Furnish, Black high on leaderboard

ANKENY - Good but not great.

Megan Furnish, Cedar Rapids Jefferson golfer

Cedar Rapids Jefferson's Megan Furnish and Megan Black of Independence walked away from the state golf tournament with mixed emotions.Furnish finished fourth in Class 4A, and Black was the 3A runner-up Wednesday in the state golf tournament at Otter Creek Golf Course.Furnish made her state tournament debut, shooting 5-over par 76 Wednesday for a two-round total 159. She finished three shots back of Waukee's medalist Payton Minear and tied Waukee's Jasmine Wyzgowski with the third-best 4A score.“It's amazing to be here and all the support I had,” said Furnish, an all-state golfer the last two years who missed the state meet by one stroke twice. “I wish I could have done a little better but overall I'm still happy.”Furnish improved her play by seven stroke. An old nemesis affected her rounds. She struggled with her putting in Tuesday's opening round. Furnish worked on her putting that night to gain confidence for the final round. She didn't convert as often as she wanted.“I was giving myself a lot of opportunities for birdies within 10-feet even, and I missed a 5-footer, but at least I had those putts,” Furnish said. “I had a chance (Wednesday). I wish a few more would have fallen.”Furnish fought through a rough start, opening with a double bogey. She rebounded with a birdie on the par-3 No. 6, carding out with 39 and coming in with 37.Focus stayed on her own game, attempting to put herself in position to win. She couldn't control the other players who moved ahead.“I tried not to get nervous or over excited,” Furnish said. “I just wanted to play my game and stay relaxed.”Furnish concludes an excellent career that finally includes a deserved high state finish. She said “determined” describes her J-Hawk career.“All the struggles I overcame,” said Furnish, who is excited about playing for Southwest Missouri State next year. “Some stuff hasn't gone my way. Missing state two years and having all those injuries, I've just battled really hard and tried to stay positive. I kept working hard.”Black entered the second round with a two-stroke lead, but suffered a tough round to finish a shot back of Charles City junior Jesse Sindlinger, who won her third state title.As strong as the opening round was, the final round was as frustrating. Black ran into trouble with her putter and even found an occasional water hazard, including one on No. 3 hole.“I had a rough day today,” Black said. “I didn't really pull it together really well.“I hit the shots I wanted,” Black said. “They didn't always end up where I planned.”Despite struggles, Black was still in contention on the final hole thanks to birdies on the par-3 No. 15 and par-4 No. 7. The latter tied it with two holes left. An unfortunate bogey on the final hole, while Sindlinger parred was the difference.“I am really disappointed in some of the things I did,” Black said. “Those bad breaks really got me. I couldn't control it, but it's still very frustrating. I know I could have pulled through but I didn't quite get there. Jesse had a great round. She came back hard.”Black placed ninth as a freshman, but didn't qualify last year. It was a better finish, and one she will be able to build on in the future.“It was a huge learning experience,” Black said. “It's a great opportunity. I know now I can handle a lot of pressure.”South Tama was fourth in the team race with 344 second-round score and 703 total. Paige and Taylor Van Dyk were fourth and sixth, respectively. Paige Van Dyk shot 75 Wednesday with a 158 total. Taylor van Dyk finished with 159, including a final-round 79,Clear Lake topped Charles City, 676-680, for the team title.Decorah Molly McDonough shot 85-80-165 to finish 10th in 3A.Cedar Rapids Washington's M.J. Kamin and Western Dubuque's Rochelle Beardsley entered the second round tied for 12th. Beardsley shot 80 Wednesday to finish 11th with 166. Kamin shot 81 for 167 and tied for 12th.Classes 1A-2A

Dyersville Beckman cruised to the Class 2A girls' state golf championship Wednesday, topping runner-up Carroll Kuemper by 59 strokes at River Vally Golf Club in Adel. Cascase finished third. Beckman's Ellie Ament and Brooke Klostermann finished 1-2 in medalist play. Ament shot 75-79-154 to win by 11 shots. Teammate Stephanie Coghlan was fifth. HLV finished third in 1A.