Golf
PENDLETON — Pendleton’s Sophie Nelson shot a 97 to lead the Bucks to second place at the Nels Nelson Invitational on Monday, April 7, at Wildhorse Golf Course.
“It’s the first time she has shot under 100, and she did it in the bad weather,” Pendleton coach Davis Curtis said. “She’s been close. All the girls played well as bad as the weather was.”
Playing in the pouring rain at times, Hanford came away with the team title and had two golfers in the top five, while Durfur’s Tygh Timinsky took medalist honors with an 80, shooting par on 11 of the 18 holes.
“As long as there isn’t lightning, we keep playing,” Curtis said. “We didn’t get as much rain as I thought we would, but it was a little hard for a few holes.”
Hanford finished with a 397, led by Reese Alexander, who was third overall with a 91, and Emma Miller, who was fifth with a 100.
Pendleton had 420 points, beating third-place Baker/Powder Valley by one point. La Grande was fourth (428), Echo/Stanfield and Umatilla did not field complete teams.
Following Nelson was Brinley Curtiss (12th, 106), Kori Sirovatka (13th, 108), Emma Ware (14th, 109) and Kennady Alvarado (27th, 130).
Natasha Lane of La Grande was second overall with an 85, while teammates Lillyanna Wilson and Ashlyn Dalton finished tied for second with a 102. Brooklyn Rayl was ninth with a 103, and Jocelyn Bork rounded out the scoring for the Bulldogs, finishing 19th with a 114.
For Echo/Stanfield, Denya Valle finished 15th with a 110, followed by Peytin Smith (22nd, 117) and Jacee James (26th, 128).
Umatilla was led by Alyssa Bow, who was 18th with a 113, followed by Jada Longoria (27th, 130) and Tiana Ralston (31st, 140).
In the boys division, Pendleton finished third in the team standings with three men in the top 10.
Hanford won the team title with 316 points, led by medalist Cormac Meinshausen, who shot a 4 under par 68. Prairie City’s Sawyer Quinton was second (71) and Baker’s Elias Long was third (71).
Baker was second in the team standings (322), followed by Pendleton (334), La Grande (390) and Echo/Stanfield (392). Umatilla did not field a complete team.
Dakota Malin led the Bucks, placing sixth with an 82, which included three birdies. He was followed by Landon Neistadt (8th, 83), Sheldon Joseph (9th, 84), Mason Morioka (11th, 85) and Garret Reinhart (15th, 92).
La Grande was led by Brody Miller, who was 13th with an 89. He was followed by Gauge Boucher (20th, 96), Huntyn Azure (27th, 102), Marco Fuentes (29th, 103) and Kaden May (31st, 109).
Sophomore Cole Ayres led Echo/Stanfield, placing 17th with a 94, while Zander Wright and Kayden Smith tied for 24th (99), Brayden Barnes was 26th (100) and Tyler Campbell was 31st (109).
Kash Langley led Umatilla, finishing 35th with a 116, while Vicente Campos was 37th (121) and Chase Williams was 42nd (134).