WILLMAR -- A young Litchfield girls team is headed to the state meet after shooting a 375 at Eagle Creek on Friday to win the Section 3AA tournament.
The oldest member of the squad, junior Kalli Swanson, shot a 90 to lead the Dragons.
In the boys division, Marshall shot 317, beating runner-up New London-Spicer by five strokes. The Tigers were led by medalist Tony Krogen, who shot a two-under 36-34-70, the day's best round by five strokes. He is headed to his third state meet.
Six area golfers advance individually. Sophomore Ryan Bergh of New London-Spicer had the second-low score, a 75. Sophomore Tyler Jensvold of Yellow Medicine East shot a 76, senior Zach Nelson of Litchfield a 77 and eighth-grader Sam Peterson of Benson/KMS also fired a 77 to reach state.
In the girls' meet, senior Beth Maland of Redwood Valley shot 86 to advance. Abby Fragodt, a Benson/KMS sophomore, finished in a three-way tied with Windom seniors Casey Christensen and Ashley Jackson for the last qualifying spot, after all three carded a 93.
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Jackson was eliminated on the second extra hole. But it went three more holes on the back nine where Fragodt birdied the par four 14th hole to beat out Christensen.
The Class AA meet run June 4-5 at the Ridges at Sand Creek in Jordan.
The Litchfield girls have played well all spring. They were Wright County Conference runners-up a year ago and this season led the loop from start to finish.
"They're very focused and dedicated for their ages," said Bill Huhner, who started with the nucleus three years ago when he became head coach.
Freshman No. 1 Kirsten Solbrack with a 95, sophomore Katelyn Kiehn with a 93 and sophomore Karin Hansen with a 97 finished out the top four for Litchfield.
Junior Andrew Whitchurch, No. 1 for the Litchfield boys, was one stroke outside the top five with a 78.
Boys results
Team scoring
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(1) Marshall 317 (2) New London-Spicer 322 (3) Benson/KMS 335 (4) Fairmont 339
Individual
STATE QUALIFIERS - Ryan Bergh, NLS, 75; Tyler Jensvold, YME, 76; Zach Nelson, Litchfield, 77; Sam Peterson, Benson/KMS, 77; Myles Pfingsten, Fairmont, 77
Other Area Individual results
Andrew Whitchurch, Litchfield, 78; Taylor Olson, YME, 80; Tom Ward, Montevideo, 85; Tyler Johnson, Montevideo, 85; Matt Thomas, Litchfield, 86; Jordan Bendel, LQPV/DB, 90; Luke Magnuson, Litchfield, 91; J.T. Radel, Redwood Valley, 96
Area team results
BENSON/KMS - Sam Peterson 77, Joe Orr 82, Ross Benjamin 86, Jordan Lee 90, Peter Lindblad 92, Cody Dokkenbakkern 99
NEW LONDON-SPICER - Ryan Bergh 75, Chris Tobkin 80, Andrew Lien 81, Joey Dreier 86, Alex Swanson 86, Ben Schlitter 92
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Girls results
Team scoring
(1) Litchfield 375 (2) Windom 387 (3) Benson/KMS 387 (4) Marshall 391
Individual
STATE QUALIFIERS - Sam Bergman, NU, 84; Beth Maland, Redwood Valley, 86; Kaylee Benson, Jackson County Central, 86; Briel Hendrickson, JCC, 92; Abby Fragodt, Benson/KMS, 93*
*Won three-way playoff on fifth extra hole
Other Area Individual results
Kara Maatz, LQPV, 95; Courtney Knudson, YME, 97; Natasha Haney, BOLD, 100; Wendy Toops, NLS, 101; Veronica Busiahn, Redwood Valley, 102; Kalyn Gloege, LQPV, 107; Mackenzie Williams, YME, 113; Rachel Strand, LQPV, 119;Casey Smith, Redwood Valley, 120
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Area team results
BENSON/KMS - Abby Fragodt 93, Holly Erickson 94, Kensie Weber 98, Lauren Alsaker 102, Liz Ness 102, Emily Ness 103
LITCHFIELD - Kalli Swanson 90, Katelyn Kiehn 93, Kristen Solbrack 95, Karin Hansen 97, Ellie Black 101, Kayla Sommerfield 105
