EP’s 319 four-man total bested Riverdale by 3 strokes and Rockridge by 10 in the 13 team 1A regional held at Deer Valley. Owen Van Zuiden of fourth-place Fulton won the medalist honors with an even par 72.
The event was originally planned for Wednesday but the rains of the last two days postponed the 18 holes until today. The Panthers had played a practice round last week preparing for the meet and it paid off.
Grayson Johnston led the Panther charge with a 4th place round of 76. Four Panthers followed suit with 81 totals that tied for tenth: Sawyer Copeland, Keegan Ryan, Brady Timmerman and Brevin VanDyke. Gavin VanDyke was right behind with an 82, so all the Panthers finished in the top 16 of 85 golfers.
Head coach Ryan Winckler praised the boys for the outstanding effort. “Their mental toughness really showed the last three days with all the issues of rain and changing starts. We talked all year about our strength as a team not just individuals and once again it’s amazing to see that we had all six guys shoot within 6 strokes. Our goal all year was to be around 160 for 9 hole events and 320 for 18 and figured that would keep us in the hunt. Today it claimed the Championship.”
The boys head to Byron Monday for the sectional event with a trip to state on the line.
