Simley High Girls Place Second in Conference Meet

It may not have been her "best round," but Jessica Pate still led the Simley High School girls golf team to a second place finish in the conference meet on Wednesday, edging out Hill-Murray by one stroke.

Pate notched a score of 96 and was named all-conference, as was teammate Maddy Urness, who shot a 100. The top 11 golfers earned all-conference honors at the meet, held at Phalen Park Golf Course in St. Paul.

“Not my best round,” said Pate. “Putting and chipping (were working) and then everything else was not working. I should have been about 10 strokes better. I need to work on my drives.”

Meet Results

Richfield senior Alex Westman won the battle Wednesday, while Tartan senior Rochelle Dotas won the war.

Westman shot an 85 to capture medalist honors in the Classic Suburban Conference girls golf meet. Dotas was second with an 85, but was still named the conference player of the year.

Mahtomedi won the team competition with a 400. Simley edged Hill Murray for second, 414-415.

“My goal was to do the best because I’ve been trying to get first in one of our tournaments,” said Westman. “But I was expecting it to go OK.  All my shots were going pretty straight, which was good. My putting was alright.”

This season, Westman set out to qualify for the state meet. She’ll get her chance May 31 and June 1 as Richfield competes in the section meet at the Ridges of Sand Creek course in Jordan.

Westman and Dotas waged a fierce battle Wednesday for medalist honors.

“I wanted to be undefeated in conference and I was so far,” said Dotas. “So it was kind of a letdown to not finish first. But it’s OK, I think I’m in first place points-wise. The back nine was hard on me, I shot well overall."

“I had a little trouble with the trees, as everyone did probably,” Dotas added. “And the rough was really thick, but my putting saved me.”

Dotas is aiming for top finishes in the section and state meets. Dotas has competed in the state tournament the last two years, finishing 22nd at state last season.

“I want to be the first individual to qualify for sections, because they take the first five girls and I want to be all state this year,” Dotas said.

Emmy Saxon topped the Henry Sibley golfers with a 110.

Maddy Hanson of Richfield also earned all conference with a score of 106.

Team scores: 1. Mahtomedi 400. 2. Simley 414. 3. Hill Murray 415. 4. Tartan 432. 5. Richfield 436. 6. South St. Paul 437. 7. North St. Paul 450. 8. Henry Sibley 490.

Individual medalist: Alex Westman, 83.

Simley scores: Jessica Pate, 96; Maddy Urness, 100; Maria Paulson, 108; Kaitlin Pfeffer, 110; Riley Swenson, 110; Hailey Ewers, 128.

Tartan scores: Rochelle Dotas, 85; Alexis Chau, 114; Madelyn Miller, 116; Jessica Yang, 117; Holly Wilson, 135; Victoria Yapel, 144.

Richfield scores: Alex Westman, 83; Maddy Hanson, 106; Sophie Webster, 118; Madison Andrews, 126; Katie LaBelle, 128.

Henry Sibley scores: Emmy Saxon, 110; Alex Van Bogart, 126; Hannah Thompson, 128; Laura Hartley, 133; Mariah Thompson, 126; Amy Weispfenning, 151.