WILMAR -- Five-time state champion Minnewaska may not be as invincible as in the past, but they still can steal the show.
The Lakers won the Section 5AA girls tournament at Eagle Creek on Thursday by 55 strokes over second-place Marshall.
Brianna Janu led four Lakers in the top six. She shot a 77 and was co-medalist with Kaylee Benson of Jackson County Central.
The boys title went to Marshall. The Tigers' 312 nudged Litchfield, which had a 314.
The boys also had co-medalists in Taylor Olson of Yellow Medicine East and Ben Nath of Luverne. Both shot 75.
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Litchfield's Josh Polingo and Jordan Redepenning each shot 76 and will advance to the state meet June 15-16 at Jordan.
The Waska girls have won five straight state titles. A long unbeaten streak ended this year at invitationals in Alexandria, Red Wing and Interlachen.
Their winning score of 330 is 26 strokes off their winning total a year ago at Eagle Creek. The high winds, especially in the afternoon, pumped up scores and the Lakers don't have the depth of a year ago after losing state co-medalists Sarah Roering and Allie Ostrander to graduation.
Sam Falk shot a 79 to place third, Alexis Guggisberg was fourth with an 85 and Jenna Janu and Haley Kabista of Montevideo tied for fifth, each with an 89.
Luverne, the 2010 section champion on this same course, was upset in the sub-sections by Marshall.
Olson returns to the state meet for a third straight year. He tied for 11th last year at the Ridges at Sand Creek outside Jordan.
There were playoffs in both tournaments to decide a fifth individual qualifier. In the boys, Phillip Ward of Montevideo won in extra holes over Joey Dreier of New London-Spicer after both shot 77. In the girls, Jessica Blanchard of Marshall won a three-way playoff on the third extra hole over Kayla Sommerfeld and Kristen Solbrack, both of Litchfield. All three had shot 92.
Boys team scoring
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(1) *Marshall 312 (2) Litchfield 314 (3) Benson/KMS 336 (4) Redwood Valley 343
* -- qualifies for state tournament
Boys individual
TOP FIVE - (1) tie, Taylor Olson, Yellow Medicine East, 75; Ben Nath, Luverne, 75 (3) tie, Josh Polingo, Lit, 76; Jordan Redepenning, Lit, 76; Marcus Holmberg, Mar, 78
INDIVIDUAL STATE QUALIFIERS - Olson, Nath, Polingo, Redepenning, Phillip Ward, Montevideo, 77
Area results
BOLD - Cole Mertens 90
BENSON/KMS - Sam Peterson 79, Brody Gimberlin 83, Zach Maurer 86, Jordan Burns 88, Dan Lee 89, Alex Aeikens 101
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LITCHFIELD - Josh Polingo 76, Jordan Redepenning 76, Zach Whitchurch 81, Mike Waataja 81, Cameron Sundmark 86, Max Hyberger 98
MONTEVIDEO - Phillip Ward 77, Ryan Knudson 79, Grant Tufto 85, Jacobey Johnson 92
MORRIS/CA - Jordan Kolden 81
NLS - Joey Dreier 77, Kellen Bergh 83, Reid Johnson 83, Cole Baker 101
YME - Taylor Olson 75
Girls team scoring
(1) *Minnewaska 330 (2) Marshall 385 (3) Montevideo 394 (4) Jackson County Central 397
* -- qualifies for state tournament
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Girls Individual
TOP FIVE - (1) tie, Brianna Janu, Min, 77; Kaylee Benson, JCC, 77 (3) Sam Falk, Min, 79 (4) Alexis Guggisberg, Min, 85 (5) tie, Janu Janu, Min, 89; Hayley Kubista, Mon, 89
INDIVIDUAL STATE QUALIFIERS - Benson; Kubista; Kate Lesnar, Worthington, 91; Miranda Christensen, Mar, 91; Jessica Blanchard, Mar, 92
Area results
BOLD - Chloe Altman 93, Breann Mertens 100, Vanessa Anderson 109
BENSON/KMS - Lizzie Ness 93
LQPV - Jen Kack 110
LITCHFIELD - Kristen Solbrack 92, Kayla Sommerfeld 92, Kennedy Sommerfeld 96
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MINNEWASKA - Brianna Janu 77, Sam Falk 79, Alexis Guggisberg 85, Jenna Janu 89, Jamie Smith 90, Ellen Stensrud 103
MONTEVIDEO - Hayley Kubista 89, Kelsey Amborn 101, Nicole Strei 101, Kendyl Anderson 103, Ellen Stensrud 103, Kara Balken 103
MORRIS/CA - Cassidy Hennen 126
NLS - Lauren Dietz 98
