Franson wins Class 1A golf title

North Linn's Jessica Franson peaked at the right time.

The Lynx senior shot a low-round of 79 on day two, claiming the IGHSAU Class 1A state title Tuesday at the American Legion Golf Course in Marshalltown. She ended with 155, two strokes ahead of the field.

A wide smile graced her face after the leaderboard showed she won.

'This is by far the best I've played all year,” said Franson, who will golf at Coe next year. 'It's a good time to do it at state.”

Her work on the green allowed her to break a tie atop the leaderboard after the first round.

'My putting has improved a ton over the past two weeks,” Franson said. 'I pretty much nailed every 5-footer I had and that was great.”

Last season, Franson won every meet until placing fourth at the state meet. She was disheartened with a couple of losses, including at regionals, but won the meet that mattered most.

'It's great because my goal the whole year was to get first at state,” Franson said. 'I got fourth last year. I wanted to do a lot better than that and I knew that I could, if I just worked hard.”

Franson praised North Linn Coach Mike Hilmer, her family and a local pro who helped develop her game and have fun throughout the last two seasons. She became the first North Linn golfer to win a state title.

'It's definitely special,” Franson said. 'It shows even though we're a small school you can still work hard to get to state. It shows the other girls out for golf now that they can improve, do their best and try to get down here.”

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