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Hershberger, Scheevel have Fillmore Central atop state meet leaderboard

jason feldman, post-bulletin, rochester, minn.
·5 min read

Jun. 13—BECKER — Fillmore Central has the look of a team that's been here once or twice ... or eight times.

Two of its top stars, Courtney Hershberger and Myleigh Scheevel, had the same look on Tuesday. They came out firing in the opening round of the Class A girls golf state meet, both shooting rounds of 9-over-par 81 to sit in a tie for third place with one round to go.

Hershberger, a senior and a three-time Section 1A medalist, and Scheevel, a sophomore, are just two shots back of leader Raquelle Nelson of Legacy Christian Academy, and one shot back of second-place Kenna Henriksen of BOLD.

The strong opening round from the Falcons' top golfers has them in great position as a team.

Fillmore Central will enter Wednesday's final round with an eight-shot lead after shooting a 342 on Tuesday. Chloe Morem added an 88 Tuesday and is tied for 10th place, while Aubrey Larson and Lily Miller are tied for 16th after shooting 92. Anna Mensink rounded out the Falcons' lineup with a 99; she's in a tie for 43rd place.

The Falcons are at state for a ninth consecutive season after rolling to another Section 1A championship two weeks ago at Eastwood Golf Course in Rochester. Following that victory — Fillmore Central beat runner-up Hayfield by more than 100 strokes — Falcons coach Aaron Mensink hinted that this team might have the goods to compete for a state title.

The Falcons proved him to be correct on Tuesday. Their 342 is eight shots better than Lac qui Parle Valley's 350 and 14 better than Legacy Christian Academy's 356.

Hayfield senior Avery Towey shot the best score by a Section 1A golfer who's not from Fillmore Central. Towey carded an opening round 94 and is tied for 24th place.

—Fillmore Central had three players shoot in the 80s on Tuesday and two others came close. Hershberger and Scheevel's 81s, as well as Morem's 88, give the Falcons an eight-shot cushion going into the final round. They're looking to bring home the program's second state championship in Wednesday's final round, and first since 2016.

—Legacy Christian Academy sits 14 shots back of Fillmore Central entering the final round, but LCA has the top player on the individual leaderboard. Junior Raquelle Nelson got off to a rough start, with a quadruple-bogey on No. 1, followed by bogeys on Nos. 2 and 3, to sit 5-over after three holes. But she rallied nicely, making four birdies and seven pars the rest of the way to shoot 79, the only player to break 80 in the first round. BOLD's Kenna Henriksen birdied two of her final five holes to shoot 80 and sit one shot back. Fillmore Central's Hershberger and Scheevel are one more shot back, at 81, and tied for third.

—Fillmore Central sophomore Lily Miller was a master at saving strokes during her round of 92, which has her tied for 16th with teammate Aubrey Larson. Miller didn't make any birdies, but she also didn't shoot any big numbers that could inflate a score. She made nothing higher than a double bogey.

—Hayfield's Avery Towey rallied beautifully after a tough start. The Vikings' senior finished with a round of 94 and she's tied in 24th place, the best position of any Section 1A golfer outside of Fillmore Central. Towey's day started with a 9 on the par-4 10th, but she settled in after that and made nothing worse than a double bogey from that point on. Towey parred five of the first seven holes she played on her second nine, to shoot 41 on her back-nine.

—Fillmore Central's Myleigh Scheevel had four birdies in her round. Hayfield junior Kristen Watson had the next-most among Section 1 golfers. Watson birdied holes No. 11, 6 and 7 — she started her round on the back nine, so she birdied her second, 15th and 16th holes played — and finished with a 96, in a tie for 35th place. She birdied the 275-yard par-4 No. 11 hole, then did so again on the 97-yard, par-3 hole No. 6 and on the 295-yard, par-4 7th.

—Six of the teams in this year's field were also at state last year. Legacy Christian won the state championship in 2022, shooting rounds of 354-362—716. Fillmore Central placed fourth last year, with a score of 393-385 — 778.

—The defending state medalist, Emily Brandt of Legacy Christian, finished with a 93 in Tuesday's opening round and sits in a tie for 22nd place.

CLASS A GIRLS

TEAM TOTALS

1. Fillmore Central 342, 2. Lac qui Parle Valley 350, 3. Legacy Christian Academy 356, 4. Park Christian 378, 5. Pine River-Backus 399, 6. Sleepy Eye United 400, 7. Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 435, 8. Fertile-Beltrami 438.

INDIVIDUALS

(Top 10 + Section 1 golfers)

1. Raquelle Nelson (LCA) 79, 2. Kenna Henriksen (BOLD) 80, 3t. Courtney Hershberger (FC) 81, 3t. Myleigh Scheevel (FC) 81, 5. Kaitlyn Kittelson (LQPV) 82, 6t. Isabella Jacobs (LQPV) 85, 6t. Kianna Johnson (Walker-H-A) 85, 8. Molly Halvorson (LQPV) 86, 9. Lindsey Lund (Dawson-Boyd) 87, 10t. Chloe Morem (FC) 88, 10t. Kara Randgaard (Canby) 88,

16t. Aubrey Larson (FC) 92, 16t. Lily Miller (FC) 92, 24t. Avery Towey (Hayfield) 94, 35t. Kristen Watson (Hayfield) 96, 43t. Annika Mensink (FC) 99, 48t. Rachel Smith (Wabasha-Kellogg) 101, 56t. Chloe Schnebly (Lanesboro) 103, 58t. Carly Bronson (Hayfield) 104.

COMPLETE ROUND 1 RESULTS