Laker Girls Golf Heading To State After Dominant Day-Two At Section Tournament

PARK RAPIDS, MINN (KDLM) – The Detroit Lakes Lakers girls golf team is headed to the State Tournament after a 15-stroke victory in the Section 8AAA Tournament at Headwaters Golf Course in Park Rapids.

The Lakers trailed defending state champion Alexandria by six strokes heading into day two of the tournament. Laura Syltie and Hannah Knoop caught fire on Friday, with Syltie shooting a one-over-par 73 and Knoop carding a two-over-par 74. Syltie (79/73/152) and Knoop (81/74/155) would finish second and third overall, respectively.

Tatum Gatheridge (79/87/166) and Sydney Miller (87/79/166) tied for seventh place to put all four Laker scorers in the top seven of the tournament. Sophie Christianson (90/78/168) placed 11th and Jaycie Slipper (92/85/177) finished 19th overall.

Alexandria’s Hannah Boraas won individual medalist honors at the tournament, cruising to a 67/73/140, a 12-stroke lead over second place.

In addition to Boraas, Michayla Nordlund of Sartell (75/81/156), Izzy Olson of Brainerd (77/79/156), and Rachel Bowen (85/80/165) and Aisling O’Connor (81/85/166) of Alexandria will compete at state individually as the top five finishers not on the winning team.

This will be the 13th state appearance for the Laker Girls Golf program, and their first since 2019. The Laker won seven Class AA state championships between 2006 and 2008, including six over a seven-year span from 2012-2018. The Lakers moved up to Class AAA in 2020. This is their first section championship at the AAA level before moving back down to AA next spring with the impending section realignment.

The Class AAA Girls State Golf Tournament will be held June 13-14 at Bunker Hills Golf Course in Coon Rapids.

TEAM SCORES: 1 DETROIT LAKES 630; 2 Alexandria 645; 3 Brainerd 687; 4 Moorhead 707; 5 Becker 716; 6 Sartell 720; 7 Buffalo 751; Bemidji 766; DNF Willmar; DNF St. Cloud Crush; DNF Rocori; DNF Sauk Rapids-Rice

INDIVIDUAL TOP TEN: 1 Hannah Boraas, Alexandria 67/73/140; 2 LAURA SYLTIE, DETROIT LAKES 79/73/152; 3 HANNA KNOOP, DETROIT LAKES 81/74/155; T4 Michayla Nordlund, Sartell 75/81/156; T4 Izzy Olson, Brainerd 77/79/156; 6 Rachel Bowen, Alexandria 85/80/165; T7 SYDNEY MILLER, DETROIT LAKES 87/79/166; T7 TATUM GATHERIDGE, DETROIT LAKES 79/87/166; T7 Aisling O’Connor, Alexandria 81/85/166; 10 Sophia Karsnia, Brainerd 81/86/167