Minnesota State women's golf team has close call with tornado while competing in Oklahoma
BARTLESVILLE, Okla. — Members of the Minnesota State women's golf team knew they'd have tough competition in Oklahoma. What they didn't anticipate was that they'd also be battling dangerous weather.
The team was competing in the Division II regional tournament in Bartlesville, Oklahoma on Monday when a tornado rolled through the town.
"Thirty mile-per-hour winds, cold, rain, wet ground, you know. Not the same conditions we had in the fall," said Anna Cihak, senior captain.
It's how Cihak describes the weather they've golfed in this spring. Little did she know that she and her Maverick teammates would face a whole new level of severe weather.
"This was real. This was extreme. This made it feel a lot more real," said Cihak.
After finishing their practice round on Monday night, the golfers were in their hotel rooms in Bartlesville, Oklahoma when all of a sudden they were told to go downstairs because a tornado was heading their way.
"I was definitely very freaked out," said Cihak. "One of the things that made me feel more calm is that we were all in this together, basically."
Cihak and her teammates waited out the tornado in a hotel conference room with about five other teams. They told jokes to try and lighten the mood.
"Some of my teammates were freaking out. Some were pretty calm. That was pretty much the same with each team," said Cihak.
After about a half hour, the storm ended. While the golfers were safe, some of their parents staying at a nearby Hampton Inn had to deal with damaged cars and other issues.
The next day, the Mavericks were able to golf but had to play around branches and other debris. Still, they consider themselves lucky.
"We knew how extreme that tornado was so to come through that unharmed in any way was a blessing to say the least," said Cihak.
Bartlesville and Barnsdall, Oklahoma were two towns that took direct hits from tornadoes on Monday.
The tornado caused enough structural damage to the hotel the parents were staying in, that they had to evacuate in the middle of the night.
About 40 homes were damaged in nearby Barnsdall, Oklahoma.