Photo by Jake McNeill: Murray County Central's Rachael Huso (left) and Teigyn O'Leary share a laugh on the 18th green during Tuesday's Red Rock Conference meet at Tyler Golf Club. Huso and O'Leary both finished in the top 3 individually at the meet, leading MCC to a first-place finish and RTR to a runner-up finish.

TYLER — After being near the top of the pack for the first pair of Red Rock Conference meets this season, the Murray County Central girls golf team came out on top in Tyler on Tuesday. Led by Rachael Huso’s third-place finish, the Rebels staved off the hosting Russell-Tyler-Ruthton Knights for a 12-stroke win in the seven-team event.

“It feels nice because we definitely struggled these past few meets, because RTR is really tough competition, so it’s really nice to get a win this season,” Huso said.

As a team, MCC’s girls finished with a score of 379,beating out Russell-Tyler-Ruthton’s 391 for first place. Red Rock Central also placed fourth at 446 and Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda/Westbrook-Walnut Grove placed fifth at 460.

On the boys side, HLOF/WWG’s 357 trailed only Mountain Lake Area’s 329 and Hills-Beaver Creek’s 354. RTR’s 369 and MCC’s 389 were good for fifth and sixth, respectively, and RRC placed eighth with a 411.

Hoso finished her round with an 18-over 89, highlighted by a hole 4 birdie and three pars. The Rebels also had Natalie Einck place fifth with a 92 and Elysia Korver place seventh with a 95.

Lizzie Daniels rounded out the Rebels’ scorers with a 103, placing 13th in the field of 28.

The weather out on the course wasn’t ideal for golf, with 17 mile-per-hour winds and gusts exceeding 20 at the start of the tournament. As such, staying mentally tough in order to persevere through the conditions was key to the Rebels’ success, Huso said.

RRC’s Jorga Brown was the top individual in the girls field with a 16-over 87, including five pars in her first 13 holes.

Teigyn O’Leary led RTR on the day as the individual runner-up. The Knights also had depth in the top 10, with junior Izzy Thomas placing sixth with a 94 and Leah Norgaard placing ninth with a 98.

Freshman Natalie Thomas and eighth grader Jacey Schreurs rounded out the RTR scorers in a tie for 19th with a 111.

RRC also had the top area boys finisher in Finn Batalden, who placed third in the boys meet with a 10-over 81. He had a birdie on hole 4, along with six pars.

MCC’s boys were led by Kaden Landsman in fourth place, who carded an 83 with a pair of birdies on holes 15 and 17.

HLOF/WWG’s strength came from its depth. Brady Madison, Neil Kuehl and Kellen Hollahan tied for 10th in the field of 46 with an 89, and Connor Jackels rounded out the Coyote scorers in 14th with a 90.

Colten Thomsen gave RTR its top boys performance with an 86, good for seventh place.

RTR returns to action with another home meet on Friday, hosting a boys and girls invite at Tyler Golf Club at 11 a.m. MCC next competes in a dual against Worthington at Slayton Country Club on Tuesday at 1 p.m., and Red Rock Central next hosts HLOF/WWG and Springfield for a triangular at Farmers Golf & Health Club on Thursday at 4:15 p.m.