COON RAPIDS — She didn’t get the state medal she was after, but Austin’s Catherine Wagner finished in the top 10 and took home some hardware when she tied for eighth place at the Class ‘AAA’ state girls golf meet Wednesday in Coon Rapids.

Wagner, a senior, finished strong with a 37 on the backstretch — which tied for the best score of the field on day two — to finish with a 79, giving her a two-day score of 161.

“I feel good about it. A round in the 70s is always nice,” Wagner said. “Finishing in the top 10 is a good way to end my career.”

For the second straight day, Wagner had a rough start on the front nine as she shot a 42 on that stretch after getting a 43 on Tuesday.

“It started out a little rough out in the front but I got through it and came on in the back to shoot even. That was good,” Wagner said. “It was just a couple bad holes. Double bogeys kill you on this course.”

It was the East side of Bunker Hills that got the best of Wagner both days as she shot a combined 85 on the East, while shooting a 76 on the West side of the course.

“It’s just too bad that she couldn’t put it together on the East side both days,” Austin head coach Carissa Gabrielson said. “That kind of killed her score overall. Those two triples from Tuesday came back to haunt her a little bit.”

Wagner rallied back on both days and Wednesday was capped by her hitting a big shot from the bunker on her last hole to set up a putt that she sunk for PAR in the back nine.

“She never gives up and you never know by looking at her what score she’s shooting,” Gabrielson said. “Yesterday, players were emotional. But she would just walk off and go to the next hole. She never showed anybody that she was having a rough time.”

Betsy Kelly of Forest Lake took first with a 151.

Wagner, who took second at state last year and qualified for state her freshman year, will play golf at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire next season.