Photo courtesy of Devereaux Photography The 2024 Lakeview boys golf team includes Lane Arends, Carson Boe, Kyle Kurowski, Malakai Lanners, Karson Nelson, Koven Neuman, Kyram Neuman, Mason Neuman, Garrett Schafer, Easton Schmidt, Brooks Smith, Landon Teske and Trevor Tusberg.

COTTONWOOD — As high as the expectations were for last year’s Lakeview boys golf team, they were exceeded in every way. The Lakers were a dominant force in the Southwest Minnesota golf scene all year long and rode that momentum to state and section championships. While that state championship squad graduated some key pieces, Carson Boe and Lane Arends lead another strong Laker crew into 2024.

The Lakers won the bulk of their meets throughout the course of last season by a fairly wide margin. Even in the most competitive tournaments of the season, Lakeview won the Camden Conference Championship by 11 strokes, the section championship by nine strokes and the Class A state championship by 7 strokes.

The Lakers graduated three of their six state championship participants last year: Ethan Schwankl, Jordan Fischer and Owen Louwagie. Yet, their returning talent gives them the pieces to contend once again.

Boe and Arends were the team’s top two scorers at last year’s state meet. Boe placed third overall while Arends finished 19th. Boe was also the individual champion at the section and conference meet. With Boe and Arends entering their junior season, the duo seem poised to reach even higher heights this season than they did last.

The Lakers’ other returning state participant is Kyle Kurowski. While he didn’t score for the Lakers in last year’s state tournament, Kurowski brings some much-needed experience to a young Lakers team. He and Kyran Neuman are the only seniors on the roster while Boe and Arends are the only juniors; the rest of the roster is comprised of four freshmen and five sophomores who may need time to develop before growing into consistent contributors.

On the girls side, the Lakers have a notably small group. The team boasts a total of six players, of whom Caitlynn Hedman is the only one who got notable varsity experience last year.

Hedman is entering her junior season, making her the only upperclassman on the team as well. The rest of the girls team is comprised of three juniors and a pair of sophomores. The group will learn and grow as the year goes on with the hope of gaining experience it can build off of in the future.

The Lakeview girls invitational was scheduled for Friday but was postponed due to weather. The Lakeview boys and girls teams will instead next compete at Canby Golf Club on Monday at 4:30 p.m.