Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor

Expectations must be high for the girls golf team, as they wrapped up last week with a couple of second-place finishes as well as fourth, and remain in first in the Suburban East Conference standings, yet aren’t really pleased with their most recent performances.

Forest Lake head coach Joel Hall tried to put it all in perspective, as the Rangers didn’t shoot as well as he would have liked on Monday, April 23, or on Thursday the 26th.

“No, I don’t think they were playing as they were hoping, either,” he said of his team. “It’s tough to be disappointed with second, but when you know you can play quite a bit better than that, it is a little bit of a letdown, I guess.”

The girls were in Hastings on April 26, where Woodbury finished with a 177, which was followed by Forest Lake’s 189.

The medalists were both from Woodbury, as the Royals’ Jenny Jacobson and Jackie Rolando tied with 42. The Rangers’ Betsy Kelly was right behind the winners with a 43, and Mallory Messin came in with a 44.

“Betsy, I think, is pretty disappointed with anything that’s higher than 39,” Hall said.

He called it a “blow-up round,” for Kelly, who struggled with her putting.

The remaining varsity golfers were Emily Wislicenus - 50; Nicole Tetrault - 52; Laurel Pelton - 54; and Brittany Seifert - 57.

The Lady Elks Invitational at Elk River was on Tuesday, where Kelly was the defending champion. After firing an 80 on the par-75 course, Kelly is now the two-time defending champ.

Hall said this invitational is basically a who’s who of schools in the southern part of the state, and his team took fourth, behind Eden Prairie (360), Burnsville (361) and Edina (365).

Forest Lake had a team total of 369, with Messin shooting a 93, Wislicenus a 95, and Tetrault a 101.

“We still didn’t play our best,” Hall shared.

His group is definitely capable of knocking off nine shots from their total, he said, which would put them right in line with talented teams at Eden Prairie and Burnsville.

The week began with a short trip to North Oaks for a Mounds View-hosted tournament that brought the entire Suburban East Conference.

Woodbury won with a score of 186, while Forest Lake picked up another second place with a 194.

“Even after having a bad week like that, we’re still a point ahead of Woodbury in the standings, so that’s not all bad,” Hall said.

This week the girls were in White Bear Lake on Tuesday, and then at Cretin on May 3, before hosting their own tournament on Monday, May 7 at Forest Hills.

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