Lady Hounds tied for sixth after first round

Playing slightly above their seed, the Lady Hound golf team finished the opening round of competition at the Class 1 State Tournament in New Bloomfield Monday tied for sixth place with Moberly.

Projected to finish seventh based on sectional results, Maryville shot 423 as a team, three strokes below its sectional winning score of 420.

The Lady Hounds are 23 strokes ahead of eighth place Trenton and one back of fifth place Richmond which equaled its score from sectionals with a 422.

Maryville's top individual performers were seniors Jessica Pfost and Megan Shell, both state tournament veterans.

A state medalist last year, Pfost shot the low round for Maryville with a 93 and sits in 27th place. She's four strokes out of a medal finish in the top 15.

Pfost's score was five shots higher than what she shot to win sectionals and five above both rounds at state last year when she placed 12th.

Shell equaled her score from sectionals with a 94, placing her in a three-way tie for 29th place. She is five strokes off the cut line for a medal.

"Jessica and Megan are going to have to play really good tomorrow to be able to medal," said Maryville head golf coach Brenda Ricks.

Maryville's other three golfers—all first-time state qualifiers—shot better or close to what they did at sectionals, but wound up outside the top 75 in a field of 89.

Freshman Mollie Holtman took two strokes off her sectional score to shoot a 114 in her first-ever state tournament round. She's positioned in 76th place.

Sophomore Hannah Brod sliced her score by three strokes to shoot 122, fourth-best on the team and 83rd overall. Junior Cassie Holtman posted a score of 124, two strokes back of her sectional round.

"Mollie's score is real solid for a first-time state golfer," said Ricks.

Conditions were described as perfect throughout the day, with temperatures in the low 70's and zero wind.

This contrasted with what the Hounds played in during sectionals at Mozingo.

Ricks said the Meadow Lake Acres Course played longer than Mozingo and that a heavy presence of leaves caused several balls to get lost.

Defending state champion Westminster Christian put itself half-way to a repeat with a first place score of 330 on day one. Westminster leads by 33 strokes over Villa Duchesne which shot 363.

Sacred Heart shot a 373 and sits third followed by Mt. Vernon in fourth with a 400.

Westminster's Brooke Cusumano sits atop the individual leader board with an opening round score of 75. Teammate Jordan Wolf is one stroke back with a 76.

Lafayette's Kaydrie Bergner had the best opening round among MEC golfers, shooting a 91 to start in 22nd. Smithville's Paige Imhoff is one shot behind in 25th place with a 92.

The final round begins today at 9 a.m.

"I look for our scores to go down tomorrow because the girls are going to be more relaxed," said Ricks. "I say that but it's supposed to be windy. I'd like for them to pull into fifth place. The main thing is its real good experience for Cassie, Mollie and Hannah."