GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The Lewis-Clark State College men’s golf team had the round it needed to overcome Westminster College at the Frontier Conference Tournament on Tuesday. The Warriors opened the day two shots behind, but finished with a four-stroke lead and the event title.
LCSC shot a 295 over the final 18 holes to finish at 901. Westminster had a 301 and had to settle for second with the two-day total of 905. Carroll College took third with a 913.
Jason Molner and Bret Hogg carded a pair of 72’s on Tuesday to help push the Warriors over the top. Molner finished with a total of 22, while Hogg came in at 223. Westminster’s Dane Jensen clinched the individual medalist honors with a 71 on Tuesday to finish at 217 overall.
“If you look at the men’s scores it was our depth that kept us in there,” said LCSC head coach Paul Thompson. “We didn’t really get much worse going into the four and five spots.”
Rylee Iacolucci was next for LCSC at 228, and Drew Reinland, who was the team’s usual top scorer last year, was fourth with a 231.
“Drew is struggling with a knee problem, and you can see it when he’s swinging,” said Thompson. “With some rest though his knee should be back to 100 percent before spring.”
With the victory, the LCSC men increase their lead in the regular season conference standings to 17 strokes over second-place Westminster. Third-place Carroll is now 33 strokes out of first.
The Warrior women also began the day just two strokes out of first place, however, they were unable to close the gap and Rocky Mountain College finished with the tournament title. Rocky shot a 322 on Tuesday to finish at 978, while LCSC had a 323 and ended up at 980. Westminster finished a distant third at 1,020.
“We would have loved to come away with the win in both, but it turns out that by beating Westminster by so much we’re still in really good shape in the season standings.”
LCSC, which defeated the Griffins by just two strokes in the first conference tournament of the season, now holds an eight shot lead over Rocky and a 42 stroke lead over Westminster in the regular season standings.
The third and final regular season Frontier tournament will be held April 15-16 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The team with the highest combined score after this tournament will be the regular season champ.
Karina Davilla, a freshman from Veracruz, Mexico, had an 80 for LCSC on Tuesday and finished with team-best 243. Heather Bruce shot an 81 for a total of 244, and Idah Whisenant carded an 80 to come in at 248.
“This is a real tough golf course, and considering that, I thought they did real well.”
Carroll’s Jackie Mee had a 76 in the final round to take the medalist honors with a 236.
With the fall portion of their seasons now in the books, the Lewis-Clark State golf squads look ahead to their first spring event which will be the Desert Classic in Las Vegas, Nev. on March 3-4.
Men
Team Scores – 1, LCSC 303-303-295—901; 2, Westminster 313-291-301—905; 3, Carroll 310-311-292—913; 4, Rocky Mountain 312-311-307-930; 5, Great Falls 319-327-318—964; 6, Montana Tech 322-319-323—964; 7, MSU-Northern 350-359-339—1048.
Medalist – Dane Jensen, Westminster, 76-70-71—217.
Lewis-Clark State – Jason Molner 73-77-72—222, Bret Hogg 73-78-72—223, Rylee Iacolucci 79-73-76—228, Drew Reinland 78-75-78—231, Joel Christensen 84-78-75—237. Alternates – James Rooney 78-74-73—225, Aiden Clark 83-80-81—244.
Women
Team Scores – 1, Rocky Mountain 329-327-322—978; 2, LCSC 330-327-323—980; 3, Westminster 346-338-336-1,020; 4, Carroll 338-341-344—1,023; 5, Great Falls 346-350-330—1,026; 6, Montana Tech 350-362-349—1,061; 7, MSU-Northern incomplete.
Medalist – Jackie Mee, Carroll, 80-80-76—236.
Lewis-Clark State – Karina Davila 80-83-80—243, Heather Bruce 83-80-81—244, Idah Whisenant 84-84-80—248, Brooke Dagner 85-80-84—249, Kelsey Haycock 83-88-82-253. Alternates – Morgan Scott 88-84-88—260, Jordan Wyrick 91-83-89—263, Trista Webb 95-95-95—285.
