AMES—Talk about a turnaround.
           
Saturday was a disappointing day for Central College's Rachel Sohn (senior, Sutherland, South O'Brien HS), who turned in a season-worst 95. But after apparently finding some answers on the practice range, Sohn responded with a career-low 75 and the Dutch are still hanging just four shots off the American Rivers tournament lead after two rounds of the 54-hole tournament.
           
"For Rachel to go from our worst score on the team by 10 strokes to our best score was huge," coach Tabitha Schumacher said.
           
Meanwhile Mackenzie Biggs (senior, Bloomington, Ill., Normal HS) climbed into a tie for the individual lead at 77-75—152. Nebraska Wesleyan University's Madison Jackson has 76-76—152 while the University of Dubuque's Mary Edwards is third at 79-76—155.
           
Dubuque leads the team race with 313-314—627 while defending champion Central is at 317-314—631. Coe College burst into contention as well with the day's best round, shooting 324-309-633. Wartburg College is fourth at 332-336-668. The final round is set for Monday with the tournament champion gaining the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Championships May 21-24 at the Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky.
           
Lydia Grond (junior, Hull, Boyden-Hull HS) is tied for sixth at 76-82—158, while Peyton Bytnar (senior, Bettendorf) is 11th at 79-82—161 and Avery Woods (senior, Long Grove, North Scott HS) is 26th at 85-88—173. Sohn is tied for 22nd.
           
Schumacher said Sohn was among several Central players who headed for the practice range after Saturday's round.
           
"She started hitting it better," she said. "That gave her confidence on all of the other facets of her game. She's making more putts, she's hitting it close. She was just better all around. I'm sure every single statistic was a little bit better today."
           
Biggs is a three-time all-conference honoree aiming for her loftiest finish. She was third in the conference in 2020, sixth in 2021 and fifth last year.
           
"She played well," Schumacher said. "I think she probably wants a couple holes on the back nine back, but she played well overall. She's right there in the hunt and that's exciting."
           
Dubuque has consistently placed ahead of Central in their previous fall season meetings but Schumacher is excited that the Dutch remain in striking distance heading into the final round.
           
"It's all going to come down to tomorrow," she said. "The intensity and everything is going to be high but we've got four seniors and a junior on our team, which I think can help us with the experience that they bring. We've got to remind ourselves that we have to worry about ourselves out there, play each shot and each hole one at a time and see what happens."                                                             
           
Play Monday starts at 10 a.m. with Central's first player teeing off at 10:45 a.m. A bit more challenging playing conditions are anticipated with temperatures dipping and winds increasing.