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'A' GOLF DIVISIONAL RESULTS
• Teagan Fee of Havre and Caleb Myers of Lewistown won the individual divisional titles at the Central A Divisional tournament. Lewistown won both the boys and girls team titles. The Golden Eagles boys won in a playoff over Belgrade, and the girls won by 32. Fee shot a 91 and was 10 strokes ahead of teammate Allison Denton. Myers won with 81 and Brock Blake of Belgrade was second at 85.
• Laurel's Paul O'Neil and Haylee Adams were the medalists at the Eastern A Divisional at Laurel Golf Club. O'Neil won with a 69, and Adams topped the girls leader board with a 90. The top 15 finishers for the boys and girls qualified for state. Laurel and Billings Central garnered team berths to state on the boys side. Laurel and Miles City ran away with the girls invites to state. The State A tournament will be held next Friday and Saturday in Hamilton.
CENTRAL 'A'
Eighteen holes wasn’t enough to decide the Central A Divisional champion Friday in Havre. It took one more at Prairie Farms Golf Course.
Belgrade and Fergus County’s boys each cared a 372 at day’s end, and a one-hole playoff was held to determine the champion. Fergus won it by a stroke to claim the divisional crown.
It was a nerve-racking finish for Belgrade, although players from both teams had already clinched their berth to next week’s state Class A tournament in Hamilton.
“I felt like we all were a little bit nervous. There was a lot of people watching,” sophomore Brock Blake, who led the Panthers with an 85 to place second, said. “We all could have played a little bit better, but not too big of a deal. We all played pretty good.”
Belgrade boasted three golfers in the top 10 with Braxton Butler and Anthony Madison placing third and seventh, respectively, with scores of 86 and 94.
Jaxson Hinshaw and Nic Board rounded out the Panthers, carding a 107 and 119, respectively.
“It would have been nice to get the trophy,” longtime Belgrade coach Joe Rossman said, “but it’s awful nice that all five get to get to go to state.”
The top two teams, boys and girls, qualified for state as well as the top 15 individuals. But it didn't lessen the sting for the boys of placing second.
“There’s always one hole for everybody that we could have taken a stroke off and at least didn’t have that tie,” said Blake. “But it happens. That’s just how golf works. There’s always just one stroke.”
On the girls side, Erin Elgas had rounds of 52 and 49 to place third with a 101. The senior is advancing to state for a second consecutive season and will be joined by Lanie Morgan and Sophia Flikkema.
“We had three girls qualify,” said Rossman. “For two girls never to have any golfing varsity experience to make state is a great thing. They really worked their butt off this year to get to that point. It’s just great that they made it.”
Morgan, a first-time golfer as a senior, finished with a 112 to place sixth, while Flikkema was 13th with a 143.
“I was kind of surprised,” Morgan admitted of qualifying for state. “I’m excited. I’m really proud of them (my teammates).”
Senior Lily Antos also competed, but did not qualify for state after carding a 152. But Rossman was thrilled that eight of his nine golfers advanced considering only three had prior divisional experience.
“How we ended up is a testament to how hard they worked during the season and the off-season,” he said.
The two-day state tournament will be held Sept. 28-29 at the Hamilton Golf Course. Belgrade’s boys placed ninth a year ago.
“Expectations for state,” Blake said while contemplating the question, “try and beat our divisional scores, for sure. Put up a good team score and just have fun and don’t get down on ourselves.”
Hamilton won the team title at 322. Stevensville took second at 330, followed by Polson at 340 and Frenchtown at 350.
The top four teams and top 30 individuals advance to the state tournament.
Two Butte Central boys will be making the trip.
Juniors Gator Yelenich and Cole Johnson tied for 28th to make the cutoff. Players shooting 94 or higher are done for the season.
Also for BC, freshman Austin Harrington and junior Ryan Wahl each shot a 96, while freshman Gunner Yelenich hit 97.
The cutoff for girls qualifying for state was 116.
Western A Divisional
at Cabinet View Golf Club, Libby
Par 72
BOYS
Team scores — Hamilton 322, Stevensville 330, Polson 340, Frenchtown 350, Whitefish 353, Butte Central 378, Libby 380, Columbia Falls 405, Dillon 436, Ronan 443, Browning 468.
