MISSOULA, Mont. – Both Lewis-Clark State College golf teams were defeated during the semifinal rounds of the Frontier Conference championships on Monday.
The Warrior women, seeded second, had a dominant 308-378 win over seventh-seeded Great Falls in the first round, but couldn’t quite keep pace with third-seeded Rocky Mountain in the semifinals and fell 311-321. The LCSC men, also seeded second, topped seventh-seeded Montana Tech 296-316 in the opening round before falling by four strokes to third-seeded Carroll 292-296 in the semifinals. “We had beautiful weather, and the course was in great shape, but we just did not play our best,” said LCSC head coach Paul Thompson. With the losses, both Warrior teams are now out of the hunt for the automatic berths to nationals that are granted to the tournament winners. Both LCSC squads will play 18 holes on Tuesday to compete for a third-place finish. For the Warrior women, who were ranked No. 21 in the latest NAIA poll, a good showing on Tuesday could potentially help them move high enough in the rankings to receive an at large berth to nationals. For the Warrior men, who fell just outside of the top 25 in the last poll, even a strong finish on Tuesday is unlikely to improve their chances of garnering an at large bid. “If the girls shoot a good round under 320 tomorrow then they’ve got a chance that their stroke average might be low enough to move up a few spots in the next poll,” Thompson said. “For the guys, we just want to play for pride.” Sophomore Idah Whisenant led the charge for the Warrior women on Tuesday as she shot a 71 in the first round and a 74 in the second. Sophomore Heather Bruce had a fairly strong day as well with a 71 followed by an 81. Sophomore Drew Reinland led the LCSC men with a 71 in both rounds. Senior Tyler Johnson shot the next best total on the team with a 73 and a 70. “We just got above the hole most of the time. The greens were pretty quick and it’s just tough when you leave yourself above the hole that much,” Thompson said. “I think the problem we have anytime we come to Montana is that it’s such a higher elevation. When you go to hit your scoring shots to get on the greens, the balls just flies a little further than we’re used to.” On Tuesday, the Warrior women will face fifth-seeded MSU-Northern, while the men will play fourth-seeded Westminster. Top-seeded Westminster and Rocky Mountain will play for the title on the women’s side, while top-seeded Rocky Mountain will face Carroll for the men’s title. Only the top four scores are used to determine the team score in each round of tournament play. The seedings for the tournament were based on the regular-season standings from the three conference tournaments. LCSC WOMEN – Idah Whisenant 71-74-145, Heather Bruce 71-81-152, Brooke Dagner 83-82-165, Kelsey Haycock 83-84-167, Shanna Herman 89-91-180. LCSC MEN – Drew Reinland 71-71-142, Tyler Johnson 73-70-143, Dillon Williams 75-77-152, James Rooney 77-81-158, Kyler Gable 81-78-159.
