The Austin boys’ and girls’ golf teams both finished fifth in the Section 1AA tournaments on Thursday.

Wednesday, May 31, 2000

The Austin boys’ and girls’ golf teams both finished fifth in the Section 1AA tournaments on Thursday.

Neither team earned any state entrants in what was a senior-dominant boys’ tour and a girls’ tour in the midst of a youth movement.

"The scores this year were incredibly low," Austin boys’ coach Claudia Pilot said. "Our section is so tough, in most sections Adam (Plotts) and Brian (Duren) would of qualified for state, but not here."

Owatonna won the boys’ meet and Red Wing captured the state berth on the girls’ side.

Overall champs were Owatonna’s Nick Stokke, whose second-day 71 at Bellwood Oaks in Hastings catapaulted him to the top, and Red Wing’s Samantha Braschler who shot a two-day 157.

"We will have a nice representation from our section," Pilot said, "some real quality players, that are mostly seniors. Owatonna played marvelously, and they are very deserving of the honor to go on."

For the Austin boys, Chris Larson and Greg Williamson finished high school careers that started in 8th grade.

"It’s a very sad time for me to see them graduate," Pilot said. "They both had good rounds going today, until a bad hole for each.

"Adam Plotts played very steady, he hit 13 greens today, but couldn’t get the putts to drop."

Austin girls coach Mark Anderson was wowed by the strong young players in Section 1AA. All of the state qualifiers – Red Wing’s team and five other individuals – were sophomores or younger.

"Our section is tough and it’s only going to get tougher in the next three to four years," he said.

Count Anderson’s team among the youth movement. Though not as advanced as, say, Red Wing, Anderson likes the direction of the his young squad led by sophomore Brittany Bertilson, whose 179 put her in ninth overall.

"I had a great year with these players," he said. "We gained a lot of experience. Now, if they get out and practice this summer, we’ve got a good chance of competing next year. It’s a young team, but there’s a lot of ability here."