SALT LAKE CITY – The Lewis-Clark State College women’s golf team hung on to win the team title at Westminster’s portion of the Frontier Conference Tournament, while the Warrior men moved closer to the overall title.
The LCSC women shot a 54-hole total of 969 to defeat Rocky Mountain by nine strokes. After a scoring change, the Warriors only led by one stroke heading into Tuesday’s final 18 holes at Wingpointe Golf Course, but fired a tournament-best 313 score to claim the title. Rocky Mountain had a 321 on Tuesday.
LCSC senior Cortney Shrout, a junior from Okanogan, Wash., took medalist honors with a 235 after shooting a 1-over-par 73 on the final 18. There were only three scores in the 70s during the final round on Tuesday and LCSC senior Katie Fuqua had one of them with a season-best 78 to finish at 247. LCSC freshman Madeline Jarrett was at 243, which placed her fifth overall, while Fuqua was seventh. Chantelle Beveridge and Juanita Villa were a shot back in a tie for eighth at 248.
The Frontier Conference holds six tournaments during the year – three in the spring and three in the fall – and the team scores are added from each tournament to determine the overall winner. With only one 54-hole event left at Great Falls, Mont., next Monday and Tuesday, LCSC trails Rocky Mountain by 17 strokes in what is a two-team race for the title. Carroll is 379 shots behind Rocky Mountain in third place.
On the men’s side, Rocky Mountain held off LCSC by one shot to claim the 54-hole title on Tuesday. LCSC shot the best team score of the day at 293, but couldn’t overcome a five-shot deficit after Rocky shot a 297 to finish at 877, compared to 878 for LCSC.
However, in the big picture, the Warriors kept their commanding lead in the conference standings. After five tournaments, LCSC has a 57-shot lead over Rocky Mountain, which basically will need a complete collapse by LCSC in next week’s final tournament to overtake the Warriors.
Ben House continued his strong play for LCSC with an even-par 72 on Tuesday to finish the tournament at 1-over-par 217, which placed him second overall. Teammate Chris Kneen tied for fourth after shooting the second-best round on Tuesday with a 70 to finish at 219. Scott Mooney (eighth) and Conner McCracken (ninth) also placed in the top 10 for LCSC.
WOMEN
Team standings – 1, Lewis-Clark State 330-326-313–969. 2, Rocky Mountain 341-316-321–978. 3, Carroll 337-345-343–1,025. 4, Montana Tech 390-422-394–1,206. 5, Westminster 465-480-457–1,402. 6, Great Falls 510-493-514–1,517. Montana State Northern and Montana Western did not field complete teams.
LCSC – Cortney Shrout 84-78-73–235, Madeline Jarrett 78-84-81–243, Katie Fuqua 85-84-78–247, Chantelle Beveridge 84-81-83–248, Juanita Villa 84-83-81–248.
Other LCSC scores – Alana Norris 91-88-87–266, Jordan Knapp 92-89-92–273, Brittney Wheeler 95-94-91–280.
MEN
Team standings – 1, Rocky Mountain 291-289-297–877. 2, Lewis-Clark State 290-295-293–878. 3, Montana Tech 300-305-306–911. 4, Carroll 302-317-306–925. 5, Westminster 335-340-318–993. 6, Montana Western 344-344-325–1,013. 7, Great Falls 336-345-342–1,023.
LCSC – Ben House 74-71-72–217. Chris Kneen 69-80-70–219, Scott Mooney 72-74-76–222, Conner McCracken 75-73-75–223, Chris Jarrett 84-77-76–237.
Other LCSC scores – Patrick Casabonne 71-82-74–227.
