665, blowing away the rest of the field. Second place went to Napoleon/G-S 27 strokes behind at 692.
The 22-stroke lead Heart River had after Monday’s round was too much for any team to come back from, and allowed the Cougars to relax a bit as the round began to close on Tuesday.
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“We came in with a 325 in the first round, beating our team state record by 16 strokes,” Heart River head coach Kirby Robb said. “We were so excited and the girls played so well yesterday. Usually we start off kind of slow but this year we took off running. We were ready to play golf.”
All-state honors were given out to individuals in the top ten. Heart River had a pair of all-state honorees who finished off their senior seasons in style.
Madisen Jarrett remained on top as the Cougars’ top golfer and finished in 6th at 160. She shot an 80 on Tuesday, two strokes behind her score from Monday. Her front nine score was a 42, three strokes back from her Monday score, but remained strong on the back nine with only two bogeys there.
She finished with one birdie and six bogeys on the day.
Joining Jarrett in earning all-state accolades was Grace Nantt. She shot a 42 on both the front and back nine. It was a big improvement for the senior from last year's state tournament, where she finished 22nd.
“We didn’t want to get too cocky after day one,” Nantt said. "It hit me about three holes out. Once hole 15 finished, I thought ‘we got this’ and it was very exciting.”
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But it wasn’t those two alone that secured the state title. Sophomore Molly Robb and junior Mackenzee Scheinder joined Jarrett and Nantt in finishing in the top 15. Third-place Linton/HMB were the only other team to have multiple finishers that high.
“It’s important for the younger grades to know they work just as hard as us and matter just as much as the older golfers,” Nantt said. “If they’re giving scores as a seventh-grader, they’ll be giving scores as a senior. It’s about not giving up and keeping your head in the game.”
Heart River had five different golfers win meets this year; a testament to the depth the Cougars had at their disposal this season.
Schneider fell from being in 6th after day one to a 15th place finish. Eighth-grader Megan Robb finished in 26. Freshman Grace Arthaud rounded out the field for the Cougars in 77th.
Over the past few years, Heart River has enjoyed plenty of success in Class B. They won a state championship in 2018, finished as runners-up this past spring , and are now champions again. Since 2015, they have never finished worse than 4th at the state tournament.
“We’re proud of our program,” Robb said. “Those state titles bring interest to our team and some people say, ‘we want to be a part of it.’”
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Jarrett and Scheider were a part of both championships and were able to end their high school careers on a high note.
With the NDHSAA moving the Class B girls golf season to the fall for the first time this year, it allowed the Cougars to continue playing throughout the summer and maintain the momentum they had from last year's second place finish.
“It was a lot better because we started in the spring, then practiced all summer, and it was good to go right into it all over again,” Jarrett said. “It was different having it in the fall but it was fun, other than having leaves all over the course.”
Jarrett and Nantt are the only two graduating seniors from the state tournament lineup.
FINAL RESULTS
TEAM SCORES - TOP 10
1 - Heart River, 665
2 - Napoleon/G-S, 692
3 - Linton/HMB, 709
4 - Kindred, 712
5 - Oak Grove, 723
6 - Grafton, 748
7 - Rugby, 779
8 - Carrington, 781
9 - Stanley, 788
10 - Des Lacs-Burlington, 790
INDIVIDUAL TOP 10
1 - Avery Bartels, Kindred, 145
2 - Ainsley McLain, Grafton, 146
3 - Sophie Brantner, Oak Grove, 157
4 - Lauryn Keller, Des Lacs-Burlington 157
5 - Libby Dulmage, Rugby, 158
6 - Madisen Jarrett, Heart River, 160
7 - Elle Nicholas, North Star, 161
8 - Erin Kelsch, Linton/HMB, 162
9 - Sophie Ketterling, Napoleon/G-S, 166
10 - Grace Nantt, Heart River, 166
HEART RIVER INDIVIDUAL
11 - Molly Robb, 167
15 - Mackenzee Schneider, 173
26 - Megan Robb, 181
76 - Grace Arthaud, 217
