BHS golfers bound for state
Bigfork High School's golf team had a strong showing at the Class B Division 3 golf tournament at Canyon River Golf Course in Missoula on Monday with Kyle Parker tying for second place and Sara Keenan tying for third.
Parker shot a 79, which put him in a three-way tie with Tom Swanson and Don Cloninger, both from Missoula Loyola.
At the divisional tournament scorecard tie-breakers are used. Each player's score is compared to the others' on the previous holes starting with the 18th hole and working backwards. The person with the lowest score on the hole wins the tie-breaker. Parker ultimately earned fourth.
"Kyle had a good day," said Steve Hullett, Bigfork High School head golf coach. "He shot a 38 on the first 9 and a then the wind came up. He shot a 41 on the back and just made a few mistakes with things like club selection."
Bigfork's Steven Schuster tied for 14th place with Kendal Asher from Miles City. Both boys shot an 89 and Asher won the tie-breaker leaving Schuster in 15th place.
The 15 participants with the lowest scores at the divisional tournament advance to the state tournament.
The top four teams at the tournament also advance to state.
The Bigfork boys narrowly made the cut as they landed in fourth place with a combined score of 359.
Loyola was first with 324, Three Forks had a 344 and Manhattan Christian was third with a 357.
Underneath Bigfork was Big Timber in fifth with 371.
"They had a chance at third place. They were only two strokes behind third place," Hullett said. "Really they had a chance to win it, but
The Vikings will be represented at state by Parker and Schuster, as well as Blake Weimer, Ronnie Grenier and Ryan Conway.
Weimer shot a 94 at the divisional tournament, Grenier had a 97 and Conway finished with a score of 100.
The Bigfork girls don't have enough participants to count as a team in competition, but Keenan earned herself a spot at state all by herself.
She shot an 85 and tied Townsend's Laura Kohlmaier for third place. Keenan lost the tie-breaker and finished in fourth.
"Sara played OK," Hullett said. "She still hasn't done her thing in the tournament, but hopefully it will come this week."
The Crippen sisters from Missoula Loyola went home with the top two honors. Kelsie Crippen shot an 80 for first place and Maggie had an 82 to earn second place.
On the boys side, Dan Krautter of Deer Lodge took first place with a 73.
The Class B State Tournament is being held May 18 and 19 in Huntley Project.
The boys will play at Pryor Creek Golf Course and the girls will play at Eagle Rock Golf Course.
"I'm excited about the boys making it as a team and I'm excited for Sara too," Hullett said. "I think Parker and Schuster and the rest of the boys have a good chance of doing something at state. I still believe Sara has a good chance of winning it too."