Vikes earn second place on home links
The weather turned the corner just in time for the Bigfork High School Invitational at Eagle Bend Golf Club Thursday.
The Bigfork boys team placed second with a combined score of 359 among the 10 schools that participated. Loyola Sacred Heart of Missoula took the top honors with a 323. Bigfork's closest competition was Thompson Falls and Plains with scores of 392 and 393, respectively.
Junior Kyle Parker led the Vikings with his score of 81, which was good enough to put him in a tie for second place with Loyola's Alex Carlson. Parker shot a 43 on the first nine, but made up some ground on the last nine with a 38.
Loyola's Tom Swanson sat alone on top with a 72. Seely-Swan's Robert Baier and Dan Cloninger of Loyola tied for fourth place with scores of 83. Bigfork's Steven Schuster found himself in a tie at the end of the 18 holes as well. He shot an 84 and so did Ryan McInerney of Fairfield. Schuster had 41 strokes on the first nine holes and 43 on the second.
Sophomore Sara Keenan earned third place among the girls were an 88. She had a score of 45 after the first round and shot a 43 on the second nine.
Loyola cleaned up the rest of the top honors. Maggie Crippen was first with a score of 80, Kelsie Crippen was second with 83 and Taylor Galiher placed fourth with an 89.
The Loyola girls placed first in the team rankings as well with a 386. There were just two other schools with enough girls to count as a team. Shelby placed second with 447 and Cut Bank was third with 485.
Due to the previous days' weather conditions, some of the holes were too wet for the golfers to play on, so they used holes one through three and 13 through 18 on the 18 hole course and the Lake Nine to account for the 18 hole invitational course this year. The boys played a 6,505 yard course and the girls played a course of 5,169 yards. Both had a par of 73. The girls played the Lake Nine for their first nine holes and the boys were on the 18 hole course for their first nine.
The Bigfork boys and girls golf team travels to Plains on Saturday, April 17.