Whitefish’s Smith leads after first 18 of Kalispell Invite
Glacier's Chloe Tanner watches her drive on the fifth hole at Northern Pines Golf Club during the Kalispell Invite on Wednesday, Sept. 15. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Whitefish's Johnny Nix lines up a putt on the 12th hole at Northern Pines Golf Club during the Kalispell Invite on Wednesday, Sept. 15. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Flathead's Joston Cripe watches his drive on the 11th hole at Northern Pines Golf Club during the Kalispell Invite on Wednesday, Sept. 15. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Flathead's McKinlie Murer watches her drive on the fifth hole at Northern Pines Golf Club during the Kalispell Invite on Wednesday, Sept. 15. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Billy Smith of Whitefish fired a 73 to lead a three-way tie for first place Wednesday on the Northern Pines golf course at the first day of the Kalispell Invite.
Eli Groshelle of CMR and Sentinel’s Colin McCarthy share the lead with Smith. Sentinel standout Kade McDonough is two strokes off the lead but still within striking distance.
Polson’s Carson Hupka, Whitefish’s Marcus Kilman, Capital’s Cale Hines and Sam Engellant of Glacier sit in a four-way tie with 77 strokes apiece. Engellant’s teammate Tyler Avery is close behind with 79 strokes.
Sentinel leads the boys field with 309, Whitefish is second at 313 and Glacier is third with 316.
Leading the ladies’ field is Sarah Halferty of Helena High with 83 strokes. Glacier’s Stella Claridge and Chloe Tanner fired 87 and 88 to sit in second and third, respectively.
Jillian Wynne of Flathead shot an 89 and is tied for fourth with Hamilton’s Aly Rose. Anyah Cripe is Whitefish’s top representative with 98 strokes.
Glacier leads Capital by five strokes overall with 371; Whitefish is in fifth and Flathead is in seventh.
The final day of the Kalispell Invite, co-hosted by Flathead and Glacier, will tee off at 10 a.m. at Buffalo Hill GC.
Kalispell Invite
Northern Pines GC
Wednesday
Boys
Top 15 individuals
Billy Smith, Whitefish 73
Eli Groshelle, CMR 73
Colin McCarthy, Sentinel 73
Kade McDonough, Sentinel 75
Joe Opitz, Sentinel 76
Carson Hupka, Polson 77
Marcus Kilman, Whitefish 77
Sam Engellant, Glacier 77
Cale Hines, Capital 77
Johnny Nix, Whitefish 78
Trey Mattson, Hellgate 78
Kyler Meredith, Capital 78
Tyler Avery, Glacier 79
Team scores — Sentinel 309; Whitefish 313; Glacier 316; Capital 316; Polson 324; CMR 329; Hellgate 334; Hamilton 344; Glacier JV 347; Big Sky 365; Flathead 366; Helena 382; Great Falls 386; Flathead JV 400; Columbia Falls 431.
Girls
Top 15 individuals
Sarah Halferty, Hellgate 83
Stella Claridge, Glacier 87
Chloe Tanner, Glacier 88
Aly Rose, Hamilton 89
Jillian Wynne, Flathead 89
Kendra Thayer, CMR 92
Megan Swanson, Capital 94
Hanna Boyd, Great Falls 96
Kenna Sandler, Glacier 96
Paige O’Mara, Capital 96
Anyah Cripe, Whitefish 98
Makayla Bury, Capital 98
Paige Springer, Capital 98
Team scores — Glacier 371; Capital 386; CMR 398; Hamilton 402; Whitefish 409; Polson 414; Flathead 426; Sentinel 454.