WINNEMUCCA - With its shot at winning the Division I-A North championship gone, the Lowry High School girls golf team was looking to end the regular season on a high note.
All season it has been a battle between the Lady Bucks and rival Elko for league supremacy in the Division I-A North.
The two schools traded winning tournaments in the first five weeks of league play until Thursday, Oct. 4, when Lowry missed the meet at Truckee due to a misunderstanding on what the day they played. The Lady Bucks led the Indians by a point going into the Truckee tournament, but received no points and trailed the Indians by seven points going into the regular-season finale this past Thursday at Ruby View Golf Course in Elko.
The Indians shot a team score of 356 on their home course to beat the Lady Bucks (386) by 30 shots to clinch the Division I-A North title. Lowry was the only team in the league to break 400 in every tournament it played in.
"Elko stepped up and had a great day," said LHS head coach Andrew Meyer. "They shot lights out and had the advantage of playing on their home course. We went in there confident but knowing that Elko could shoot really well. The course was playing hard and the greens were tough on the kids. I am not disappointed in my team at all. They came back well from our little episode from the week before. My big focus right now is relieving some of the pressure off the girls."
Spring Creek finished third with a 397 and earned the third and final spot from the north for the NIAA Division I-A State Championships today in Sparks at Wildcreek Golf Course.
Fernley finished fourth at 409, Churchill County was fifth at 456 and Truckee (487) and Dayton (491) rounded out the team scoring.
Elko's Kaily Beatty shot a personal best of 77, to win low medalist honors. Teammate Kourtney Powers was second with an 86.
Lowry's Cortney Kieser shot an 87 to finish third overall and was named to the all-league, first team.
Sophomore Alyssa Dendary also earned all-league, first team honors for the second year in a row, as she finished with a 92. Ning Landt, a transfer from Round Mountain, shot a 94 and was the third Lowry player named to the all-league, first team.
"That is a nice honor for those three girls," Meyer said. "Cortney has been a league MVP twice and she has been on the first team all four of her years. Alyssa is still young and has a couple of good years ahead of her and Ning came in and played well for us."
Tori Echeverria carded a 113 for the final kept score for the Lady Bucks. Caitlin Orr shot her second-best round of the year, a 117, and Renee Poole, playing in her first tournament of the year finished with a 139.
"Renee worked hard all year and she was rewarded with having the chance to play in Elko," said the coach.
Faith Lutheran shot a 306, to win the Southern Division I-A championship. Clark was second at 393 and SECTA was third with a 516. Those three schools will join Lowry, Elko and Spring Creek at the state tournament, which began Monday in Sparks. The final round is set to take place today at 9 a.m. For first-day results, visit www.niaa.com.
"We want to go out there and have a good time and do the best we can," Meyer said. "My big thing is to give 100 percent on every swing and put the best swing or putt on the ball that you can. We will be fine and it will be a good race. Faith Lutheran looks like the team to beat, but we should be able to compete with everybody else. We have shown that we can beat Elko. It's up in the air right now on who is the best team. We have a great season so far and have a very realistic shot of finishing in the top two at the state tournament."
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