By KLINT SPILLER

kspiller@dailynews.net

However the season finishes, Thomas More Prep-Marian junior Monica Michaud said she wants to end it with a smile.

Michaud qualified for the Class 3-2-1A state tournament out of the regional in Russell. She made it alongside teammates senior Emily Leiker and freshman Annaka Applequist.

The Monarchs will compete Monday at the 3-2-1A tournament at Cherry Oaks Golf Course in Cheney.

This is Michaud's second trip to the state tournament. She qualified last year and finished 79th with a 132.

"It felt really good to be able to come back," Michaud said. "I was pretty excited. It was my goal to just have a fun end to the season if it was going to be the end."

None of the girls are placing high expectations on themselves for the state tournament. They all said they just want to have fun.

TMP head coach Judy Mitchell said that mindset could help their scoring.

"Hopefully it will keep them relaxed," she said.

The qualifiers have a wide breadth of experience levels.

Leiker played three seasons for TMP, taking her sophomore year off. She practiced this summer with friends and her father, and it's shown, making a dramatic improvement from 2011 to 2012.

Mitchell said Leiker had been the team's best surprise this season.

"Actually, my main goal was to do better than I had been doing before," Leiker said. "Up until probably the second tournament, state wasn't even a goal. I didn't think I could get there. But it became a goal once I started to improve."

Freshman Annaka Applequist took the final qualifying spot out of the regional. She said she never expected to make the state tournament, especially considering this was her first year of competitive golf and she had only played approximately two times a year before that.

"All the other good scores were wiped out by (team's who qualified), so then there was my score," Applequist said. "I didn't think I would qualify, because I didn't think I was good enough. But I guess it was."