Lady Pirates score third consecutive State golf title
Carrie Pichler
Polson’s Jaylin Kenney, center, shot a 171 to place second at State, followed by Nicole Clairmont, left, in third with 175, Peyton Anderson, right, in seventh with 182.
Carrie Pichler
Jaylin Kenney
Carrie Pichler
Nicole Clairmont
Carrie Pichler
Peyton Anderson
Carrie Pichler
Lauren Dupuis
Carrie Pichler
Alex Killian
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POLSON — The air was crisp and the autumn wind blustery with little peeks from the sun cascading onto the Polson Bay Golf Course — a perfect weekend for the Lady Pirates to take home their third consecutive first-place State golf title, in front of hometown fans.
With all eyes on Whitefish winning, Polson took to the course with a mission. In the end, the Lady Pirates charted just 715 strokes — 10 less than Whitefish. Four Lady Pirates and one Pirate boy golfer placed in the top 10 in the two-day tournament.
Pirate coach Bill Owen said he was excited with his team’s finish, although he knew they had it in them all along.
“They came through a lot of adversity with the predictions of Whitefish,” he said.
Polson senior Jaylin Kenney’s 171 led the Lady Pirates with a second-place finish, just six strokes over Whitefish’s Erin Tabish, who took first-place overall for the women.
“(Kenney)’s a veteran,” Owen said. “She’s been impressive all year.”
Owen was also quite pleased with the other top ten girls.
“Lauren (Dupuis)’s ninth was huge,” Owen said. “We needed her to step up and she did it with two great games.”
“Peyton (Anderson) is a great kid and I’m pleased with her game, and Nicole (Clairmont) has the prettiest swing,” Owen said. Clairmont came in third with a 175 and Anderson finished with a 182 to land her in the seven spot.
Although the Pirate boys didn’t place as a team, senior Alex Killian broke into the top 10 with a ninth place overall finish with his 158, two-day score.
“Alex is a competitor,” Owen said. “He’s got such a positive attitude and has benefited from it throughout the season and the tournament. He’s also a baseball player and balancing the transition between the two sticks is no easy task.”
Killian is a catcher for the Mission Valley Mariners and will play his senior year in the spring.
Next year will be a building season for the Polson golf team, but Coach Owen is seeing promising play from sophomore Heather Frank.
“She’s going to be a great asset and has shown great improvement,” he said.
