HELENA, Mont. – Lewis-Clark State College senior Cortney Shrout was a model of consistency, firing three consecutive rounds of 77 to win medalist honors at the first Frontier Conference tournament of the season, which concluded Tuesday at Green Meadow Country Club.
The 54-hole event was supposed to have 36 holes on Monday with the final 18 on Tuesday, but weather and darkness didn’t allow players to complete the second round on Monday.
The schedule change had no effect on Shrout, the defending conference Player of the Year, as she tied for low honors in every round with her 77. During Tuesday’s final round she tied with teammate Heather Bruce, a freshman from Enterprise, Ore., who also had a 77. Bruce finished second on the team with a 246, 15 shots behind Shrout.
Both the Warrior men’s and women’s team wound up second among the conference finishers as Rocky Mountain took both titles. The RMC men rolled to the title with an 855 score, while Montana State-Billings, an NCAA Division II school, was next at 870. LCSC finished at 889, 34 shots behind RMC.
On the women’s side, RMC used a 10-stroke advantage in the final round to defeat LCSC by 14 strokes. Rocky Mountain finished at 968, while LCSC was second at 982.
LCSC junior Connor McCracken, who also won the conference’s Player of the Year award last season, was in the hunt for medalist honors after first a 1-under par 70 in the opening round to tie for the lead. He then bested that with a 68, but shot a 79 over the final 18 holes to finish fifth overall at 217. Teammate Scott Mooney was next at 221.
The conference changed the way it determines its regular-season and tournament champion this year and will use the combined team scores from three tournaments to determine the regular season champion. The second tournament will be on RMC’s home course in Billings this Sunday and Monday, and the final tournament will be in the spring at the Lewiston Country Club. The final team standings will then be used to determine the seeding for 18-hole team matches, which will follow a true single-elimination bracket. The eventual winner of the bracket will earn the conference’s automatic berth to the NAIA national tournament in May.
MEN
Team scores – , Rocky Mountain 297-281-277–855, Montana State-Billings 292-291-287–870, Lewis-Clark State 302-289-298–889, Carroll 304-307-296–907, Westminster 321-312-304–937, Montana Tech 318-304-316–938, Mile City 319-316-308–943, Montana Western 324-336-319–979, Great Falls 343-347-323–1013.
LCSC – Connor McCracken 70-68-79–217, Scott Mooney 78-71-72–221, Ben House 77-77-72–226, Kyler Nilsson 77-73-78–228, Chris Jarrett 79-867-76–241.
Other LCSC scores – Tony Azzara 71-74-224, Brad Tracy 76-82-76–234.
Medalist – 1, tie, Marcus Sergerstrom, RMC, Jacob Good, RMC, and Jeff Allen, MSU-Billings, 213.
WOMEN
Team scores – Rocky Mountain 320-328-320–968, Lewis-Clark State 328-324-330–982, Carroll 344-334-340–1018, MSU-Northern 371-375-364–1110, Montana Western 408-396-376–1180, Montana Tech 414-440-377–1191, Westminster 430-3898-405–1224, Miles City 413-420-419–1252, Great Falls 430-389-405–1261.
LCSC – Cortney Shrout 77-77-77–231, Heather Bruce 83-86-77–246, Alana Norris 82-80-88–250, Jordan Knapp 88-81-88–257, Kelsey Haycock 86-94-88–268.
Other LCSC scores – Sue James 79-84-84–247, Brittney Wheeler 94-92-89–275, Shanna Herman 94-88-WD.
Medalist –Shrout.
