Owatonna girls ace their section title defense
The Owatonna girls golf team poses for a photo with its Section 1AAA championship trophy. The Huskies have now won back-to-back section titles and will compete at state for the second consecutive season beginning on June 9 at Bunker Hills Golf Club in Coon Rapids. Photo from Facebook
Owatonna girls golf will once again be a featured team at the Class AAA state meet this season after winning the Section 1AAA title in Cannon Falls with a 651-stroke final score.
The mark was enough to beat out Lakeville North by 33 for first place, successfully defending the team’s 2025 section championship.
“I think the girls just really dialed in and knew they had another great shot to go out there, prove themselves again and win,” said Owatonna head coach Maddie Meyer.
Owatonna’s massive 2026 showing proved how much the Huskies have improved in just a year’s time.
Back in 2025, the team managed to win the section title with a cumulative score of 682 – a mark that would have won again this season – but instead, the team managed to make a close race into a blowout with a 31-stroke improvement.
“I think we’ve got a lot more consistent as a team. We have five of the same varsity players and everybody has played at a competitive level. We’ve grown since last year and everyone has improved individually as well,” said senior Carmen Jirele.
Jirele led the Huskies with a final score of 149, just five strokes over par across the two rounds.
The senior opened the tournament with a 76 (+4) but really found her groove with a stellar 73 (+1) in the second round, displaying the same high-level skillset that helped her win the 2024 Class AAA state individual championship.
Senior teammate Paige Thompson was also excellent and finished with 159 strokes for third place.
The Huskies’ No. 2 was just one stroke shy of tying for second place, but a bogey on the 18th hole and an eagle for Northfield’s Karina Johnson on the same green ended up making the difference.
Huskies’ eighth-grader Danica Hager continued to show why she is a major cornerstone of the program already by finishing in seventh place with a final total of 166.
Like Thompson in her battle for second, Hager fell just one shot shy of tying Farmington’s Chloe Friesz for sixth place at 165.
Ella Schuster and Anna Hagenson rounded out the scoring for Owatonna by taking 17th and 22nd place.
Both golfers were consistent across the two rounds with Hagenson recording a key birdie on the 18th hole of her second round to tie her for 22nd place instead of falling to 25th.
By winning the section title, Owatonna will advance to take part in the Class AAA team tournament held at Bunker Hills Golf Club in Coon Rapids on Tuesday, June 9.