The Hastings Raiders girls golf team closed its season at the MSHSL Section 3AAA Tournament with two days of competition that tested both consistency and endurance against one of the state’s strongest postseason fields. The opening round was held May 27 at Loggers Trail Golf Course in Stillwater in a varsity team stroke play format. Teams competed for advancement to the second round, with the section champion and top individual golfers earning spots in the state tournament field. The top five teams and the top 10 golfers not on those advancing teams moved on after the opening day. Hastings entered the tournament looking to extend its season against a section lineup that included East Ridge, Two Rivers, Rosemount, Woodbury, Eagan, Apple Valley and several other conference and section opponents.
Hastings opened the tournament at Loggers Trail and finished the first round with a team score of 415, placing the Raiders outside the advancing team positions. Even with a challenging day across the course, Hastings continued to battle through the lineup and completed the tournament with individual efforts that reflected the group’s persistence in postseason play.
Junior Harmon Brown led the Raiders and produced the team’s strongest overall showing across the section event. Brown shot a 92 in the opening round and returned with a 91 in round two to finish at 183 overall, or 38-over-par for the tournament. Brown’s ability to trim a stroke off her first-round score gave Hastings its lowest total over the two-day competition and provided a steady finish to the season.
Several Raiders competed only in the opening round and posted scores that contributed to the team total. Senior Haylee Newton carded a 103 to finish at 30-over. Freshman MacKenzie Krauth turned in a 107 and finished 34-over. Sophomore Anika Johnson shot 113 for the day, while senior Lauren Judge finished with a 117. Sophomore Maddy Ritter added a 119 to complete the Raiders lineup.
The tournament format created a difficult path to continue into the second day, with only the top five teams and top individual golfers outside those teams advancing. East Ridge emerged as section champion with a two-round total of 633. Two Rivers placed second at 673, followed by Rosemount at 676, Woodbury at 694 and Eagan at 695 to claim the five advancing team positions.
For Hastings, Brown’s two-round total highlighted the team effort and represented the Raiders’ top finish individually. Across the lineup, the Raiders relied on contributions from athletes representing every class level, including two seniors closing out their final high school tournament, a junior leader, and younger players gaining experience in postseason competition.
When the tournament concluded, Hastings finished with a listed overall team mark of 142-over for the event. Brown’s 183 led the Raiders, followed by Newton at 103, Krauth at 107, Johnson at 113, Judge at 117 and Ritter at 119. The section tournament also marked the end of the competitive schedule, with advancement reserved for the section champion and qualifying individuals moving on to the state tournament.
The Raiders leave the season with postseason experience gained against a deep Section 3AAA field and a group that mixed veteran leadership with underclassmen development. The final week brought a challenging postseason test at Loggers Trail and Bunker Hills, and Hastings closed the year by competing through the section tournament format from start to finish.