The Austin girls' golf team's upward trajectory came to an abrupt halt Tuesday in the Section 1AA finals. Expecting to compete with Red Wing, who they trailed by 12 strokes after preliminaries, the Packers shot a 360 at Cannon Falls to slip to third.

"We didn't play our best today which was disappointing," said AHS head coach Mark Anderson, "but then many people didn't think we had a chance to finish like we did this last two weeks.

"That shows a lot of character about our team and the determination to keep plugging away."

Noelle Wiebelhaus rebounded from some struggles in prelims with an 87 to lead Austin, notching two birdie chip-ins along the way.

"Noelle played the best 18 holes she ever has in a high school meet," Anderson said.

Carissa Gabrielson carded her second consecutive 89 Tuesday to sneak past Andrea Petersen, who shot a 91. After getting her scores well into the 80s over the last few weeks, Claire Johnson reverted to her early-season form with a 93.

Margaret Wagner had a 95 and Katelyn Rizzi a 102 to finish out the scoring for Austin.

"Katelyn struggled a little today, but she has three more great years ahead of her," Anderson said.

Petersen and Jessica Astrup will also be returning for the Packers, who lose seniors Johnson, Gabrielson, Wiebelhaus and Wagner from this year's Big Nine championship squad.

"I am very proud of this group of girls," Anderson said, "more so than in the past since many coaches didn't give us a chance to finish first in the Big Nine or third in sections."

Results:

Team standings -- Red Wing 337-326--663, Century 361-339--700, Austin 349-360--709, Mayo 361-363--724, Owatonna 370-355--725, Winona 375-356--731, Lakeville 390-352--742, Faribault 377-378--755.

AUSTIN -- Claire Johnson 81-93--174, Carissa Gabrielson 89-89--178, Andrea Petersen 88-91--179, Noelle Wiebelhaus 99-87--186, Margaret Wagner 94-95--189, Katelyn Rizzi 91-102--193.

Individual State Qualifiers -- Katie Myos (Faribault) 77-74--151, Sarah Harper (Mayo) 80-76--156, Laura Salmon (Winona) 88-78--166, Kassy Wells (Century) 87-80--167, Marissa Navarro (Century) 82-86--168.

Packer boys trio ousted

With the Austin boys' golf team already eliminated from Section 1AA play, Troy Hoefflin, Mike Osboe, and Tom Kluczny also came up short in their bid to qualify for state at Tuesday's section finals at Bellwood Oaks Golf Club.

"Troy, Tom and Mike have played some good golf today," said AHS head coach Corey Haugen. "They were just too far back in the field to make a run for it."

Kluczny shot a 5-over-par 78 to finish with a 160 over the two days of section play. Osboe carded his second 80 to tie Kluczny. After a 79 in preliminariees, Hoefflin shot an 85 in the final round to end with a 164.

Dan Breuer had a 139 for the low round of the section. Four of the five individual qualifiers will be coming from the Big Nine Conference. Owatonna had a 600 to edge Faribault by three strokes for the team berth in the state tournament.

"Our section is so competitive," Haugen said, "but I was happy to see that our conference dominated the section tournament."

"Overall, our season has been very positive. Statistically, we have improved a great deal from last year."

Results:

Team standings -- Owatonna 300-300--600, Faribault 297-306--603, Eagan 304-303--607, Albert Lea 302-306--608, Red Wing 296-313--609.

AUSTIN -- Tom Kluczny 82-78--160, Mike Osboe 80-80--160, Troy Hoefflin 79-85--164.

Individual State Qualifiers -- Dan Breuer (Albert Lea) 70-69--139, Mike Fiedler (Faribault) 69-71--140, Reed Reynolds (Century) 76-73--149, Ryan Peterson (Eagan) 71-78--149, John Morgan (Mayo) 72-78--150.