About the only drama left last Thursday at Old Greenwood Golf Course in Truckee was how much hardware the Lowry High School boys golf team was going to take back to Winnemucca.
The Buckaroos cruised to their third consecutive Division I-A North Regional Championship, shooting a 403 to beat Elko by 46 shots. Spring Creek was third at 455 and Truckee (457) and Fernley (471) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Lowry finished the season with 62 points, Elko was second at 56 and Spring Creek (37) was third. All three teams advance to the NIAA State Golf Championships on May 21-22 at Mountain Falls Golf Club in Pahrump.
"It was a great way to end the season," said LHS coach Andrew Meyer. "To be league champion three years in a row is pretty impressive. You have to give a top of the hat to the gene pool at the Winnemucca Municipal Golf Course. The kids played well on a tough course and it was nice to see the way we finished. The conditions were tough with the cold and wind. That 403 on that tough course is a good score."
Ethan Gray won his second consecutive MVP, with an average of 71.8. Andy Mendoza (74.8) and Josh Shaver (77.6) were second in the league standings and were named to the Division I-A North first team. Chris Mendoza had the sixth-best average on the season at 78.2 and was also named to the first team.
"Ethan had a great season and deserved the MVP award," Meyer said. "You are not doing too bad when you have four guys in the top six. That is pretty impressive and the guys work hard."
Elko's Isaac Cordova and Caudy Mead were named to the first team, as was Truckee's Cody Tilton.
Gray closed out his regular season for the Buckaroos by being the low medalist at Truckee with a round of 76. That tied him with Tilton and Andy Mendoza, but the senior won the scorecard tiebreaker. Tilton was second and Mendoza third.
"Those were good rounds for Ethan and Andy," Meyer said. "I am happy for Ethan winning in his final league meet. I couldn't be happier right now and I think we are in a good spot.
Shaver finished with as round of 80, Chris Mendoza shot 85, Joseba Criswell (86) and Josh Rose carded and 94. Meyer noted that the six golfers that went to Truckee, will be the six going to the state championships.
The Division I-A South Regional Championships were held Monday and Tuesday in Las Vegas and results were not available at press time. The top schools all year have been Faith Lutheran and Boulder City.
With a scheduled off week before the state championships, Lowry will host Spring Creek and Elko in a dual on Friday at 8:30 a.m. The state tournament will be May 21-22 in Pahrump.
The Buckaroos will be looking to win their third consecutive state championship. Lowry has won three of the last four state tournaments and have claimed a state record 12 championships. That is six more than any other school in Nevada, regardless of classification.
"We are going to be just fine going into the state tournament," Meyer said. "We need to fine tune a few things, especially the short game. "The biggest thing is we need to stay mentally strong to bring home three in a row. We want these senior to end their career on a high note, before moving on to college."[[In-content Ad]]
