The Carson High girls golf team is playing its best golf of the year at the right time. But it appears so is Spanish Springs and Galena High.
As expected Douglas High has run away with the Northern 4A Championships after the first round on Tuesday at Red Hawk. The race is now for the second and final qualifying spot between Spanish Springs, Galena and Carson.
Douglas shot a 422 and leads second place Spanish Springs by 37 strokes. The Cougars shot a 459 while Galena is in third with a 468 and Carson is fourth with a 471, its lowest score of the year.
In the individual standings, Douglas has three of the top five golfers as Bethany Wurster leads with a 2-over-par 74. Michelle Nikkels is in third with a 79 and Katie Gettman is fifth with an 84.
Carson's Michelle Kop and Lydia Peri are in a strong position to qualify for the state event as individuals if the Senators don't make it as a team. Kop is seventh overall with an 87 while Peri is eighth with an 88.
The top five individuals not on qualifying teams make it to state. As it stands right now, Kop is third and Peri is fourth among players not on qualifying teams.
Galena's Allie Burns is tied for ninth overall and fifth among players on nonqualifying teams with an 89. Douglas High's Heather Henderson shot a 90 and is in 11th.
Rounding out the team scores are South Tahoe (493), Elko (504), Manogue (519) and Reno High (526).
"We had a good day," Carson coach Terry Gingell said. "I'm very pleased. I think the girls feel they can improve.
"I think we're pretty confident. Second place is definitely up for grabs. I feel we've got a shot. The girls are playing well. We'll see how it goes."
Gingell was obviously pleased with Kop and Peri as well. "I was pleased with her score," said Gingell about Peri. "She didn't hit the ball as well as she would have liked, but she got the job done. She started out a little rocky, but she righted the ship. She played steady golf."
Carson also received a lift from Chelsea Keating, who was solid in firing a 95 and freshman Elayna Shine, who shot a 98. Shine's previous best was a 111. "Overall she played well," said Gingell about Keating. "She was hitting the ball well."
"She's playing really well," Gingell also said about Shine. "She's just improved rapidly and doing a great job."
Carson's fifth and final scorer was Katy Cowperthwaite, who shot a 103. Also for the Senators, Julia Lapham fired a 110.
Also for Galena, Colleen Mullins and Lexie Menante both shot a 94 while Shelby Lewis finished out Douglas High's scoring golfers with a 95. Also for Galena, Arianna Rosen shot a 99 and Christi Mannos fired a 103 for Galena.