Anna Fletcher and Laura Phillips are lurking on the periphery of the medalist chase at the MHSAA girls Class I state tournament. They need a great day today, along with some breakdowns by other contenders, to climb to the top of the leaderboard.

As long as they show up to the course, however, it seems a certainty that both of them will still get to hoist a championship trophy at the end of the day.

Fletcher shot an 86 and Phillips an 87 in the first round of the tournament Monday at Natchez Trace Golf Club in Saltillo. That left them in third and fourth place, respectively, on the individual leaderboard but St. Aloysius with a nearly insurmountable 26-shot advantage in the team standings.

The Lady Flashes shot a 173 in their quest for a third consecutive Class I championship. Sumrall was second with 199, Our Lady Academy third with 205 and Cathedral fourth at 207.

St. Al was the only team that had two golfers break 100 in the first round. Cathedral’s Chandler Russ shot a 99 and Kate Mayo a 108.

Only the top two golfers for each team count toward the team score, but Beth Newman shot a 102 to give St. Al three players in the top seven.

Tristan Cooley of Sumrall led the individual standings with an 80. Riley Mayhew of Nettleton was second after shooting an 84, followed by Fletcher and Phillips, and then Callee Breland of Our Lady Academy with an 88.

No other golfers even broke 90. Russ was in sixth place with a 99.

The final round begins Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.