Lions meet their goals and claim State Championship

Meg Monson places third individually

The Clear Lake girls golf team claimed its second Class 3A State Golf title in three years Wednesday at the Otter Creek Golf Course in Ankeny, Iowa.  The Lions topped runner-up Charles City by four strokes, 376-380.
    “It was a great season,” said Head Coach Fred Wieck.  “Expectations were high-- and sometimes that’s tough.”

    A State appearance and the one-two finish between the Lions and Comets were among the expectations the team faced. 
    Clear Lake won regular season meetings with the Comets last season, but Charles City took home the State title last season and the Lions finished as runner-up.  This year Clear Lake was happy to reverse the standings.
    “We have a good rivalry with Charles City, but we wanted to make sure we finished on top this year,” said Meg Monson, the senior leader who finished third overall with rounds of 83 and 73 for a 176.  “I’m happy, but relieved it’s over.”
    Coach Wieck said his team played a practice round on Monday and played very well in windy conditions. 
    “Our confidence level was high after the practice,” said Wieck.  “When we got to Tuesday (day one of competition) the girls and Coach Jones and I expected big things.”
    The wind was strong on Tuesday and the strokes started to add up.
    “I think we panicked a little and got tight, which made things worse,” said Wieck.  “Coach Jones and I were very disappointed, as we felt we mentally let down which we pride ourselves on our girls never doing.”
     After all the scores were in on day one the Lions found themselves with a slim one stroke lead over Charles City and South Tama, 358-359.
    “The girls’ spirits were raised but I was more frustrated, as I felt we should have played much better and had a big lead.  After a team meeting at the motel we started to concentrate on the positive and what went wrong the day before,” added the coach.
    Day two brought much better conditions, with cooler temperatures and much lower wind speeds. 
    “What happened in the girls’ minds, I am not sure,” said the coach.  “We were on fire from the git go, with five girls shooting 10 strokes or better than their day one outing. 
    Monson tied for the lowest round of day two with a 73; Paige Backhaus shot her best 18 ever with an 80; Malorie Fischels fired a great score of 81; Lexi Lovik and Taylor Berger shot fine 84’s; Megan Loux gave the team the depth it needed with an 87. 
    “It was tense around the clubhouse as Charles City was posting - Read More Via e-Edition