Douglas senior Maya Smith is the first finisher for the DHS girls Friday at Lampe Park.
The Carson High girls golf team began the season strong by winning the opening Sierra League Tournament on its home course, Eagle Valley East.
Carson finished second in the Northern 4A region last year to qualify for the State Tournament and the Senators are looking for a repeat trip to state along with winning the regional title this year.
Carson’s top two golfers, Jill and Karen Beglin, also got off to a strong start to the season.
Senior Jill fired a 3-under par 69 while sophomore Karen shot an even-par 72.
In the team standings, Carson won going away, finishing with a 341, following by Manogue (367), Galena (378) and Damonte Ranch (388).
Jill shot a 32 on the front nine with three birdies and an eagle on the par-5 5th hole. She began the back nine with a birdie on 10, but cooled off a little bit as the wind picked up.
Karen had three birdies and three bogeys for an even round.
“Those two girls are obviously the core of our team,” CHS coach Wade Greenlee said. “They not only provide us exceptional golf, but they are leaders and even coaches for the rest of the team. Jill is especially motivated as this is her senior year.”
Returning from last year are senior Kassidy Cooley and sophomore Gabby Montes. Cooley shot a personal best 97 while Montes fired a 113, a nice improvement over her stroke average of 129 last year.
Junior Sophia Taggart and freshman Sarah Wiggins also competed for Carson and both had solid rounds as Wiggins fired a 103 and Taggart shot a 104.
Taggart, though, was disqualified for playing a hole out of order.
“I take partial blame on that,” said Greenlee. “Being early in the season we haven’t really played a complete back nine, and her group just got confused. All six girls are solid players and it’s very possible they’ll all be under 100 by regions, which will give us an excellent chance to represent Carson at state again.”
Rounding out the Carson team are senior Lauren Thompson, juniors Karrina Ferris and Ali Sharp, sophomore Brooke Gudmundson, and freshman Justyce Quintana.
Cross country runners shine
Carson High had several strong finishes at the Douglas Class Races Invitational held on Friday. All of the runners in the event ran 2.55 miles.
For the CHS girls, Hannah Kaiser placed third among juniors in 17 minutes, 3 seconds.
For Carson’s boys, Zach Sever was fourth among juniors in 14:08. Hunter Rauh was 10th in 14:12 and Ethan Byasse was 13th in 14:34 among seniors.
Carson’s freshmen girls also won the team title. The top runner for the CHS freshmen was Claire Cartier, who finished in 21:32.
CHS girls tennis falls
The Carson High girls tennis team lost its opening match of the season on Thursday 16-2 at McQueen. Jennifer Artz picked up a win in singles, winning 6-1 and Rebecca Trejo and Sydney Lloyd picked up the other win for Carson in doubles, winning 6-3.