Seaside boys golf team soars to victory in District Championships

Monday and Tuesday were busy days for local golfers as both genders took part in two-day events. The boys played in the Cowapa League Championships at Astoria Golf and Country Club, while local girls traveled to Forest Hills Golf Course for the OSAA 4A/3A/2A/1A District Championship.

Seaside boys fly high

Once again the Seaside boys golf team soared to victory behind strong play from Xanh Quang.

The senior lapped the field as he won by 11 total strokes. Quang posted a two day score of 148 or 4-over-par. He shot a 1-under-71 on Monday, then doubled back with a 5-over-par 77 on Tuesday. Jonah Corbus of Tillamook finished second with a two-day score of 159.

Quang was joined by his teammates Will Haag and Dexter Jenks on the all-league team. Haag was the second placing freshman with a 170, while Jenks carded a 173. Landon Nofield was the fourth scorer with a 182. Tobin Santos (185) and Gunner Norman (187) were the two nonscoring players for Seaside.

In total, Seaside shot a total team score of 671. Behind the Seagulls is where most of the action took place. With two teams qualifying for state, the battle for second was back and forth all day. Tillamook entered Tuesday in second place after shooting well, with Astoria and St. Helens not too far behind. These three teams jockeyed for position all day long and in the end, St. Helens outlasted Astoria to claim the second qualifying spot. The Lions shot a total of 60-over-par on Tuesday to overcome a 3-stroke deficit to Astoria and 7-stroke deficit to Tillamook. St. Helens finished with a score of 708, Astoria had a solid two day score of 712, Tillamook ultimately faded to fourth with a 720 and Scappoose was never in contention as they shot a 762 in two days.

Though the Fishermen didn’t end up qualifying for state, they had three golfers end up on the all-league team. Ty Cereghino shot a 173 to finish sixth, Dominic Rico carded a 177 to finish eighth and Sawyer Rochon claimed the 10th spot with a 181. Benjamin Murdock made a strong push on day two to finish with a total score of 189 and Sam Bacon was the non scorer with a 192. Murdock shot the lowest score for Astoria on Tuesday with an 87. Cereghino shot an 88 and Rochon put up an 89. The Fishermen put up really good scores on day two and should feel proud about their efforts.

Seaside head coach Jim Poetsch was happy to see his team win the district and return to state.

“To lose three key players from last season and still repeat as league champions is a testament to the work that these guys have put in this season,” Poetsch said. “After being named the highest GPA in the state last week and winning the league this week, we have met two of our three goals.

“Now we get to return to the state tournament with a chance to repeat. There are about seven or eight really good teams this year and it is wide open for anyone to win. If we can control our emotions on a course that will test our ability to do that, we will have a successful outcome.”

He also praised his senior leader for consistent play.

“It was fun to watch Xanh add his name to a long list of individual Cowapa league champions from Seaside.”

Scappoose girls golf outlast Seaside

Up the road at Cornelius, the Seaside and Astoria girls golf took part in the District Championship.

With only five teams eligible to score, the two-day tournament became a battle of Cowapa league rivals. After battling down the stretch a week ago, the Scappoose and Seaside girls had a showdown.

Round one played out as expected with the two teams separated by just one stroke; Scappoose led 393 to 394.

Much like the boys’ contest, this was a back-and-forth for much of the day. After starting out strong, Seaside had a lead as the teams headed to the final few holes, but unfortunately, the Seaside girls were not able to finish as strong as they would have liked. Behind an incredible round from Emma Strachan, the Indians caught and passed the Seagulls down the stretch to claim a rousing victory. The Indians shot a total team score of 380 on day two, while Seaside carded a 392. This gave Scappoose a total team score of 773 to 786 for Seaside. In the individual category, Valley Catholic freshman Rachel Pippen took home first place with a two-day score of 162. Pippen shot a 77 in round one and an 85 in round two, while Strachan shot a day two best 80 on Tuesday to close the gap after shooting an 87 on Monday.

Seaside finished with two girls on the all-district team.

Junior Lolly Rahl shot an 87 on day two to complete a nice comeback. Rahl finished the tournament in seventh place with a score of 187 and Makenna White finished eighth with a score of 188. Other scorers included Reagan Hartnett (204) and Kylie Keranen (207). Hartnett finished 12th, Keranen finished 14th and Hailey Archibald was the fifth player with a 216.

The Astoria girls were led home by Hadley Painters’ 225 two-day score. Painter was the highest placed Fishermen in 19th. Violet Nelson finished 21st with a 232, Kendal Ewing shot a 237 to finish 23rd and Khloe Painter finished 27th with a 259.

Astoria would finish fifth of the five eligible qualifying teams with a total team score of 940. Valley Catholic, Banks and Faith Bible teams were also in attendance, but they only fielded individual athletes or their numbers weren’t enough to officially score.