Cyclones place fourth vs. tough 3-A sectional field

 DENISON -- The results did not include any team or individual advancement, but Harlan Community boys golf coach Chad Swanson was pleased with his team’s final performance of the 2017 season.
 Posting four scores that ranked in or near the top half of a tough 48-player field, the Cyclones scored a 327 to place fourth out of eight teams in last Friday’s (May 12) Class 3-A Sectional Tournament held on Denison’s 18-hole Majestic Hills Golf Course.
 Atlantic (310) and ADM (319) placed first and second and advanced to the May 19 District Tournament at the Atlantic Country Club. Jake Olsen of Atlantic shot a 73 (2-over par) for top medalist honors, edging ADM’s Jacob Schumacher by one stroke. Individual district qualifiers also included Creston’s Kyle Somers and Carroll’s Koby Paulsen, who tied for third with rounds of 75.
 Carroll placed third with a 325, followed by HCHS (327), Denison-Schleswig (333) and Glenwood (340).
 “It was a beautiful day for golf and our guys played really well,” Swanson said. “Majestic Hills has some holes and greens that can really present problems but our guys managed their rounds just as I asked them to.
 “Overall, we posted a good score for us. We just ran into a pretty balanced and loaded field. I am proud of how they played. Finishing in front of the host Monarchs and a very tough Glenwood team - both who had beaten us lately - was an accomplishment. We played well enough to be in the hunt, but ran into some teams that were just a bit better out there.”
 HCHS was led by its most consistent player of the year, junior Kevin Campbell, who tied for ninth place with a round of 79 - just four shots behind the last district qualifiers. Campbell’s round included two front-nine birdies and eight pars, capped by consecutive pars on his final four holes (16, 17, 18, 1).
 Senior Ross Petersen (two birdies, eight pars) placed 12th overall with an 80 while seniors Troy Nowatzke (15th) and Matthew Bjoin (25th) shot 82 and 86, respectively. Nowatzke carded 10 pars during his round and Bjoin shot a team-best 39 on the back nine while struggling at times on the front.
 Juniors Shane Chamberlain (91) and Ryan DeMott (96) rounded out the Cyclone scorecard. Chamberlain was filling in for Jay Swanson, who missed the meet due to a BPA trip to Florida.