WILLMAR — The Dawson-Boyd girls golf team put itself in a position to continue its quest for a three-peat as state champions on Wednesday. The Blackjacks ran away with the win at the second day of the Section 5A tournament, beating the rest of the field by more than 50 strokes to claim yet another state tournament berth.

Leading the charge for the Blackjacks was Alyssa Swedzinski, who topped the field to claim an individual section title. She put together a 6-over 78 in the second round of competition, highlighted by four birdies and eight pars, to come from behind and claim the title.

Swedzinski entered the day two strokes back of Lac qui Parle Valley’s Molly Halvorson for first place, but Swedzinski finished the tournament with a 160 to beat out Halvorson by three strokes.

As a team, Dawson-Boyd shot a 694 to beat Community Christian’s 748 and Lac qui Parle Valley’s 750.

Kylar Hjelmeland and Laura Schreier also finished in the top 5 for Dawson-Boyd. Hjelmeland shot a 16-over on Wednesday to place fourth at 169, and Schreier shot an 18-over to place fifth at 180. Hjelmeland birdied two of her first three holes and added another on the front 9.

Claire Stratmoen rounded out the Blackjack scorers in eighth place with a 185 after shooting 23-over on Wednesday. Chloe Stratmoen and Myah Bothun also competed, with Stratmoen carding a 54-over to place 22nd at 230, and Bothun shooting 44-over to place 25th at 238.

Dawson-Boyd returns to Pebble Creek Golf Club in Becker for the third straight season and the third time in program history, aiming to go a perfect 3 for 3 in terms of claiming state titles once reaching the tournament. Girls teams will begin to tee off for the first round of competition on Tuesday, June 9 at 12:45 p.m., with tee times for day 2 on Wednesday yet to be determined.

Mork wins boys section title, Stratmoen qualifies for state

WILLMAR — Evan Mork and Carson Stratmoen each earned individual state tournament qualifications at Wednesday’s Section 5A boys golf tournament finale, leading the Dawson-Boyd Blackjacks to a runner-up finish.

Mork finished the day as the individual section champion. He entered the round tied with Benson’s Connor Larson for first place, but Mork’s 4-over 76 was enough to pick up three strokes on Larson, and enough to stave off Central Minnesota Christian’s Joseph Grave’s 1-under round.

Mork finished the tournament with a winning score of 149 to edge past Graves’ 150 and Larson’s 152. After birdying his first hole, Mork went 5-over on holes 2 through 8, but he went even-par the rest of the way.

Stratmoen also shot a 4-over round, tying Lac qui Parle Valley’s Griffin Kranz for fourth at 157. Stratmoen entered the round in seventh place, just on the cusp of state tournament eligibility, but he went even-par over his first eight holes to clear his path to state.

Dawson-Boyd compiled a team score of 668, trailing only Central Minnesota Christian’s 638 and edging out LQPV by a single stroke for the team runner-up finish.

Owen Schindler placed 18th for Dawson-Boyd, shooting a 24-over to fall from ninth to 18th at 178, and Landon Kemen fell from 13th to 29th after shooting a 27-over to close at 186.

Yellow Medicine East’s Cooper McCosh placed 13th in the tournament with a two-day score of 172. He shot a 12-over on Wednesday to climb the latter after finishing the first round in 17th, and he was particularly impressive on the back 9, going even-par with a birdie and seven pars on the first eight holes.

Evan Menning and Mason Solem also competed for Dawson-Boyd, placing 30th at 188 and 34th at 197, respectively.

Mork and Stratmoen head to Pebble Creek Golf Club in Jordan for the Class A state tournament on June 9 and 10. Individual tee times for the first round begin at 7:30 a.m, with day 2 times to be determined based on the results of the first round.