The Golden Hawks were flying high this past week. Traveling to the Muscatine Municipal Golf Course to compete in the annual River Valley Conference Championship meet on May 3, the Mid-Prairie girls golf team pushed past all the competition to claim the conference championship by a single stroke. 

“What a great day this was for the girls.  We finally had some great weather for a meet after all the winds we’ve been battling and girls were really looking forward to getting started,” Mid-Prairie coach Tracy McArtor said. “Based on what I saw early in the round, the whole team got out of the gate on a good note and kept that momentum pretty much through the whole round.”

To say it was close would be an understatement. Mid-Praire and Beckman Catholic ended this championship separated by one swing of the golf club, with the Golden Hawks taking first place with a score of 389 and Beckman Catholic shooting a 390 to take second place. 

For Mid-Prairie, this is its first conference championship for the golf program and head coach McArtor, since 2018.  

“There were a few bumps here and there, but the whole team did a good job of minimizing any real damage,” McArtor said. “We knew going in how tough the competition was going to be and that in the end it could come down to a matter of just a few strokes.” 

There were 15 teams who took part in this RVC meet and over 40 golfers participated. The fifth place team of Tipton would produce the golfer who earned meet medalist honors, freshman, Paycee Sorgenfrey, who shot an 86. She was the only golfer to post a score under 90. 

Placing third overall and producing the top performance for Mid-Praire in its winning effort at this RVC championship meet was senior, Kylie Reinier. Reinier would shoot a 45 on the front nine and a 48 on the back nine to finish with a score of 93. Her third place finish would also give her Elite All Conference honors. 

Essentially right behind Reinier was fellow teammate, sophomore, Addison English. English finished the front nine with a 48 and the back nine with a 46 to arrive at her final score of 94. Not only did this score give English a fourth palace finish at this meet, but it also, just like Reinier, gave her Elite All Conference honors. 

Tying for 10th place, along with Monticello senior, Jaelyn Aitchison, and Cascade junior, Anna Manternach, was Mid-Prairie junior, Gabi Robertson. 

Robertson, who entered this meet ranked No. 22 in the state, shot a 48 on the front nine and a 52 on the back nine to enter a three-way tie for 10th place with an overall score of an even 100. Her finish earned her All Conference honors.

Also earning All Conference honors as a Golden Hawks golfer was junior, Madi Davidson. Davidson would end the meet tied for 14th place, along with West Branch senior, Gabriella Rushton, and Tipton senior, Kaitlyn Curry. Her final score ended up being 102, after she shot 52 on the front nine and a 50 on the back nine.  

Mid-Prairie senior, Alexa Huber, who placed 17th with a score of 103, and Mid-Prairie junior, Elliott Debler, who placed 21st with a score of 108, would both earn Honorable Mention All Conference. 

“Along with the team win, having all 6 girls make “All Conference” teams was the icing on the cake,” McArtor said. “All of the accolades are a testament to how hard the kids have been working on their game. We’ll celebrate this win and use it as a stepping stone as we get ready for the first regional coming up next week.”

Up next for Mid-Prairie, now ranked No. 5 in Class 2A, will be heading to the Kalona Golf Course for the Class 2A Region 4B golf meet on May 12.