The Chesterton girls golf team didn’t play its best round of the year, but it was good enough to punch a ticket to the IHSAA State Finals next weekend.

“You can see from the scores that we struggled today, but we played well enough to advance to State next Friday and Saturday,” Chesterton coach Dale Hewitt said. “The girls kept focused and persevered when they didn’t have their ‘A’ games.”

The Trojans finished third overall Saturday at the IHSAA Lafayette Jefferson Regional at Battle Ground Golf Club with a 356 team score. The host Broncos won the event after tieing second-place Valparaiso with a 352 team score.

“It was a tough weather day,” Hewitt said. “The winds were about 30 miles per hour most of the round and it was cold. Valpo and Lafayette Jeff played well in adverse conditions today.”

Kelly Grassel led Chesterton with an 80 that included one birdie and nine pars. Marissa Kroeger carded a 90 (five pars), while Nicole Dutz (1 par) and Taryn Trusty both shot 93 (5 pars).

“Our bright spot today was Taryn,” Hewitt said. “She came back strong for us after a tough Sectional last week.”

Grace Davis rounded out the scoring with a 106 (2 pars).

1. Lafayette Jefferson, 352; 2. Valparaiso, 352; 3. Chesterton, 356; 4. Lake Central, 361; 5. Western, 374; 6. Northwestern, 380; 7. Lafayette Central Catholic, 387; 8. Crown Point, 388; 9. Twin Lakes, 395; 10. Munster, 406; 11. Rensselaer Central, 408; 12. Hanover Central, 413; 13. Kankakee Valley, 415; 14. Peru, 418; 15. West Lafayette, 424; 16. Portage, 447; 17. John Glenn, 448; 18. New Prairie, 473.

Andrean -- Megan Kaminski 110, Alexandria Prasco 105.

Benton Central -- Tessa Brouilette 92.

Boone Grove -- Abbey Lukas 99.

Chesterton -- Kelly Grassel 80, Marissa Kroeger 90, Nicole Dutz 93, Taryn Trusty 93, Grace Davis 106.

Crown Point -- Lucia Bracco 95, Tiffany Curtis 86, Alyssa Harvey 92, Zoie Matthews 115, Jackie VanDerWay 121.

Griffith -- Christy Anzur 91.

Hanover Central -- Jaimie Frost 98, Ashley Yoways 117, Hannah Green 105, Elizabeth Price 101, Linsey Lanham 109.

Hobart -- Aimee Pope 109.

John Glenn -- Madeline Silvey 113, Emma Reese 109, Morgan Eggleston 113, Kaylee Matz 116, Presley Gee 113.

Kankakee Valley -- Bethany Jansma 108, Tara Beere 103, Emily Tucker 108, Madison Wireman 113, Shanan Patrick 96.

Knox -- Sarah Coad 117.

Kokomo -- Jenny Oldaker 110, Anne Marie Balsbaugh 97.

Lacrosse -- Lauren Bailey 94.

Lafayette Central Catholic -- Morgan Brown 88, Christine Mintert 90, Kiera O’Shea 106, Riley O’Bryan 103, Shelby Hicks 109.

Lafayette Jefferson -- Samantha Hatter 80, Lindsey Burklow 83, Abbie Carlsen 93, Maryn Hamilton 96, Lindsey Burkhardt 97.

Lake Central -- Kylie Shoemake 88, Kiana Jongsma 84, Jamie Hintz 96, Amanda Blais 93, Julia Beggs 121.

LaPorte -- Katie Gurnicz 98, Delanie Alcorn 91.

Lowell -- Jordan Zubay 91.

McCutcheon -- Hailey Harris 101.

Munster -- Rachel Jones 94, Hailey Estes 102, Jill Osterhus 136, Natalie Vellutini 94, Revati Kalluri 116.

New Prairie -- Amaris Graber 97, Alexis Wagner 125, Taylor Myers 134, Brianna Anderson 126, Madeline Cripe 125.

North Newton -- Taylor Watkins 121, Alisha Watts 92.

Northwestern -- Libby Hansen 91, Ashton Martin 102, Christa McClure 88, Olivia McClure 100, Alexis Hungate 101.

Peru -- Mallory Zorn 99, Emma Long 106, Maddy Eddy 110, Madison Deniston 107, Mallory Struble 106.

Portage -- Mackenzie Barcelli 105, Autumn Stevenson DQ, Haley Hodges 107, Alicia Wood 119, Katelyn Bohlim 116.

Rensselaer Central -- Bobbie Jo Culp 95, Courtney Feagans 91, Emilie Ziese 103, Savannah Steinke 119, Megan Salrin 127.

Tipton -- Lela Crawford 95.

Twin Lakes -- Taylor Russell 97, Morgan Kyburz 94, Taylor Hornung 93, Grace Milligan 111, Grace Winkle 121.

Valparaiso -- Harley Dubsky 73, Jennifer Gough 84, Brooke Fullenkamp 95, Mary Rooker 106, Lauren Caputo 100.

Western -- Allison Lindley 80, Natalie Newlin 96, Laura Christopher 99, Jen Hendershot 115, Shelby Schave 99.

West Lafayette -- Rachel Ho 101, Stephanie Lee 112, Jamila Abu-Omar 97, Arthi Puri 120, Molly Towns 114.

West Lafayette Harrison -- Emily Lewellen 92.

Posted 9/24/2012