Harris, Gembala, Schuster advance
By FAITH MOLDAN — Bigfork Eagle
A trio of Bigfork High School golfers qualified for the state high school golf tournament Friday and Saturday in Whitefish.
Carson Harris makes her second trip to state, while Amy Gembala and Steven Schuster qualified for the first time. Harris shot 106, Gembala carded a 122 and Schuster shot a 93, as the top three teams and 15 individuals advanced to the state tournament that began with a practice round Tuesday in Anaconda. Harris finished in 8th place. Gembala and Schuster were 15th and 14th respectively.
"I was doing good in the front nine," Harris said. "My shots were coming together well." She added that on the back nine, she was not hitting as well with her irons. "I was looking forward to the green. I knew my putts would save me."
She advised Gembala and Schuster to have fun at state and to relax, adding that she tries to think of it as just another meet.
A freshman, Schuster said he never thought he'd make it this far this fast.
"It's great," he said of qualifying for state his freshman year. "I just started golf last year. I never dreamed I'd make it to this level this quickly."
Schuster, who began golfing last year with friend and teammate Kyle Parker, said "survival" was the only word he could think of when it came to the rainy divisional meet.
"It was pretty rainy and wet. I got the better half of the day," he said, adding that his early tee-time kept him out of the hail that came down later in the day. "The greens were really fast. That made it hard to putt."
Schuster attributed his good score to his solid chipping. He said he planned on taking the state tournament one shot at a time and to not get ahead of himself.
Parker finished just out of the top 15 in 16th place.
The Divisional meet was incorporated into the Flatfish tournament held in Kalispell and Whitefish.
The boys' team finished with a team score of 719. Tyler Butts finished the tournament with a 173, Scott Taylor carded a 184, and Mo Jellesed shot an 88 on the first day.
Caitlinn O'Dell rounded out the Bigfork girls golfers. She shot a 158 on the first day.
The state tournament began Tuesday and runs through today, Oct. 4 in Anaconda.
Boys
Whitefish Lake Golf Club
Team Totals
Missoula Sentinel 604, Glacier 611, Whitefish 618, Missoula Hellgate 627, Flathead 629, Missoula Big Sky 643, C.M. Russell 649, Polson 656, Libby 676, Glacier JV 1 679, Whitefish JV 689, Great Falls High 716, Bigfork 719, Ronan 754, Flathead JV 781
Top 10
Sam Krause, Whitefish 140
Larry Iverson III, Glacier 141
Colin Gunstream, Hellgate 142
Jim Mee, Libby 143
Jaden Treece, Flathead 145
Austen Edwards, Sentinel 145
Ben MeMarois, Sentinel 149
Justin Newton, Glacier 152
Connor Buckley, Sentinel 152
Brian Beach, Big Sky 154
Tyler Engebretson, Polson 155
Brady Kangas, C.M. Russell 155
By Team
Bigfork (334-385—719) — Tyler Butts 75-98—173, Scott Taylor 85-99—184, Steven Schuster 86-93—179, Mo Jellesed 88-NS, Kyle Parker 93-95—188.
Columbia Falls (Did not play Friday, 416 on Saturday) — Micah Jam 87, Brad Narducce 110, Jordan Mueller 104, Nick Ross 131, Taylor Hopkins 115.
Missoula Sentinel (284-320—604) — Ben DeMarois 67-81—149, Austin Edwards 70-75—145, Connor Buckley 70-82—152, Ryan Colberg 77-88—165, Nick Schull 80-82—162.
Polson (309-347—656) — Sean Medland 73-86—159, Tyler Engebretsen 73-82—155, Ed Truman 79-98—177, Aaron Clairmont 84-88—172, Joe Andrews 86-91—177.
Missoula Hellgate (307-320—627)) — Colin Gunstream 66-76—142, Sam Brown 77-83—160, Brian O'Day 78-85—163, Andrew Binney 86-NS, Alex Schultz 92-76—168.
Missoula Big Sky (310-333—643) — Mike Beall 74-88—162, Jake Cooper 76-91—167, Brian Beach 78-86—154, Cameron Tryhus 82-84—166, Adam Ormesher 83-85—168.
Libby (309-367—676) — Jim Mee 64-79—143, Zak Watson 75-88—163, Eric Anderson 79-94—173, Eric Grotjohn 91-121—212, Bryan Cooper 95-106—201.
C.M. Russell (306-343—649) — Matt Beard 74-87—161, Jordan Husted 76-85—161, Brady Kangas 76-79—155, Bryson Turner 80-84—164, Aaren Remus 82-87—169.
Great Falls High (330-386—716) — Ethan Lee 78-83—161, Matt Schlund 82-115—197, Tony Dulaney 84-95—179, Justin Boland 86-93—179, Mason Keil 95-NS.
Ronan (358-393—754) — Nolan Harris 76-92—168, Micah Lee 82-105—187, Ryon Hesselgesser 99-112—211, Austin Cheff 101-131—232, JD Lopez de Victoria 125-NS; Kruz McDermott 87.
