Cats, Jaguars in hunt for title

Blue Springs and Blue Springs South golfers were disappointed in their first-round performances at state.
But they didn’t disappoint their coaches.
Blue Springs shot 320 in the opening round of the Class 4 Missouri State High School Championships and stand in fifth place. Blue Springs South was just two strokes back at 322 in seventh place, but just eight strokes behind the leader, Springfield Kickapoo.
“The guys, to a man, all thought they could have played better,” said Blue Springs coach Tom Round, whose Wildcats were led by junior John Nance’s 4-over-par 76. “But when you consider that 314 is leading, I thought they did pretty well. In the back of my mind, I thought playing with only four guys, that if we kept it between 315 and 320 that we’d be doing pretty well.”
With the field bunched up at the top, the title is up for grabs in today’s final round.
“Everyone is a little upset,” Blue Springs South coach Mike McGown said of his team, which was led by Tyler Brown’s 75. “Not one is happy with what he shot. But the greens were size of postage stamps and had a lot of undulations, so I think the boys played well. They’ve put themselves in good position to bring home some hardware (that goes to the top four teams).”
Kyle Yancik shot 79, Bransen Ireland posed an 81 and Ryan Clark totaled 82 to complete the first-round scoring for Blue Springs.
Nance is tied for 14th after birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 got him back into contention for an all-state honor that goes to the top 15 individuals.
The Jaguars had three break 80. Brown is tied for eighth with his 75, four strokes behind co-leaders Dillon Maloney of Kickapoo and Tanner Werner of Jackson. Cody House shot 77, while John Sievers shot 79. Matt Cumberford’s 91 completed South’s first-round scoring.
“Tyler played very well,” McGown said. “Cody had a real good round going but made a pair of double bogeys on the back nine and was 3-over on the back. Otherwise he would have been better off than he is already.”
Truman’s lone qualifier, Kyle Buelterman, shot 83 and is tied for 69th along with Lee’s Summit North’s Marcus Fryatt. North‚s other qualifier, Ethan Bettes, shot 80.
Lee’s Summit West stands 11th at 336. Austin Jarchow shot 81 and Nick Davis posted an 82 to lead the Titans.
Today’s final round will have an 8 a.m. shotgun start because of the threat of thunderstoms in the afternoon in the Springfield area. Normally, the golfers would have tee times with the leading players going off last.
CLASS 3: Grain Valley’s Corey Heath shot a 90 at par-72 Rivercut Golf Club in Springfield.
“He‚s disappointed he didn‚t play as well as he would have liked,” Eagles coach Andy Herbert said. “But that’s why it’s two days. Maybe tomorrow he can clear his head, calm down and have a chance to finish in the top 15 or top 20.”
CLASS 1: Lee’s Summit Community Christian is in contention for a state trophy in its first year of competing in the Missouri State High School Activities Association, shooting 353 to finish the first round in third place in the Class 1 state tournament at Silo Ridge Golf and Country Club in Bolivar. Parker Gross fired an 84 and James Lambert shot 85 to lead the Eagles.