MARSHALLTOWN — Ottumwa head coach Dusty Stewart and his Bulldog girls golf team is hoping to peak at the right time this season.

That hasn’t happened yet, but the Bulldogs’ win streak just keeps getting bigger.

Ottumwa — the defending Class 4A state champ — won its 21st consecutive meet on Monday at the rescheduled Marshalltown Invite.

The Bulldogs bested second-place West Des Moines Valley by four strokes, 339 to 343.

“I think we’re playing okay. We’re not shooting as well as we can. That’s okay. It would rather be struggling right now and peak at the right time and play our best golf at the state tournament,” said Stewart.

Ottumwa has not lost a meet since placing third at the 2006 state tournament, a meet won by Valley, who set a record for lowest two-day round ever at the girls state meet.

Ottumwa has won two different tiebreakers in defense of its title to keep its winning run going. The first tiebreaker victory came against Ankeny last Thursday, April 24.

Ottumwa continued its trend of close finishes with another tiebreaker that needed unlocking. This time the opponent was Ames and it came at last Thursday’s Ottumwa Invite.

Ames was in attendance, but chose to bring its junior varsity squad to the meet, which was originally planned to tee off April 10, but was moved back because of weather. The Ames JV squad rounded out the field in eighth place with a total of 482.

It’s clear in Stewart’s mind who the top three contenders for this year’s Class 4A state title are — Ottumwa, Ankeny and Ames. Valley could be included in that mix in the top four if the Tigers come focused and ready to play.

“The top three teams are very apparent. Valley played pretty well today and shot a pretty good score. They’re going to be right there,” said Stewart.

Each team filled out the top four slots at the ’08 state meet in terms of final finish.

Ottumwa senior Kristin Paulson was the meet medalist with 78 at Marshalltown’s American Legion Golf Course. The Bulldogs’ Sarah Paulson fired an 82 and sophomore Hailey Sheldahl carded an 87.

Anna Robinson of Valley was the meet’s runner-up with an 81.

Stewart talked about where his team sits with the May 19 state qualifying regional meet looming as Ottumwa’s biggest meet of the season yet to be played — outside of the state meet. The state meet will be played at Elmwood Golf and Country Club in Marshalltown on May 27-28.