City High’s Overton claims MVC divisional crown

CEDAR RAPIDS — Sarah Overton is relatively new to golf.

The 16-year-old Iowa City High junior has only been playing for four years, but she is performing like a veteran.

Overton fired 73 to captured medalist honors and was named Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division Athlete of the Year at the MVC divisional meet Tuesday at Airport Golf Course. Overton's round was added to her 76 at the MVC Super Meet last week for a total of 149.

Golf professional Don Brown attended the same church as Overton's grandmother. He approached her and encouraged her to sign the 12-year-old up for golf. The rest is history.

'My first lesson was with him,' Overton said. 'He told me I had a lot of natural talent and I should keep with it and I have.'

She has added a lot of hard work with that innate ability. Overton was third in divisional play and now has a title in hand, carding a birdie on the par-4 No. 4 hole.

'It feels really good,' Overton said. 'All my hard work over the summer and fall paid off.'

Overton was five shots better than Cedar Rapids Prairie's Emily Machula for Tuesday's round. Even more impressive, she was 12 shots better than Dubuque Hempstead's Tiffany Dalsing, who was second after two combined rounds.

Airport is short but the greens are a great equalizer. She was able to manage the toughest part of the course.

'I was putting really well,' Overton said. 'The greens are crazy out here, especially with the wind. They were fast and hard to control at times.'

Overton has been focused on nabbing her first state tournament berth. As the postseason approaches, she said she is getting closer to that level of play.

'These last 18-hole rounds that I have had have been pretty good,' Overton said. 'I just need to keep playing well. Everything will take care of itself.'

Hempstead rolled to a team title, posting a 321 Tuesday with an overall total of 664, which was 80 better than runner-up Prairie. The Hawks recorded one of its best finishes in a long time, receiving an 88 from Kennedy Fisher, an 89 from Lexi Poundstone and Peyton Staab added 93.

'Realistically, our goal was to get second,' Prairie Coach Erik Columbus said. 'The girls played great on our home course. I couldn't be prouder of them.'

Cedar Rapids Washington was second in the divisional, but fourth in the two-round total. Brett Visser and Grace Claassen were second-team performers. Washington's Kandis O'Donnell earned honorable mention honors.

AT AIRPORT NATIONAL

TUESDAY's RESULTS AT AIRPORT

Teams — 1. Dubuque Hempstead 321, 2. C.R. Washington 346, 3. C.R. Prairie 348, 4. Iowa City High 355, 5. C.R. Xavier 362, 6. Waterloo West 409, 7. Waterloo East 422.

Individuals — 1. Sarah Overton (ICH), 73; 2. Emily Machula (CRP), 78; 3. Kinsey VanderLee (DH), 79; 4. (tie) Tierney Dalsing (DH) 80 and Amy Olberding (CRX) 80.

Washington (346): Brett Visser 83, Mady Goodwin 83, Kandis O'Donnell 86, Grace Claassen 94.

Prairie (348): Machula 78, Kennedy Fisher 88, Lexi Poundstone 89, Peyton Staab 93.

City High (355): Overton 73, Emmalie Bohnsack 87, Sky Shield 93, Lillie Christopherson 102.

Xavier (362): Olberding 80, Emily Schuff 91, Melanie Wertzberger 95, Catie Locher 96.

MVC DIVISIONAL

(Overall results, including Super Meet)

Teams — 1. Dubuque Hempstead 343-321-664, 2. C.R. Prairie 396-348-744, 3. Iowa City High 394-355-749, 4. C.R. Washington 404-346-750, 5. C.R. Xavier 406-362-768, 6. Waterloo West 447-409-856, 7. Waterloo East no score.

First-team all-MVC Mississippi – 1. Sarah Overton (City High), 149, 2. Tierney Dalsing (Hempstead) 161, 3. Lourdes Allendesalazar (Hempstead) 165, 4. Danielle Gorman (Hempstead), 166, 5. Emily Machula (C.R. Prairie), 168, 6. Kinsey VanderLee (Hempstead), 172

Second-team — 7. Brett Visser (CRW), 178, 8. (tie) Lexi Poundstone (CRP) and Amy Olberding (CRX), 185, 10. Sierra Thurston (DH), 188, 11. (tie) Kennedy Fisher (CRP) and Grace Claassen (CRW), 189.

Honrable mention — 13. (tie) Melanie Wertzberger (CRX) and Lindsay Benko (DH), 190, 15. Sky Shield (ICH), 192, 16. Emmalie Bohnsack (ICH), 193, 17. (tie) Kandis O'Donnell (CRW) and Hanna Zikuda (WW), 194.

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