LEWISTON, Idaho – Junior Connor McCracken (photo) shot a 2-under-par 70 to claim medalist honors for both the tournament and in the Frontier Conference for the second straight year to help the Lewis-Clark State College men’s golf team win the third and final FC Tournament of the regular season Tuesday at the Lewiston Golf & Country Club.
McCracken joined LCSC senior Cortney Shrout as repeat winners of the FC Player of the Year winners for having the lowest combined score in the three conference tournaments this season. Shrout wound up tied for second in this tournament and helped the Warrior women finish second to Rocky Mountain.
McCracken, who is from Eagle, Idaho, used four consecutive birdies on holes 3-6 and then survived a double bogey on the par-3 8th hole for a 2-under 34 on the front side. He then had one birdie and one bogey on the back nine to shoot one of two under-par rounds on the day.
Combined with Monday’s two rounds of even par 72s, McCracken finished with a 214 total, seven shots ahead of Connor Rakowski of Rocky, who had a 221. Rakowski also finished four shots behind McCracken for Player of the Year honors.
The Warrior men led by 15 strokes entering Tuesday’s final 18 holes of the 54-hole two-day tourney and put together a solid round of 292, six shots better than Rocky to claim the team title with an 885. Rocky finished second with a 906.
LCSC’s Ben House fired a 1-over-par 73 on Tuesday, while Scott Mooney had a 74. Kyler Nilsson and Chris Jarrett both had 75s. The low round of the day belonged to LCSC’s Brady Tracy, who was playing as an extra, which meant his score didn’t count for the team. Tracy shot a 69 Tuesday.
Despite LCSC’s sold play, the Warriors couldn’t overtake Rocky Mountain for the conference’s overall title. Combining the team scores from the three tournaments, Rocky Mountain wins the regular season title by 32 strokes over the Warriors. That gives Rocky the top seed for the conference tournament in two weeks at Larchmont Golf Course in Missoula, Mont. The conference’s postseason tournaments for both men and women feature a single-elimination bracket with the No. 1 seed playing the No. 8 seed in an 18-hole match, No. 2 against No. 7, and so forth. Both LCSC teams will be the No. 2 seeds in the tournaments.
The first round and semifinals, both 18 holes, will be played on the opening day on April 26, while the championship match will be a 36-hole event on April 27. The eventual winning teams will earn an automatic berth to the NAIA national tournaments.
On the women’s side, Rocky Mountain won both the final regular season tournament and the FC overall title. Rocky finished with a 329 on Tuesday, four shots better than LCSC’s round, for a 971 total. LCSC finished at 996, which left the Warriors 58 shots behind in the totals from the three tournaments.
Shrout (photo), who was hoping to duplicate McCracken’s feat by winning both the final tournament and overall title, came close. Starting the day in fifth place in the tourney, she had her best round with a 75, but couldn’t overtake Rocky Mountain’s Jennifer Orchard for the overall title. Orchard had a 76 for a 234 total, while Shrout tied Westminster’s Chloe McClintick at 236.Shrout’s 75 was the low round of the day and tied for the low round of the tournament.
With her 75, Shrout rolled to the conference Player of the Year honors again as her nearest competitor, Rachel Hosterman, finished with an 83 on Tuesday to finish seven shots back in the tournament and 16 behind in the Player of the Year race.
MEN
Team scores – Lewis-Clark State 289-304-292–885, Rocky Mountain 307-301-298–906, Carroll 327-309-307–943, Montana Tech 333-343-314–990, Montana Western 348-341-348–1037, Westminster 339-361-338–1038, Great Falls inc.
Lewis-Clark State – Connor McCracken 72-72-70–214, Ben House 78-74-73–225, Scott Mooney 76-76-74–226, Kyler Nilsson 69-83-75–227, Chris Jarrett 72-82-75–229. Other LCSC individual – Brad Tracy 81-85-69–235.
Rocky Mountain – Connor Rakowski 75-74-72–221, Marcus Segerstrom 81-73-76–230, Jakob Good 78-78-74–230, DJ Kovach 73-82-78–233, Bjorn Ottoson 81-76-76–233.
Carroll – Ben McIsaac 79-72-77–226, Ben Ternes 79-79-78–236, Tanner Sutton 81-81-77–239, Jim Mee 89-77-75–241, Matthew Sewell 88-86-79–253.
Montana Tech –Ty Wengel 82-83-75–240, Wes Southard 84-81-75–240, Danny Kane 80-91-80–251, Thane Tokerud 87-88-85–260, Jake Amerman 88-91-84–263.
Montana Western – Brian Pfeifer 81-79-89––249, Brenner Antone 88-86-81–255,Lance Bosen 84-89-92–265, Jimmy Stoker 95-87-90–272, Jason Schumacher 100-103-88–291.
Westminster– Matt Hardy 79-85-77–241, Bryce Till 84-78-82–244, Skyler Bloxham 85-97-90–272, Matthew Van Wagoner 91-101-89–281.
Great Falls – Josh Wittman 77-84-84–245, Indiana Kimura 80-88-85–253, Kevin Sullivan 87-88-89–264.
WOMEN
Team scores – Rocky Mountain 316-326-329–971, Lewis-Clark State 331-332-333–996, Carroll 360-354-354–2068, Montana State-Northern 387-395-373–1155, Montana Tech 402-396-402–1200, Great Falls 414-410-421–1245, Westminster 443-439-421–1303, Montana Western inc.
Rocky Mountain – Jennifer Orchard 80-78-76–234, Rachel Hosterman 75-83-83–241, Teresa Schlomer 77-85-86–248, Erica Schlomer 86-80-86–252, Lindsey Holzworth 84-91-84–259.
Lewis-Clark State– Cortney Shrout 79-82-75–236, Sue James 81-82-89–252, Alana Norris 84-87-84–255, Jordan Knapp 91-83-85–259, Heather Bruce 87-85-89–261. Other LCSC scores – Kelsey Haycock 81-89-83–253, Shanna Herman 83-95-85–263.
Carroll – Emily Slayton 79-80-88–247, Meghan Innes 84-90-83–257, Whitney McLaughlin 97-88-90–275, Casey Smith 100-97-93–290, Ariana McElrath 103-96-100–299.
Montana State-Northern – Haley McLain 93-91-93–277, Katie Ross 97-101-94–292, Stacey Sheppard 97-103-100–300, Ali Ward 100-100-86–286, Taylor Faulkinberry 110-113-110–323.
Montana Tech – Brooke DeBolt 95-99-90–284, Alex Harland 99-93-97–289, Savannah Talbott 107-96-103–306, Shelby Fortune 101-115-113–329, Danielle Hall 116-108-112–336.
Great Falls – Chelsea Kenner 80-87-82–249, Sami Pack 102-108-114–324, Andrea Bushley 116-100-110–326, Amber Allen 116-115-115–346, Kayla Esmond 134-129-120–283.
Westminster – Chloe McClintick 80-79-77–236, Shonti Breisch 106-103-105–314, Regan Lelli 108-109-104–321, Jacqueline Graham 149-148-135–432.
Western Montana – Megan Rose 94-87-92–273, Robynn Williams 91-91-84–226, Sydnee Crosser 91-92-90–273.
