Orcas boys fifth at State Golf Tournament; Friday Harbor second

The Friday Harbor Wolverine boys golf team gave coach Dave Anderson a great going-away present.

The boys finished second in the entire state at the Class A Golf Tournament in Pasco Monday and Tuesday, only one point away from first place.

The Friday Harbor trio of Justin Benz, Hank Schuman and Nick Schuman all made the final cut and contributed to the final team score. Benz led the way with some spectacular golf, shooting a first-round score of 70, followed by a second-round of 74 to finish third overall with a 144. He ended up four strokes from the State Championship score of 140 by Craig Leslie of Liberty.

Hank Schuman shot a first-round 78 and a second-round 80 for a 158, while Nick Schuman shot a first round of 80 and a second round of 86 for a 166 total.

Benz’s high finish garnered the Wolverines 20 team points. Hank Schuman finished 12th and picked up 8 1/2 points, while Nick Schuman picked up half a point for 29 total team points. A team from Royal finished with 30 points.

Orcas had a great tournament, too. Arlen Plaister finished ninth with a 156, while Chris Bennett shot a 163. Orcas finished fifth overall with 16.5 points.

Anderson said his team had some idea it had done well, but didn’t know it had finished second until all the scores could be put up on the leaderboard at the end of the tournament.

Anderson said his boys were actually frustrated and upset at first because they came so incredibly close to winning the State Tournament. “They were beating themselves up for a while,” Anderson said. However, as it began sinking in later in the day just how well they had done, the boys were happier with their great tournament.

Anderson admitted that a State Championship for his final Friday Harbor team “would have been so cool,” but that his team has a pretty good trophy.

“They played great. They played their best,” he said.

Benz’s finish was the highest for a Wolverine at the State Tournament since Sven Melville in the mid-1990s finished second. In the late ‘90s, Hazen Hyland finished fourth.

However, the team as a whole had never placed before.

A total of six island teens made the cut at the State Tournament

The Vikings’ Danielle Johanneck also made the cut in the girls’ tournament. She finished 13th overall with a 191.

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