NORFOLK, Neb. — Tuesday was a breeze for defending Class A girls golf champion Jacqueline O’Doherty, save for her putting.
Nor did Omaha Marian get tested as the Crusaders extended their hold on the team championship to six years.
O’Doherty, a senior at Lincoln East, won by nine strokes after leading by only one after the first round. She had a 76, 4 over par at Norfolk Country Club, for a 151 total.
“Never in the world when I was a freshman did I think I would be this far,’’ she said. “All the work has paid off.’’
The downside for the Nebraska recruit was that she made only one birdie in 36 holes. Her goal for this week’s tournament was to break 70 at least once.
“I had about eight birdie opportunities 10 feet and in that I missed,’’ O’Doherty said of her final round. “I’ve worked on my short game so much that I’m disappointed I didn’t do better.’’
Marian senior Erin O’Brien, with the day’s second-best score of 79, wound up the runner-up. She overtook Sophie Peters of Fremont, who shot 76 on Monday. Peters, paired with O’Doherty, made three straight bogeys on the front nine and trailed by four strokes at the turn. Peters went on to an 85 for third place, one stroke higher than O’Brien.
Marian had two others in the top 15, sophomore Sarah Pravecek, at fourth, and senior Jordan Rearick, at 12th, as the Crusaders won by 43 strokes over runner-up Norfolk. Fourth-place Lincoln Southwest, which was 14 strokes behind the Crusaders in second place after Monday, finished five strokes out of second.
Marie McNamara and Joselyn Wojtalewicz were the others on the championship team.
“As a team, we didn’t vary too far from yesterday to today in how we played,’’ said Jim Miller, Marian’s coach the past four years.
He said Rearick, who missed the Metro Conference tournament two weeks ago after undergoing an appendectomy the night before, was still sore and also was battling a case of strep throat. She was in the lineup for the past four state titles.
Hopes of a seventh title, Miller said, will depend on how players on this year’s junior varsity develop to go with Pravecek and McNamara.
“Sarah next year may be one of the premier players in the state,’’ Miller said.
Contact the writer:
444-1041, stu.pospisil@owh.com
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