Medicine Valley's Sid Schultz follows through his drive on Hole 2 during Thursday's RPAC Tournament at Arrowhead Meadows in Curtis. Schultz finished eighth overall and helped the Raiders win the team title. Thursday's championship was Medicine Valley's first since joining the RPAC.
Gabe Gauthier/McCook Gazette
CURTIS, Neb. -- Medicine Valley got over the hump.
After nearly 12 years of coming close to a conference golf title, the Raiders won their first Republican Plains Activities Conference crown during Thursday’s windswept tournament played at Arrowhead Meadows in Curtis.
“It was very satisfying to see us finally win it,” Medicine Valley head coach Norm Liakos said. “To see our kids go clear to the top was satisfying to see.”
Medicine Valley’s last conference golf title came in 2006, when the Raiders were part of the Great Plains Activities Conference. Thursday’s title, however, was the school’s first since joining the RPAC in 2007.
“For the last eight years we’ve had to battle Alma and Southern Valley for the conference title. Before that, it was Cambridge. I told my wife that the only constant during that time has been us. We’ve always been in the hunt.”
A strong and steady crosswind made for higher scores. It was a factor that everyone dealt with, according to Liakos.
“We had higher scores than we would’ve liked, but everyone had to play the wind,” he said. “Being our home course, we played here in these conditions recently, so we felt like maybe we had an advantage, but I still thought we played pretty well.”
Medicine Valley carded a team score of 381, which was 15 strokes better than runner-up Southern Valley.
Medicine Valley's Sheldon Johnsen takes his second swing on Hole 1 at Thursday's conference tournament in Curtis. Johnsen finished third overall with an 88.
Gabe Gauthier/McCook Gazette
The Raiders were led by Sheldon Johnsen’s third-place score of 88 (38-50). Johnsen’s 38 in the first play through was the best round of any golfer Thursday.
Joeseph Chancellor was next for Medicine Valley with a fourth-place finish of 89 (44-45), while lefty Sid Schultz also medaled with an eighth-place score of 93 (47-46).
“Overall, I thought they held together pretty well,” Liakos noted of his top three golfers. “It was a grind-it-out kind of day with the weather. That takes a mental and physical toll on anyone.”
Also contibuting to Medicine Valley’s title-winning score was Coby Uhlig, who scored a 111 (55-56). While Uhlig didn’t medal, Liakos praised him for his role in Thursday’s team title.
“I thought he had a good, solid performance.”
Cambridge's Preston Carbaugh watches his second shot on Hole 1 approach the green during Thursday's RPAC Tournament at Arrowhead Meadows in Curtis. Carbaugh won the individual title with an 81.
Gabe Gauthier/McCook Gazette
Thursday’s individual conference champion was Cambridge lefty Preston Carbaugh. The Trojan junior finished with an 81 (39-42) to win by six strokes over runner-up Ty Heft of Alma.
While most golfers struggled with Thursday’s crosswind, Carbaugh wasn’t bothered too much by the elements.
In fact, Carbaugh did two strokes better than the 83 he posted on the same course during the Medicine Valley Invite two weeks ago.
Carbaugh led Cambridge to a fifth-place team finish. Cameron Hagedorn was the only other Trojan to medal with his seventh-place score of 91.
Ryder Lewis of Southern Valley tees off for his second playthrough at Arrowhead Meadows Thursday.
Gabe Gauthier/McCook Gazette
Runner-up Southern Valley had three medalists. Chaston Burgeson and Ryder Lewis both carded 97s, while Riley Mustin scored a 98. Carter Brown and Spencer Brown were also close to medaling with scores of 104 and 107, respectively.
Third-place Paxton was led by Jeff Storer and Jeremy Peters. Peters, who beat Carbaugh a fortnite ago with an 80, carded a 96 on Thursday to finish ninth, while Storer was sixth with a 90.
Dundy County-Stratton was fourth and led by Nate Auffet’s fourth-place score of 89. Matthew Lorens had a 101, while Justin Owens (109) and Conor Lemon (109) were next in line for the Tigers.
Southwest took seventh as a team. The Roughriders were led by Dylan Hofman’s 104, while Wyatt McConville was second on the team with a 108. Denver Holdcroft and Caleb Shald scored 112 and 116, respectively.
Hitchcock County was right behind Southwest with an eighth-place finish. The Falcons had one medalist in Darian Hutto, who tied for 14th with a 99. Remington Hodges played a 102 and Alex Stehno had a 121.
Maywood-Hayes Center rounded out the top-10 standings with a 527. The Wolves were led by Paul White’s 108.
Arapahoe did not record a team score, as the Warriors only had three golfers. Cord Frink had Arapahoe’s best outing with a 112.
Team-by-team results
1. Medicine Valley (381 score)
Johnsen, 88; Chancellor, 89; Schultz, 93; Uhlig, 111; Henderson, 126.
2. Southern Valley (396)
Brown, 97; Burgeson, 97; Mustin, 98; C. Brown, 104; S. Brown, 107.
3. Paxton (399)
Storer, 90; Peters, 96; Callahan, 102; Drews, 111; Hahn, 120.
4. DCS (410)
Auffet, 89; Lorens, 101; Owens, 109; Lemon, 111; Grier, 122.
5. Cambridge (416)
Carbaugh, 81; Hagedorn, 91; Sides, 113; Horwart, 131; Fiene, 142.
6. Alma (422)
Heft, 87; Heckenlively, 97; I. McCurdy, 113; T. McCurdy, 125; Graf, 130.
7. Southwest (440)
Hofman, 104; W. McConville, 108; Holdcroft, 112; Shald, 116; P. McConville, 118.
8. Hitchcock County (453)
Hutto, 99; Hodges, 102; Stehno, 121; O'Byrne, 131; Dwyer, 178.
9. Bertrand (460)
Murphy, 99; Wood, 114; Dodson, 117; Anders, 130; Bojorquez, 156.
10. MHC (527)
White, 108; Dibbern, 130; Broker, 135; Robinson, 154; McIntosh, 160.
11. Wallace (569)
B. Kennicutt, 122; Bowlin, 134; McClintock, 151; Johnson, 162; E. Kennicutt, 201.
12. Arapahoe (no team score)
Frink, 112; Deisley, 115; Swanson, 130.
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