Avery, Mercer lead Glacier, Flathead to team wins
Glacier's Tyler Avery watches his drive off the 15th tee during the Kalispell Invite at Buffalo Hill Golf Club on Thursday, Sept. 17. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Flathead's Ezra Epperly watches his approach shot on the 17th hole during the Kalispell Invite at Buffalo Hill Golf Club on Thursday, Sept. 17. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Alana Griffin watches her tee shot on the 16th hole during the Kalispell Invite at Buffalo Hill Golf Club on Thursday, Sept. 17. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Flathead's Marcela Mercer watches her drive off the 13th tee during the Kalispell Invite at Buffalo Hill Golf Club on Thursday, Sept. 17. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
The Glacier boys and Flathead girls defended the home turf Thursday, taking home team titles at the Kalispell Invitational tournament at Buffalo Hill Golf Club.
Glacier’s boys, led by medalist Tyler Avery’s 74, scored 306 to put a 13-stroke gap between itself and Helena High. Missoula Sentinel was third at 322, and Flathead’s boys followed at 325.
Avery’s round bested Logan Meyer of Helena by one stroke. Backing up Avery was, among others, Sam Manaker, who fired a 76, Will Salonen at 77 and Coby Kunda at 79.
Ezra Epperly fired a 78 for Flathead to finish 10th. Joston Cri AP20261616915971 pe was right behind at 79.
Marcella Mercer fired a 74 to build a nine-stroke gap on the girls’ field. Flathead teammate Jillian Wynne was second at 85; Glacier’s Chloe Tanner and Helena’s Lauren Williams both shot 86.
The Bravettes ended with 368 strokes and Glacier was second at 384. The Wolfpack’s Alana Griffin shot a 92 to finish eighth, and teammate Stella Claridge tied for 10th at 96.
Six full girls’ teams competed, compared to 10 boys’ teams.
Kalispell Invitational
Thursday
Buffalo Hill Golf Club
BOYS
Team scores - 1. Glacier 306; 2, Helena 319; 3, Missoula Sentinel 322; 4, Flathead 325; 5, Great Falls CMR 342; 6, Helena Capital 343; 7, Missoula Big Sky 345; 8, Whitefish 365; 9, Missoula Hellgate 374; 10, Great Falls 386.
Top 15 Individuals
Tyler Avery, Glacier 74
Logan Meyer, Helena 75
Trenton Olson, Great Falls 76
Sam Manaker, Glacier 76
Eli Groschelle, CMR 76
Austin Zeiler, Helena 77
Will Salonen, Glacier 77
Kade McDonough, Sentinel 77
Joe Opitz, Sentinel 77
Ezra Epperly, Flathead 78
Carson Suchecki, Big Sky 78
Joston Cripe, Flathead 79
Coby Kunda, Glacier 79
Hayden Ellis, Big Sky 79
Drew Lowery, Flathead 81
Area teams
GLACIER - Ethan Purdy 83, Tyler Averyu 74, Coby Kunda 79, Will Salonen 77, Sam Manaker 76.
FLATHEAD - Ezra Epperly 78, Joston Cripe 79, Drew Lowry 81, Kadin Gall 91, Korbin Hawley 87.
WHITEFISH - Jonny Nix 86, Bjorn Olson 85, Gates Gilman 89, Tag Walker 105.
GIRLS
Team scores - 1, Flathead 368; 2, Glacier 384; 3, Helena Capital 393; 4, Whitefish 411; 5, Great Falls CMR 418; 6, Missoula Sentinel 479.
Top 15 Individuals
Marcella Mercer, Flathead 74
Jillian Wynne, Flathead 85
Lauren Williams, Helena 86
Choe Tanner, Glacier 86
Celi Chapman, Helena 88
Kendra Thayer, CMR 90
Lexi McNew, Capital 90
Alana Griffin, Glacier 92
Kelly Jones, Great Falls 94
Zita Gravely, Capital 96
Stella Claridge, Glacier 96
Morgan Sunchild, Great Falls 98
Anya Cripe, Whitefish 100
Grace Jensen, Whitefish 100
Megan Swanson, Capital 102
Maddie Sramek, Whitefish 102
Area teams
FLATHEAD - Marcella Mercer 74, Jillian Wynne 85, McKinlie Murer 103, Sophie Dykhuizen 106, MJ Reed 116.
GLACIER - Alana Griffin 92, Chloe Tanner 86, Stella Claridge 96, Kenna Sandler 110, Colette Daniels 110.
WHITEFISH - Anya Cripe 100, Grace Jensen 100, Maddie Sramek 102, Makenna Woody 111, Tallory Workman 109.
Late Wednesday
Whitefish boys rule
Frenchtown Invite
FRENCHTOWN - Marcus Kliman of Whitefish earned medalist honors and his Bulldogs won the boys’ team title at the Frenchtown Invitational held Wednesday at King Ranch Golf Course.
The Bulldogs put four boys in the top 10 and beat Polson by 15 strokes. Similarly, girls’ champion Ronan put five golfers in the top 10.
Frenchtown Invitational
Wednesday
King Ranch
BOYS
Team scores - Whitefish 325, Polson 340, Frenchtown 353, Ronan 357, Dillon 365.
Individual Top 10
Marcus Killman, Whitefish 77
Johnny Nix, Whitefish 80
Troy Alford, Ronan 81
Torrin Ellis, Polson 82
Hunter Emerson, Polson 83
Bjorn Olson, Whitefish 84
Gates Gilman, Whitefish 84
Ben Duhame, Frenchtown 86
Trace Gardner, Dillon 86
Dylon Kominek, Frenchtown 87
Carson Hupka, Polson 87
GIRLS
Team scores - Ronan 388, Frenchtown 403, Polson 416.
Individual Top 10
Harper Armitage, Frenchtown 85
Ellie Thiel, Polson 87
Alyssa Pretty On Top, Ronan 91
Grace Bintz, Frenchtown 93
Madyson Running Crow, Ronan 94
Macao Jackson, Ronan 95
Ashley Maki, Polson 101
Catherine Gustin, Frenchtown 104
Kylee Neimeyer, Ronan 108
Aaliyah Decker, Ronan 108
