WINNEMUCCA - The Division I-A North girls golf season may be just a week old, but the same teams are rising to the top once again.
With the first two tournaments complete on the season, the Lowry High School girls golf team finds itself out in front in the nine-team league.
After winning the season opener by seven shots over Elko in South Tahoe on Wednesday, Sept. 4, the Lady Bucks made it a sweep of the week, claiming victory in Carson City on Thursday, Sept. 5, in a tournament hosted by Dayton High School.
"It was a good start for us," said LHS head coach Vince Mendiola. "We had four solid scores on both days and that helped us to earn those wins. We were a little behind after the first couple of scores came in, but our third and fourth girls stepped up and beat their opponent to help us out."
As a team in Carson City, Lowry carded a 362, which was good enough to beat Elko by nine shots. Fernley finished third with a 375 and Spring Creek (417) and South Tahoe (428) rounded out the top five.
Churchill County was sixth with a 451 and Dayton was seventh at 488. Truckee and Sparks did not have enough girls to record a team score.
Alyssa Dendary carded a second straight round of 84 to finish fourth overall in Carson City. The junior is currently fifth in the individual league standings.
Fernley's Brittany Evans and Elko's Kaily Beatty each shot 77 to lead the field. Truckee's Sienna Scibird was third with an 81.
Ning Landt, one of the four seniors on the squad, was the second Lady Buckaroo to break 90 with a round of 88. Freshman Elise Rose shot a 93 and Caitlin Orr had the final kept score at 97.
"Alyssa hit the ball well but had some trouble around the greens," Mendiola said. "That is something that I have to work on with all the girls. Alyssa has the ability to play with those top girls in the league. I know she can shoot in the 70s and she just has to get it done. In our first tournament, Caitlin came through with a round in the 80s and Ning did it this time. For her first couple of tournaments, Elise played well. If we can stay consistent like that, we are going to be OK. The tough thing right now, we are pretty set in the top four spots. There is going to be some good competition for those final two spots."
Lowry took three freshmen to the first two tournaments of the year. In Carson City, Brooklyn Backus shot 108, after carding a 106 in South Tahoe. Savanna Cox shot a 119, following a 110 in South Tahoe.
Lowry leads the Division I-A North standings with 18 points. Elko is second with 16 and Fernley is third at 14.
The top three teams in the final regular season standings qualify for the Division I-A State Championships. Spring Creek and South Tahoe are tied for fourth with 11 points.
The state championships will be played at a site in southern Nevada on Monday, Oct. 21, and Tuesday, Oct. 22.
After taking this week off, the schools are back in action on Wednesday and Thursday for back-to-back tournaments. The league travels to Spring Creek on Wednesday and play at Winnemucca Municipal Golf Course on Thursday, beginning at 8 a.m.
"Our goal is to keep four scores under 100," Mendiola said. "Elko and Fernley both have solid players at the top. They will continue to improve and I believe we will too."
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