Whitefish (295-323—618) — Sam Krause 67-73—140, Daniel Markus 75-84—159, Andre Groschupf 76-83—159, Joel Mallams 77-84—159, Ryan Zalucky 88-83-171.
Flathead (299-330—629) — Jaden Treece 70-75—145, Michael Reavis 74-83—157, Ben Piersall 77-88—165, Ian Hineman 78-85—163, Ian Gillespie 83-87—170.
Flathead JV (364-417—781) — Karl Ingram 84-115—199, Kurt Fredenburg 89-106—195, Brenton Tartaglino 93-93—186, Henry Martin 98-111—209, Ben Butts 100-107—207.
Glacier (286-325—611) — Larry Iverson III, 65-76—141, Justin Newton 69-83—152, Grahm Schmaltz 74-83—157, Aaron Young 78-83—161, Jake Miller 86-84—170.
Glacier JV 1 (322-357—679) — Tyson Howe 75-89—164, Cody Grosswiler 81-89—170, Quinn Kropp 81-89—170, Kyle Leduc 85,-90—175, Devin Myren 108-NS.
Glacier JV 2— Doug Grosswiler 94-79—173, Spencer Davis 102-NS, Aaron Wells-Wood 108-121—229, Logan Brist 113-NS, Ryan Schlotfeldt 126-98—224.
Whitefish JV (336-353—689) — Zach Maassen 82-85—167, Carl Talsma 83=91—174, Cole Havens 85-88—173, Dylan Parr 86-89—175, Tyler Schiff 90-101—191, Kyler Blades 92-91—183
Girls
Buffalo Hill Golf Club
Team Totals
Whitefish 721, C.M. Russell 751, Polson 789, Great Falls High 797, Missoula Hellgate 802, Glacier 810, Flathead 823, Missoula Sentinel 836, Libby 913.
Top 10
Morgan Lee, Great Falls 165
Keeley McConnell, Whitefish 172
Julia DiGiallonardo, Polson 178
Natalie Beard, C.M. Russell 179
Alexa Bell, C.M. Russell 179
Mackenzie Enich, Big Sky 181
Quinn Micklewright, Whitefish 181
Karli Aurich, Glacier 182
Breanna Cameron, Whitefish 184
Chelsea Whitefish 184
By Team
Bigfork — Carson Harris 106-101—207, Amy Gembala 122-115—237, Caitlann O'Dell 158-NS
Columbia Falls (only participated Friday for divisional) — Kelsey DeWitt 152, Courtney Tamburelli 160, Olivia Williams 153
Libby (479-434—913) — Korey Kulbeck 116-105—221 Sperry Robinson 110-111—221, Holly Cirian 118-108—226, Jona Peltier 135-121—256, Candace Hendrickson 154-110—264.
Polson (409-380—789) — Julia DiGiallonardo 94-84—186, Natalia Arlint 97-90—187, Cali Hislop 113-106—219, Amy Williamson 105-100—205, Lascey Kvam 130-107—237.
Ronan — Katy Sorrell 92-94—186, Erin Irvine 124-112—236, Chelsea Lipscomb 144-121—265.
Whitefish (376-345—721) — Kiley McConnell 86-86—172, Quinn Micklewright 94-87—181, Chelsea Ray 98-86—184, Breanna Cameron 98-86—184, Danielle McCulley 112-103—215.
Big Sky — Mackenzie Enich 93-88—181, Kelton Enich 98-96—194.
CMR (385-366—751) — Natalie Beard 94-85—179, Alexa Bell 97-82—179, Kelsey Johnson 105-98—203, Kyla Haynie 91-101—192, Ryanne Daily 98-104—202.
Flathead (429-394—823) — Julia Bechtold 111-109—220, Sarah Cunningham 116-95—211, Beth McNutt 114-101—215, Betsy Engle 97-94—191, Cali Toth 105-104—209.
Glacier (408-402—810) — Karli Aurich 90-92—182, Taran Brown 104-90—194, Elsie Satterfield 109-WD, Justine Klein 100-108—208, Emily Madieros 120-112—232.
Great Falls (411-386—797) — Morgan Lee 83-82—165, Kelsey Martin 103-90—193, Brittney Kuntz 101-105—206, Kalsey Simonsen 125-109—234, Katie Gibbs 124-137—261.
Missoula Hellgate (404-398—802) — Whitney Lamb 94-91—185, Michelle Carey 100-97—197, Elyse Finnegan 106-106—212, Mackenzie Blake 112-116—228, Jackie Wells 104-104—208.
Missoula Sentinel (426-410—836) — Tawney Hughes 101-94—195, Brooke DeBolt 113-106—219, Lindsey Galiyseau 112-103—215, Shelbie Bantic 109-109—218, Mikee Sandau 104-107—207.
Glacier JV — Tanita Anderson 123-104—227, Taylor Albright 133-118—251, Andrea Johnson 155-119—274, Terri Mattson 196-WD.
Flathead JV - Michelle Tamburg 116-104—220.
Whitefish JV — Ellen Sheffer 110-96—206, Lexi Day 134-121—255, Tara Sullivan 129-116—245, Tayler Johnson 113-102—215.