Just a few short weeks ago, Jack McElroy put the finishing touches on his first nine holes of practice as a member of the St. Edmond golf team at Lakeside Golf Course.

When McElroy turned in his card to SEHS head coach Matt Dillon, it was far from the same result as the one the freshman posted here on Wednesday during action at a Class 1A sectional meet.

McElroy carded a round of 80 to place first, helping the Gaels advance to districts with a team title.

St. Edmond had a 352, three shots ahead of runner-up Newell-Fonda. Joining both the Gaels and Mustangs next week at districts in LeMars will be third place finisher GTRA.

“We had just finished our first practice and Jack shot a 72,” Dillon said. “Now, for 18 holes, you are thinking that’s incredible. Well, this was for nine.

“Needless to say, Jack has worked his tail off to get better, and for him to do what he did (Wednesday), that just shows how much he has put into this.”

Joining McElroy in the Top-4 was senior Caleb Schaeffer, as he carded an 81 to place third.

“I thought our guys really battled the conditions well,” Dillon said. “In town, it might not be really windy, but out at the course, it was blowing.

“We knew this was going to be close and I am just so proud of our guys for battling out there.”

Hayden Derrig had a 93, Carter Rial and Yoon Sang Kim recorded 95s and Ronnie Orres had a 105 to round out the scoring for St. Edmond.

McElroy recorded matching 40s on the front and back nine holes with four birdies in all. Schaeffer had 10 pars.

“Competing in the North Central Conference, we might not see the kind of results we want,” Dillon said. “But it’s a tough conference with a lot of quality golfers, so I knew once we got to this point against teams the same size as us, we could compete.”

Newell-Fonda’s Mason Dicks was the runner-up with an 81. Teammate Ryan Greenfield carded a 90 with Guyson Lyman and Jacksyn Hogrefe adding 92s.

Joining the three teams at districts will be Logan Kenyon and Jacob Estrada of Coon Rapids-Bayard.

West Bend-Mallard’s low round came courtesy Aaron Gambell, as he shot a 98.

Districts will take place Monday in LeMars at Willow Greek Golf Course.