SPARKS - It was a huge day for Carson Valley golfers Tuesday afternoon at the NIAA 4A Regional Golf Championships at Red Hawk.
Carson High's girls golf team reached the state tournament for the first time in coach Terry Gingell's eight-year tenure as head coach, and Douglas High's Bethany Wurster won the 4A regional individual title for the third time in four years.
Spanish Springs won the team title with a 36-hole total of 684, including a 338 on Tuesday. Carson was next with a 714, which included a 360 after an opening-round 354. Bishop Manogue was third at 726.
Wurster won the individual title with a 151, five shots better than Tess Jones of Spanish Springs. McQueen's Kelsey Roberts was third with a 159.
"Bethany kept her focus and was able to pull off her third regional title," Douglas coach Steve Gustafson said. "She struggled a bit the second day. There were some tough pin placements, a little wind, and the pressure from Tess Jones.
"At one point, they were dead even. Bethany carded a birdie on sixteen, which gave her the motivation needed to finish strong."
Douglas finished fifth as a team (763) behind Reno.
"As a team, they played better than any coach could ask," Gustafson said. "We were not the strongest team in the field, but the kids shot their season bests.
"Fifth place was quite an accomplishment for this team. We didn't have a lot of experienced players, besides Bethany, most of our girls started playing within the past year."
Tawnie Wentz took 16th (95-91-186), Molly Jordan was 37th (107-106-213), Emily Gosselin was 39th (105-110-215), Megan Welch was 41st (113-108-221) and Devyn Hotho was 47th (119-113-232) for Douglas.
