BRAINERD — Following a tough scoring day on Tuesday, May 5, the Alexandria girls golf team put forth a strong showing on Thursday, May 7.
The Cardinals placed second as a team at the Central Lakes Conference meet hosted by Brainerd on the Pine Beach East course at Madden’s on Gull Lake, shooting a cumulative score of 319 with five golfers placing inside the top-16 of the 32-player field.
Ellie Sticha posted the best round out of the Alexandria contingent en route to a share of second place, firing a 2-over 74 against Madden’s par-72 layout. Sticha offset four bogeys and a double bogey with four birdies, which included a birdie on the par-6 No. 6 hole.
Other Cardinal performances include Mattea LeClair finishing in ninth with a 7-over 79, birdying two holes on her round. Cadence Simon missed out on a top-10 finish by one stroke, placing in a tie for 11th after a round of 82. Rosie Hovel tied for 13th with an 84 and Kaiya Chapin finished in 16th with an 86. Holly Meyer (95) finished in 22nd and Rylen Schmitz (99) came in 26th.
Placing all six golfers inside the top-10, Detroit Lakes swept both championships on Thursday, firing a winning team score of 299. Individually, Jaycie Sliper shot a 1-over 73 for the medalist honors, defeating Sticha, Lakers teammate Sophie Christianson and Willmar’s Kennedy Mara by one stroke.
Behind the Lakers and Cardinals, Willmar placed third in the team standings at 338, with hosts Brainerd (340) and Sauk Rapids-Rice (425) rounding out the five-team leaderboard.
Alexandria will be close to home as the Cardinals tee it up in the girls Section 8AAA preview tournament, beginning at 10 a.m. on Friday, May 8, at Greystone Golf Club in Sauk Rapids.
Blake Durham is the Sports and Outdoors Editor at the Echo Press. He joined the newspaper in September 2025 and covers various sports in Alexandria and throughout Douglas County. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire with a bachelor’s degree in communications in 2022.