Mount Si golfers capture league championship
October 14, 2008
By Ryan Piersol
When the boys golf season began for Mount Si this fall, a Wildcat team with plenty of veterans made plenty of goals for itself.
That’s why, even after winning the league title, Mount Si wasn’t satisfied — it wanted to win the league tournament, as well.
The Wildcats made good on their wish, posting a 382 to defeat all other KingCo 3A teams at the league tournament in Snohomish Monday. Mount Si was 22 shots ahead of runner-up Mercer Island, while third-place Bellevue was 31 shots backs of the champs.
“The kids are just playing consistently,” Wildcat head coach Mike Johnston said. “One of our team goals before the season was to win the league title, but we still have a lot of other goals out there. We still want to get as many qualified for state as possible.”
Mount Si will now head off to districts. The Wildcats hope to get as many qualified — qualifying estimates are top 20, although official allocations have not been set — at Harbour Pointe Golf Club in Mukilteo on Monday.
Mount Si will enter districts on a high after rolling through the league tournament. Bradley Harrelson won medalist honors for the Wildcats with a 72, while teammates Jack Kelly and Mike Rutledge weren’t far behind, taking second and third with scores of 76 and 77.
In all, Mount Si had six individuals qualify for districts, as Luke Dietsch was sixth with a 78, Matt Prewett eighth with a 79 and Bryce Karalus 11th with an 82.
“For all six of them to qualify is really pretty awesome,” Johnston said. “There were 16 spots to qualify, so they really all had to stay on top of their game’s to make it through.”
The league tournament followed a dramatic win against Skyline last week that clinched the league title for the Wildcats. Needing a win to claim a tiebreaker in the league against Redmond, Mount Si found itself in a tie with Skyline after nine holes. That meant the two had to go to a playoff.
The Wildcats ended up winning the playoff, 21-23. They got two birdies, a par, a bogey and a double-bogey on the first playoff hole, while the Spartans had three pars, a bogey and a double-bogey.
Mount Si finished league play in the KingCo Crest Division with an 8-1 match record.
“They all felt pretty good. They were pretty happy,” Johnston said of his team, which was second in both the league and the league tournament last season. “There were a lot of close matches. There were difficult matches to get through. We had five or six teams in our league that were pretty quality teams.”
The next test will be a big one, as a quality lineup of teams awaits at districts. They include defending state 3A champion O’Dea, as well as defending state runner-up Bainbridge.
“It’s going to be tough for the kids to get through. They’ll probably have to be right around the top 19 or 20 players (to qualify),” Johnston said. “Certainly, the top three have the caliber of game to get through. For the other three to get through, they’ll have to make sure they’re at the top of their games.”
Reach editor Ryan Piersol at editor@snovalleystar.com or 392-6434.
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