Golf: Potkonjak paces Vikings to third place

RONAN — Bigfork’s Joseph Potkonjak shot 79 for a second-place finish during the Ronan Invitational at Mission Mountain Golf Club on Tuesday.

Potkonjak was just three strokes off of Bryan Swanson from Missoula Loyola, who shot 76 to win the tournament.

Bigfork’s Colton Stodghill finished in a three-way tie for ninth place.

Stodghill and Potkonjak were the only top-10 finishers for the Vikings, who finished third in the team standings. Bigfork (345) was edged by Seeley Swan and Deer Lodge. The two tied for the team title at 343.

On the girls side, host Ronan won the team title with a score of 463.

Missoula Loyola was second, shooting 479 as a team, and Eureka placed third, scoring 554.

The individual title, like the boys tournament, was a tie between Ronan’s Brooklyn Olson and Plain’s Jade Ladeaux. They both shot 97.

Kali Meagher was Bigfork’s lone top-ten finisher.

The Valkyrie shot 110 to top Lauryn Hales (111) of Ronan for seventh place.

The Vikings and Valkyries travel to Eureka to hit the links on Tuesday at 10 a.m.

Ronan Invitational

Mission Mountain Golf Club

Boys

Team Scores: 1. TIE - Seeley Swan & Deer Lodge 343, 3. Bigfork 345, 4. Thompson Falls 354, 5. Loyola 362, 6. Ronan 363, 7. Eureka 404 8. Superior 414.

Individual Scores: 1. Bryan Swanson, Loyola 76, 2. Joesph Potkonjak, Bigfork 79, 3. Dalton Hooton, Thompson Falls 80, 4. Josh Benda, Superior 81, 5. TIE – Derek Walker, Deer Lodge & KC Smith, Deer Lodge 82, 7. TIE – Micah Nicholas, Seeley Swan & Calab Bates 83, 9. TIE – Thomas Sellman, Loyola & Colton Stodghill, Bigfork & Andrew Pierson, Deer Lodge

Girls

Team Scores: 1. Ronan 463, 2. Loyola 479, 3. Eureka 554

Individual Scores: 1. TIE – Brooklyn Olson, Ronan & Jade Ladeaux, Plains 97, 3. Brook Jacobs, Thompson Falls 103, 4. TIE – Kaitlyn Woirhaye, Ronan & Abby Craft, Thampson Falls & Madison Purdy, Loyola 107, 7. Kali Meagher, Bigfork 110, 8. Lauryn Hales, Ronan 111, 9. TIE - Elsie Brown, Thompson Falls & Jessie Hood, Seeley Swan 116.