Marchand third in EV Invite, Koohns fourth at Chewelah

The Cheney High boys’ and girls’ golf teams competed in a couple of tournaments to prepare for the upcoming Great Northern League competitions.

Cheyenne Marchand and Kelsey Smith represented the Cheney girls in the March 14 East Valley Invite. Marchand finished third out of 29, shooting a 91, one stroke behind second-place Ali Hartley of Deer Park (90). Smith tied for 15th after she hit a 110. Clarkston’s Gracie Frazier (83) won the event.

The girls were scheduled to compete in the Deer Park Invite, April 18. The results from that tournament were unavailable as of press time.

Girls’ head coach Gerald Morton said his younger players, specifically the 15 freshmen who joined the team this year, are finally “beginning to figure out the game.”

“They are fun, energetic, wild and crazy, all in a good way,” Morton said. “A few of them are getting the ‘Golf Hook’ and can’t seem to get enough of the game.”

On the boy’s side, the Blackhawks finished sixth out of 16 teams with a score of 383 in the Chewelah Invite, April 15.

Tyler Koohns shot a 77 for a fourth-place finish. Other top finishers for Cheney included Thomas Baycroft, who hit an 88, Cameron Hardt and Scott Nadeau both with 109 and John Mulcahy with 119.

The day before the Chewelah Invite, Cheney finished 12th out of 22 teams with a score of 368 in the April 14 Palouse Ridge Invite in Pullman.

Koohns shot a 77, while Baycroft hit a season best of 80. Other finishers for Cheney included Kendall Weller (95), Logan Klauss (116) and Ian Hill (117).

Both teams competed in the second GNL tournament at Hangman Golf Course April 19. The boys are scheduled to play in the East Valley Invite today (April 21) while the girls will compete in the Chewelah Invite, April 22.

The boys finished in second with 468 in the March 22 GNL tournament at Clarkston. Two days later, the girls took third with 57, one stroke behind second-place East Valley (58). Team scores in the girls’ tournament were calculated via the modified Stableford Scoring system where the highest total of points wins instead of the lowest.

Morton said the third-place finish in Clarkston still “stings a bit” and he hopes the hard work his team put in at practice and the tournaments will give them the edge to “reclaim the second-place spot in the GNL.”

Morton added that Marchand, Smith, Hannah Lemelin and Riley Klauss will take up four of the six varsity spots for league tournaments.

“The remaining two spots will be a competitive fight between the 15 freshmen,” Morton said.

Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.