Top 10 Individuals
Ryggs Johnston, Libby 65
Matt Hobbs, Polson 75
Tel Frost, Stevensville 77
Trey Kelley, Polson 78
Tristan Hanson, Hamilton 79
Zach Taylor, Hamilton 80
Bryce Reed, Hamilton 81
Tanner Hanson, Hamilton 82
Jacob Walters, Stevensville 82
Luke Schlimgen, Corvallis 83
Ivan Yazvak, Stevensville 83
Team-by-team results
HAMILTON (322) — Zach Taylor 80, Tristan Hanson 79, Bryce Reed 81, Tanner Hanson 82, Brayce Clack 98.
STEVENSVILLE (330) — Zel Frost 77, Jayce Painter 88, Ivan Yazvac 83, Jacob Watters 82, Sean Craft 92.
POLSON (340) — Matt Hobbs 75, Trey Kelley 78, Calvin Nowlen 95, Colby Devlin 92, Jeff Devlin 100.
FRENCHTOWN (350) — Derek Wolff 86, Ben Duhame 89, Colby Emmons 86, Mason Pyron 91, Nic Martello 89.
WHITEFISH (353) — Cameron Kahle 89, Jayce Cripe 90, Grant Kahle 87, Ryan Kemm 93, Andrew Bronzek 87.
BUTTE CENTRAL (378) — Gator Yelenich 93, Cole Johnson 93, Austin Harrington 96, Gunner Yelenich 97, Ryan Wahl 96.
LIBBY (380) — Ryggs Johnston 65, Andrew Freese 103, Trey Thompson 101, Alex Svendsbye 113, Landon Haddock 111.
COLUMBIA FALLS (405) — Tyler Langton 91, Trey Perrkins 113, Cody Brothwell 91, Marcus Kilman 110, Bobby DewBre 122.
DILLON (436) — Mark Southam 88, Trent Wahl 101, Trace Gardner 123, Ryan Kepner 124.
RONAN (443) — Anthony Camel 99, Conner Cornwell 98, D. Pretty On Top 113, Payton Cates 146, Ruben Couture 115.
BROWNING (468) — Mark Pollock 90, Cameron Falcon 124, Kelton Crawford DQ, Benny Kittson 143, Chris Hall 111.
GIRLS
Team scores — Whitefish 395, Corvallis 400, Polson 422, Hamilton 433, Libby 440, Browning 446, Dillon 476, Frenchtown 477 Ronan 488.
Top 10 Individuals
Tricia Joyce, Butte Central 73
Macee Greenwood, Corvallis 78
Ella Shaw, Whitefish 87
Keelee Storrud, Corvallis 94
Lindsey Huber, Dillon 95
Megan Archibald, Whitefish 96
Kelci Martin, Hamilton 96
Sammee Bradeen, Libby 98
Kylee Pittman, Dillon 98
Cali Cannon, Polson 99
Ellie Thiel, Polson 99
Team-by-team scores
WHITEFISH (395) — Ella Shaw 87, Megan Archibald 96, Kendall Reed 100, Annie Nixon 112, Anna Elm 114.
CORVALLIS (400) — Macee Greenwood 78, Keelee Storrud 94, Sami Knapp 101, Signee Storrud 127, Kalie Patterson 130.
POLSON (422) — Cali Cannon 99, Amanda Farley 104, Esme Yarbrough 120, Ellie Theil 99, K. Druyvestein 123.
HAMILTON (433) — Kelci Martin 96 Aly Rose 106, Sophia Doyle 117, Haile Spear 118, Hayley Bender 114.
LIBBY (440) — S, Latasha Fitzgerald 135).
DILLON (476) — Lindsey Huber 95, Kylee Pittman 98, Morgan Bowman 113, Jenn Horner 150.
FRENCHTOWN (476) — Harper Armitage 120, Catherine Gustine 113, Kara Klietz 130, Grace Bintz 114, Madison Chesnut 131.
RONAN (488) — Maco Jackson 104, M. Running Crane 111, Kyle Neimeyer 114, Aaliyah Decker 159.
BUTTE CENTRAL — Tricia Joyce 73.
COLUMBIA FALLS — Elizabeth Opalka 112.
STEVENSVILLE — Jasi Oyler 102.
