Mead sends retiring coach Paul Peters out in style with State 3A championship

The Mead High School boys golf team made certain retiring coach Paul Peters went out in style.

The Panthers showed off their impressive depth, pulling away Wednesday to win the State 3A tournament at Indian Summer Golf and Country Club in Olympia.

“It was like they were on a mission and knew what they wanted,” said Peters, who finishes with five state titles and five runner-up finishes in 37 years at the helm. “And they had enough skill and guts and heart to take care of it. They got it done in style, they really did.”

Mead packed the leaderboard, led by Mulder twins Bradley (73) and Benjamin (75) sharing fifth place with 148 totals. Cameron Cantillana (151) tied for 12th, Ben Barrett (154) tied for 16th and Ben Jones (155) tied for 18th. All five received individual medals for placing in the top 20. North Central’s Teigen Brill (147) tied for seventh.

“I was talking with Ben Jones this morning,” Peters said. “He just said, ‘We’re going to win this one. We’ve got to.’ ”

Mead was the only team in the top five to improve on the second day, shooting 300 after a 301 on Tuesday. Mountain View (304-312) finished second.

“We didn’t talk too much about it at the beginning of the year, but it was something we knew we had a good shot to do,” Peters said. “It’s a different kind of pressure to be favored and come in and get it done.”

The Panthers won every tournament this season except for a third-place finish at the Bill Egbers Memorial behind a pair of eventual state champions – 2A Burlington-Edison and 4A Sumner.

“I’ve thought about it a lot along the way: Who is writing the script?” Peters said. “Because if you wanted to write it, that’s the chapter you’d write. It’s really special and I’m honored.”

In the girls tournament at Hawks Prairie in Lacey, Mead’s Brooke Bloom closed with a 79 and tied for 10th. Bellevue rolled to the title by 68 shots while Southridge’s Jillian Hui (70-73 143) took the individual crown.

4A: Lewis and Clark sophomore Amanda Nguyen birdied the last two holes for an even-par 72 at Indian Canyon to share the top spot with Newport’s Amber Li and Issaquah’s Claire Chang.

After a 40-minute delay due to a thunderstorm, Nguyen narrowly missed a birdie putt on No. 18, the first playoff hole, while Li and Change made birdies. Li won the playoff on the third extra hole.

“Amanda had a great tournament,” Tigers coach Michelle Grafos. “She drained a great putt on 17 (from 15 feet). She had a couple of bogeys, a couple of tough breaks, but she kept battling. The growth from when she was freshman to this year, she’s done a great job and she really kept it together, which you could see when she birdied 17 and 18.”

Newport won the team title (306-301 607). Gonzaga Prep, led by Lissette Durkin (82-77 159), placed fifth and LC was sixth.

Sumner’s boys swept the individual and team championship at the Creek at Qualchan. Ryan Takeshita (67-70 133) edged Bellarmine Prep’s JJ Bordeaux by one stroke.

Lewis and Clark posted a five-shot improvement in the second round and finished fourth. Jack Brigham (74-73 147) took eighth. Gonzaga Prep’s Dillon Schrock (149) shared 12th place.

2A: West Valley finished strongly as freshman Melia Cerenzia fired a 72 and her sister Spencer, a junior, closed with a 76 at MeadowWood.

Melia (73-72 145) finished second behind Cedarcrest’s Charlotte Giffin (138). Spencer (158) tied for eighth.

“Both girls played smart on a pretty challenging course set up,” West Valley coach Ty Brown said. “They recovered from trouble and improved on (Tuesday’s) round. I love that neither one really gets rattled or nervous.”

West Valley and White River tied for second, 15.5 points behind Sehome. Ryliann Bednar (157) was seventh, leading Pullman to a fifth-place finish.

Burlington-Edison cruised to the boys championship at Liberty Lake. Pullman, paced by Trae Fredrickson (79-81), finished eighth.

Lynden’s Logan Medcalf claimed individual honors with a two-day score of 141. Rogers’ Wyatt Hart (81-77) tied for 26th.

1A: Montesano’s Hailey Blancas (82-83 165) held on for a two-shot victory at Riverside Golf Club in Chehalis. Freeman’s Lily Knight finished 16th. Forest Ridge earned the team championship.

Seattle Academy took home the boys title. Chelan’s Carson Clinton (74-70) was the individual winner. Tanner Mackey (Newport) finished 20th.

2B/1B: Dan Harrington captured the championship for the second straight year. The Northwest Christian golfer shot 79 at Tumwater Valley Golf Club for a four-stroke victory. Harrington led the field with a 74 Tuesday.

Wilbur-Creston’s Kallen Maioho (76-81 157) shared second with Sergio Sanchez (Cle Elum-Roslyn) and Wyatt Winters (Manson). Matthew Longstreth of St. George’s (158) was fifth.

Upper Columbia Academy finished first, St. George’s was third and Wilbur-Creston tied for fourth.