WORTHINGTON — Shae O’Leary put together an outstanding round at Great Life Golf and Fitness Wednesday morning to put herself in first place and help the Russell-Tyler-Ruthton girls golf team to a tie for first place with Murray County Central.

A week after shooting a 104 at the Camden Conference Championship, Shae O’Leary came back with a vengeance, shooting a 92 to put her three strokes ahead of second-place Taya Elias of Adrian/Ellsworth. She had a strong front nine, going more than one stroke over par just once on hole two, and closed with a birdie on hole 18.

“I think on the greens where she needed to be. She holed some putts, especially on the first nine,” RTR head coach Tim O’Leary said.

Shae shot a 15-over 41 on the back nine after shooting a 6-over 41 on the front nine, a fact coach O’Leary attributed to fatigue from the day’s heat.

Despite Shae’s big day, Murray County Central’s depth kept the Rebels on pace with the Knights. Rachael Huso, Elie Meyer and Ava Johnson all finished in the top 10 of the 36-player field.

Huso and Meyer led MCC with a 102 and 103 to place fourth and fifth respectively while Johnson tied HLOF/WWG’s Marenna Bang for eighth with a score of 106. Lizzie Daniels and Symone Harms each shot a 119 to tie Canby’s Madison Richter for 19th and round out the Rebels’ scores. 

Jenna Gossen and Teigyn O’Leary tied for 10th place for the Knights, each shooting a 109 on the day. Zoey Williams rounded out the RTR scorers with a 120 to place 22nd. Izzy Thomas was right on her tail in 23rd with a 122.

While the Knights and Rebels lead the pack through day one, Canby is still within striking distance, just three strokes back at 433.

The Lancers were led by Kara Rangaard, who is in third place after the first round. The senior shot a 97 on the day, putting her five strokes ahead of Huso and two strokes back of Elias. Jaryn Houseman also put together a top-10 round for Canby, shooting a 105 to place seventh.

Paige Viessman and Haley Noyes shot a 114 and 117 to place 14th and 17th respectively for the Lancers. Noyes tied Wabasso’s Chloe Rohlik for 17th and sits one stroke back of Tracy-Milroy-Balaton’s Taylor Munson.

HLOF/WWG placed fifth out of the five qualifying teams with a team score of 478. In addition to Bang, Kelli Renneke placed 12th for the Coyotes with a 110 on the day, putting her one stroke ahead of Wabasso’s low-scorer, Shayna Huhnerkoch.

Wabasso, TMB and RRC also competed in the tournament but did not field a team score. Aryanna Weber had RRC’s low score on the day, shooting a 138 to place 33rd. 

The second day of the Girls 3A Section Tournament will begin Wednesday at 9 a.m. at Great Life Golf and Fitness.

“I think over the next week, we’re going to work on the short game, practice on the short putts,” coach O’Leary said of his team’s preparation for day two. “Knowing here in Worthington that there’s going to be some bad holes, you’re going to hit some trees. You just have to be able to recover.”