To add to BSM’s already outstanding athletic achievements this year, the BSM Girls’ Varsity Golf team took 1st place last Tuesday at the Section meet held at Highland National Golf Course in St.Paul. The team will be advancing to compete at the State Tournament on June 3 and 4.

The Section champion team consisting of juniors Allison Thimjon and Nicole Hillman, sophomore Danielle Riley, and seniors Lindsay Mlazgar, Amanda Nagel, and Janine Karas was led by low scorers Allison Thimjon and Danielle Riley. “[Thimjon] came out on top for our team with an 85 and was overall second in the section for the lowest score of the day,” said senior Janine Karas. Riley had the second lowest score for our team and was 4th individually for the section shooting an 89.

The girls clinched the section title with an 11 stroke lead over second place finisher Cretin-Durham Hall. Despite their decisive victory the girls were not overly confident going into the section meet. “Going into sections we believed that our biggest competition would be Cretin-Durham Hall since we only beat them by 2 shots in a previous tournament,” said Karas.

The girls had an early start to their morning with an 8 a.m. tee time. “We all arrived at the course around 6:45 in order to have time to warm up before we began to play,” said Karas “We putt, chip and hit balls on the driving range to warm up.”

Their hard work throughout the season and at the section meet paid off. “We always hoped that we would do this well,” said Karas. “This was our biggest goal for the season: to win sections and make it to state as a team. We all knew we could make it happen and we finally showed yesterday that we were the team that deserved to go to state.

The team will compete in the State Tournament on June 3 and 4 at Bunker Hill Golf Course. “There is an 18-hole practice round on June 2,” said Karas. “June 3 is the first day of the competition playing 18 holes again and then June 4 is the second day of the competition again playing 18 holes.” The State Champion will be decided by the team with the lowest combined score from both days of play.

The last time BSM sent its girls’ golf team to state was in 2005, but has sent individual girls in previous years. This year’s team has worked well together, which can probably attribute to its success. “I think we get along very well as a team,” said Karas. “We drive together to practices and matches. We had a team sleepover and we go out to dinner or to get food together after tournaments.”