Lions place fourth at State

 The Clear Lake boys golf team earned a fourth place finish at the Class 3A state tournament in Ames on Saturday.

The Lions shot a two-day total of 641. On the second day of competition the Lions bettered their first day score of 325 by nine strokes, finishing with a 316 on Saturday. 

 West Delaware won the team title with a 622, followed by last year’s champion Creston/Orient-Macksburg with 634. North Central Conference rival Webster City finished third with a 636. Another NCC team, Humboldt, was also in the 3A hunt. The Wildcats finished in sixth place with a 659.
"I was proud of our guys for making a push on the second day," said Clear Lake Coach Bart Smith. "West Delaware shot really well on day one and it was going to be hard to catch them, but our goal was to finish in the top three.  We had the best score of the day on day two with a 316, but came up five strokes short of third."
The quality of the NCC was also evidenced by Bishop Garrigan winning the Class 1A State title.
Individually, Clear Lake's Dane Waldron finished fifth in the medalist race with a 148. Waldron, who tied as runner-up last year as a sophomore, carded the tournament's best round on Saturday with a one-under par 70.
Freshman Kyle Calaguas also had a good round, Saturday, finishing his last six holes plus-one. He ended the day with an 83, giving him a (92-83) 175.
Juniors Jon Carew and Austin Rurup both finished among the top 25. Carew had rounds of 79 and 84 for a 163, while Rurup came in with an 86-79 for a 165.
Brothers Thomas and Tanner Storbeck also helped the Lions. Thomas, a freshman, shot an 82 in the first round and followed that up with an 86 for a 168. Tanner, a junior, shot a 90 and 87 for a total of 177.
"They (Lions) gave it a good run and the boys should feel very proud of their accomplishments this season," added Coach Smith. "Getting to State in anything is hard and these guys showed great work ethic and determination to get there all season.  They never once thought is was going to be handed to them and it was really impressive on how they focused all year with the situation that happened with our program," added Coach Smith, referring to Coach Eric Perry missing the start of the season with an injury. Perry was able to accompany the team to meets late in the season and was on hand to lend advice to the Lions at State. "We all had a little more energy when we got our 'Head Coach' back and that seemed to fuel these guys a little to finish the way they did.  Everyone is back and if they continue to work and do the right things, an opportunity could be there next year, but its up to them."
Coach Smith and the team added their thank to those who contributed to the success of this season. "A big thanks to Veterans Memorial Golf Course for allowing us to practice throughout the year."