SPSL NORTH GOLF: AT A GLANCE<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2022 BOYS FAVORITE:<\/b> KR, Kentwood.<\/p>\n
\u2022 GIRLS FAVORITES:<\/b> Kentwood.<\/p>\n
\u2022 NOTABLE:<\/b> As always, the SPSL North is loaded on the local golf courses, both for the boys and girls. On the boys side, Kentwood returns a pair of state veterans in Tom Zavada and Kent Hagen, who finished seventh and eighth, respectively, at state last spring. The top three placers at last season\u2019s state tournament \u2014 Eastlake\u2019s Kevin Penner, along with Snohomish\u2019s Michael Jaeger and Dylan Stensland \u2014 all graduated, leaving the door open for a new champion. Zavada and Hagen weren\u2019t too far off the mark, falling just a few strokes off the top scores. Both could challenge for the top spot next spring, but Kentwood also could push Riley Kuranishi through to state, as well, giving the Conquerors a 1-2-3 punch that\u2019s hard to beat. … Kentridge returns senior Sean McMullen, a three-time state qualifier. McMullen took 16th last season, but was sixth in 2008 and could very well crack the top 10 again. McMullen is being pushed by young teammate Ahren Young, a freshman who quickly has made a name for himself this fall. Young already has bagged a pair of medalist honors, including last week\u2019s 33 in Kentridge\u2019s 90-87 win over Kentwood. If KR\u2019s Dustin Kask and Nick Bruksos can qualify for state, a strong possibility, the Chargers \u2014 along with Kentwood \u2014 very well could be bringing home some team hardware. … Kentlake enjoyed a huge turnout this fall as 32 boys came out for opening day. Karl Dubeau leads a talented pack, but teammate Alex Scott, a senior who stepped away from the sport last fall, returns this season. With junior Alex Carroll back in the mix, this could be the most talented KL team in quite some time. The Falcons opened the season with a bang, knocking off favorite Kentridge, 85-84. … At Kent-Meridian, the Royals aren\u2019t long on numbers, but did bring back a solid group of returners, led by Kevin Clutter and Aaden Sorem. … Tahoma returns senior C.J. Munko, a two-time state qualifier who should help the Bears stay in the mix all season. … For the girls, the two biggest names to know are Kentridge\u2019s Lauren Sewell and Kentwood\u2019s Rui Li. Both are three-time state placers and should challenge for a state crown in the spring. Sewell took a personal-best fourth place at state last season, finishing just five strokes behind champion Chessey Thomas of Lewis and Clark. Li, who has played Sewell step-for-step the last three years, took sixth at state last year and finished three strokes behind Sewell. Kentwood won the girls title in the SPSL North last year, cruising to a perfect 10-0 mark. With Li and standout returners Erika Vossbeck, Chelsea Brossard and Jenna Clavin back in fold, a repeat performance from the Conquerors is a strong possibility. \u2026 Like the boys, the Kentlake girls enjoyed a huge turnout as 20 players showed up on the first day. Even in a big field, Lindsey Douglas and Kelli Wyatt, both of whom qualified for state last year, remain the team\u2019s top golfers and give the Falcons reason for optimism. \u2026 Kent-Meridian\u2019s lone female returner this season is Samantha Koopmans. \u2026 Tahoma\u2019s Amanda Fairweather turned heads last spring as a sophomore, finishing tied for 29th at state, carding a two-day total of 163. Fairweather isn\u2019t quite yet at the level of Li and Sewell, but she isn\u2019t far behind, either.<\/p>\n
\u2022 OUTLOOK:<\/b> Kentridge\u2019s 90-87 win over Kentwood last week is a strong indicator that this race is going down to the wire. Both teams possess strong 1-2 punches followed by good depth. The Conquerors have won the last two SPSL North crowns and their only loss during that span came to Tahoma last season. Kentwood will play host to Kentridge on Oct. 8 at Meridian Valley Country Club in a match that very well could decide which team brings home the top prize. … For the girls, it will be tough for anybody to stop Kentwood, which delivered a perfect 10-0 record last season. The Conquerors return virtually their entire lineup, and with Rui Li at the helm are going to put up big points every time. Kentridge should challenge, but doesn\u2019t likely have the all-out depth required for a league title.<\/p>\n
\u2022 POSTSEASON PLAY:<\/b> The golf season is split in two, beginning in the fall and ending in the spring. The medalist and state qualifying tournaments for both genders will be Oct. 21-22 at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton. State is slated for May 25-26 in the Tri-Cities and Yakima.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
GOLFERS TO WATCH<\/b><\/p>\n
NAME\/SCHOOL\/YEAR<\/b><\/p>\n
C.J. Munko\/Tahoma\/Senior<\/b><\/p>\n
Notable:<\/b> When he\u2019s on his game, there are few better.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Rui Li\/Kentwood\/Senior<\/b><\/p>\n
Notable:<\/b> She has been one of the best for three years.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Lauren Sewell\/Kentridge\/Senior<\/b><\/p>\n
Notable:<\/b> She enjoyed a big summer; could a state title come next?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Sean McMullen\/Kentridge\/Senior<\/b><\/p>\n
Notable:<\/b> Three-time state qualifier is hungry for a top-10 finish.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Kent Hagen\/Kentwood\/Senior<\/b><\/p>\n
Notable: State veteran can swing it on the baseball diamond, too.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Tom Zavada\/Kentwood\/Senior<\/b><\/p>\n
Notable:<\/b> One of the toughest competitors around made name for himself last year.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Amanda Fairweather\/Tahoma\/Junior<\/b><\/p>\n
Notable:<\/b> One of the fastest-rising female golfers in the state.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Lindsey Douglas\/Kentlake\/Senior<\/b><\/p>\n
Notable:<\/b> Helps provided the Falcons with an impressive 1-2 punch.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Kelli Wyatt\/Kentlake\/Senior<\/b><\/p>\n
Notable:<\/b> Two-time state qualifier should make it a third this season.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Erika Vossbeck\/Kentwood\/Junior<\/b><\/p>\n
Notable:<\/b> One of the big reasons KW won the league title last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SPSL NORTH GOLF: AT A GLANCE \u2022 BOYS FAVORITE: KR, Kentwood. \u2022 GIRLS FAVORITES: Kentwood. \u2022 NOTABLE: As always, the SPSL North is loaded on the local golf courses, both for the boys and girls. On the boys side, Kentwood returns a pair of state veterans in Tom Zavada and Kent Hagen, who finished seventh […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-6232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6232"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6232\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6232"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=6232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}