BUTTE, Mont. - Courtney Shrout and Chris Kneen shot the low rounds of the day to help the Lewis-Clark State College women's and men's golf teams to the first-day leads in the season-opening Frontier Conference tournament at Fairmont Hot Springs on Sunday.
Shrout, a junior, fired rounds of 78 and 76 for a 36-hole total of 154 for a one-shot lead over two players, including teammate Madeline Jarrett, who had a 75 and an 80 for a 155 total.
With Shrout and Jarrett, a freshman, leading the way, LCSC shot consecutive rounds of 320 for a 640 total and a 16-shot lead over Rocky Mountain in the nine-team tournament, which features the eight conference teams. Carroll is a distant third at 696.
Each team has five golfers, but only the four top scores on each 18 count toward the team score.
On the men's side, Kneen, a sophomore, had rounds of 71 and 69 for a 140 total, which left him tied for the lead with Westminster's Gary Knight. Connor McCracken, also a sophomore, had a 145 for LCSC.
Like the women, the Warrior men also were consistent with their rounds with a 291 and a 290 for a 581 total. Montana Tech, which is playing on its home course, is second at 583, while Carroll is third at 600. Rocky Mountain is fourth at 609.
Both Rocky Mountain men and women are the defending conference champions. The conference champion is based on combining the team scores from the six conference tournament played during the year. Three of the tournaments are played in the fall and the final three are held in the spring. All are 54-hole events.
The final 18 holes for the first tournament will be played on Monday.
WOMEN
Top three teams - 1, Lewis-Clark State 640. 2, Rocky Mountain 656. 3, Carroll 696.
LCSC scores - Courtney Shrout 78-76-154, Madeline Jarrett 75-80-155, Chantelle Beveridge 82-79-161, Juanita Villa 85-85-170, Alana Norris 85-89-174.
MEN
Top three teams - 1, Lewis-Clark State 291-290-581. 2, Montana Tech 291-292-583. 3, Carroll 303-297-600.
LCSC scores -- Chris Kneen 71-69-140, Connor McCracken 72-73-145, Scott Mooney 73-75-148, JP Moreno 76-73-149, Chris Jarrett 75-76-151.
