Holt Breezes On To State
Mead sophomore Britany Holt fired a 3-over-par 77 Wednesday at Liberty Lake Golf Course to easily capture the District 8/Athletic Roundtable girls tournament and lead 10 Greater Spokane League golfers into the state tournament.
Combined with a 5-over 76 at Hangman Valley Golf Course last Friday, Holt had a 153 to give her a nine-shot victory.
“I’m pretty happy with (the outcome) but I wasn’t hitting it as well today,” said Holt, second at the tournament last year. “I had a lesson (after Friday’s round) … my swing feels different but it’s starting to feel better. I scored pretty well; it’s consistent with my (four, dropping to three) handicap. My putting actually saved me today.”The GSL boys finish qualifying today, beginning at noon, at MeadowWood. The top nine advance to state, which is at The Creek at Qualchan.
The top 24 from Hangman advanced to the second round at Liberty Lake to battle for a position in the 36-hole state tournament at Downriver Golf Course on May 22-23.
Jennifer Hatley, a Ferris junior, coasted in with an 85-162, 12 shots ahead of third place.
“I had a little trouble in the sand traps,” Hatley said after qualifying for her third state competition. “I was more worried about qualifying for state than I was beating Britany. I wanted to make sure I did well the first round.”
Holt led the GSL with an average round of 79 during league play. Hatley was second at 81.1.
Hatley’s 77 at Hangman gave her a cushion for Liberty.
Ferris freshman Bridget Johnson, whose 94 at Hangman put her in a tight battle for state, responded with an 84. The second-best round of the day gave her a 178, safely to state by five strokes and tied for sixth.
“It was pretty easy (to improve) when you shoot a bad round at Hangman,” said Johnson, who averaged 88.5 during league play. “I just got my brain working, I guess. You just have to shake it off. You have good days and bad days in golf.”
Ferris advanced four golfers to state, giving it a good shot at winning the championship. Joining Hatley and Johnson were sophomore Hillary Prugh (92-177) and junior Julie Jensen (86-178). Mead and Gonzaga Prep advanced two golfers apiece, and Shadle Park and Lewis and Clark golfers rounded out the qualifiers.
Jensen, with a 95.7 scoring average for 13th during league play, was the lowest-ranked golfer to advance.
The Shadle qualifier is junior Megan Ehlert, who shot 81-93-174 for third after finishing 12th in league play with a 95.6 average.
Frontier League boys golf
Neil Schnider led defending State AA champion Clarkston with a 1-over 71 during the opening round of the District 7-AA tournament at Liberty Lake.
Clarkston positioned Darrin Eberhardt (72), Doug McClure (73) and Jason McCallum (76) in the top five while shooting a 373. Secondplace West Valley shot a 400, led by Shaun Murray’s 75.
The second and final round is Monday at Colville. The top seven individuals qualify for state.
GSL baseball
Bryan Cosby had a two-run double in the sixth and Joe Miller struck out six as Ferris (12-5) defeated Shadle Park 6-2 in a second-place tiebreaker at Hart Field.
Ferris earned the second seed to the District 8-AAA tournament and a first-round bye. Shadle (11-6) opens district play Friday in a loserout game at Seafirst Stadium against No. 6 Rogers. Central Valley and Gonzaga Prep also play Friday.
Northeast A baseball
Ben Andrus (5-3) pitched a onehitter and Josh Roberts doubled home Andy Asbjornsen in the third as Colfax defeated visiting Medical Lake 1-0 to qualify for state playoffs.
Colfax plays Chewelah Saturday morning for the right to meet league champion Lakeside in the afternoon for the No. 1 berth to state. The morning loser advances as No. 3.
Medical Lake, which was eliminated, loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth, including Roger Perdue’s bunt single to break up the nohitter. Andrus settled down to preserve the shutout.