East Linn Christian’s Grady Knurowski finished on top of the competition as an individual Tuesday, April 21, as the Eagles hosted a dozen other schools in their only home golf competition of the year, at Mallard Creek.
The Eagles actually fielded two teams in the varsity competition, which tied for sixth overall at 366 each. Over 100 golfers from 13 schools competed in the varsity tournament.
Blanchet won the team title, shooting 320, followed by Santiam Christian (330), Pleasant Hill (344) Salem Academy (349) and Regis (353).
Knurowski, a sophomore, led one of the ELCA teams, delivering an even-par 72 to finish as the top individual in the match, ahead of team winner Blanchet’s (320) Dominick Hauge, who was second with 75, and Kaden Orizotti, third with 78.
“Grady has been playing really well all year,” Coach Jayce Boyd said. “It will be a scary day for the rest of the league when everything clicks at once for him.”
Parker Caddick finished sixth overall for the Eagles with 80, followed by Liam Medford (90), Greyson Martin (124) and Zeke Wells (133). All but Wells, a freshman, are sophomores.
Anderson Kropf led the second group, finishing 16th with an 86, with Wyatt Smothers finishing 23rd with 90. Rounding out the team score were Casey May and Dailey Kirkpatrick, each with 95, with senior Randy Holmes shooting a 110. The other four for East Linn are all sophomores.
It was Craddick’s first time breaking 90 in a tournament, Boyd said, noting that it was a good day overall for the Eagles.
Kropf’s finish was his second personal best in a row in a tournament, after shooting 89 at Shadow Hills the week before – his first time breaking 90.
“We had 10 of our 12 golfers put up or tie a personal best for tournament play,” he said. “We have really been working on scoring around the greens and keeping things in control as we manage our way around the course at practice and it seems like they are reaping the rewards of it.
“With such a young team, developing the physical skills is important, but growing mental resilience through drills that challenge us and put us under pressure is just as important.”
In a nine-hole JV match, which included players from most of the schools in the varsity tournament, Seven Ream finished with 59, which was his first time breaking 60, Boyd noted, and Lincoln Boyer shot a third-straight personal best.
“Even our guys that didn’t play well had a lot of potential in their round and I look forward to what they can do once they clean things up a little bit,” Boyd said of his team, of which 11 of his 13 players are underclassmen, nine of them sophomores.
“For such a young group of guys with so little overall tournament experience, they are doing fantastic. I am really proud of their efforts on the course, but I am even more proud of their attitudes and how they represent Christ to their fellow competitors.”