Crusaders ‘comfortable’ after first day of state tournament

Faith Lutheran’s girls golf team took the lead after the opening round of the Division I-A state tournament in Mesquite on Monday.

But the Crusaders weren’t able to run away from the field as they did last season.

Faith Lutheran shot 349 at Canyons Golf Club to take a 29-shot lead over Clark. Last season the Crusaders won the two-day tournament by 167 strokes.

“It’s definitely a comfortable lead,” Faith Lutheran coach Mark Cheney said. “We’re 13 strokes over our season average, so I know the girls would like to play better tomorrow and play up to the standard that we set.”

Faith Lutheran junior Julia Becker leads the field with a 4-over-par 76. Fernley’s Brittany Evans is second at 77. Elko’s Kaily Beatty is third at 80, followed by Truckee’s Sienna Scibird (83) and Clark’s Sabrina Ho (84).

Becker bogeyed two of the first three holes before settling in.

“She missed a couple putts early, but after the first few holes she adapted to the speed of the greens and made a couple birdies,” Cheney said. “I think that was critical for her after the region tournament where she couldn’t get a birdie putt to drop.”

Faith Lutheran’s Serena Kasama, normally the team’s No. 3 golfer, shot 88 and is tied for seventh. Bri Yee shot 92, and Sarah Paravia, the team’s normal No. 2 golfer, had an off day, shooting 93. Paravia averaged 81.2 in league matches and shot 82 to finish second at last week’s Southern Region tournament.

“She was disappointed in that, but all season we’ve talked about getting better every day,” Cheney said. “So tomorrow we’ll have that opportunity.”

Today’s final round is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. at Palms Golf Club, also in Mesquite.