WORTHINGTON — After missing the cut at last year’s Section 3A girls golf tournament, the Russell-Tyler-Ruthton girls golf team is back on top with a first-place finish.

After finishing day one of the tournament in a tie with Murray County Central and three strokes ahead of Canby, the Knights made the charge and finished day two 16 strokes better than the Rebels and the Lancers. RTR finishes the tournament with a team score of 847. MCC and Canby rounded out the podium at 863 and 866 respectively while Adrian/Ellsworth finished last among qualifying teams at 905.

Shae O’Leary led the way for the Knights with a 194 in the tournament. She came into the second round in first place with a three-stroke lead. While her 102 in round two didn’t compare to her 92 in the opening round, her performance still was good enough to earn her a third-place finish.

Jenna Gossen had the Knights’ lowest score of the day with a 95. Her four pars on the day helped her improve from 10th place after day one to a final position of sixth with a score of 204.

The low-score of the day belonged to Canby’s Kara Rangaard. The senior shot a 90, tying Adrian/Ellsworth’s Taya Elias, and finished the tournament as the runner-up two strokes behind Elias.

Teigyn O’Leary and Zoey Williams rounded out the RTR scorers. O’Leary shot a 107 to finish with a total score of 216 and placed 10th. Williams shot a 113 to finish with a score of 233, tying Canby’s Haley Noyes and Maddison Richter for 17th. Canby’s Paige Viessman also finished 16th at 227 and fellow Lancer Jaryn Houseman placed 20th at 235.

MCC had three scorers place within the top 10. Rachael Huso led the Rebels with a 96 on the day to place fifth. She finished with a two-day total of 198 strokes. Elie Meyer and Ava Johnson shot a 207 and 213 to place seventh and eighth. Lizzie Daniels rounded out the MCC scorers in 22nd with 245 strokes.

While Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda/Westbrook-Walnut Grove didn’t field a team score, the Coyotes were still well-represented up top. Kellie Renneke shot a 215 in the tournament to place ninth while Marenna Bang shot a 217 to tie Wabasso’s Shayna Huhnerkoch for 11th.

Chloe Rohlik also competed for the Rabbits, shooting a 224 to tie Tracy-Milroy-Balaton’s Taylor Munson for 13th.

In addition to RTR’s team qualification, Rangaard, Huso and Meyer will go on to compete at the Class A State Golf Tournament at Pebble Creek Golf Club in Becker on June 13-14.