HHS golf: Kunantaev, Kent carry Trojan golfers
Sports reporter
Daniel Kunantaev and Justin Kent better have some strong shoulders.
The duo, which finished first and second Friday at the Hillsboro Invitational, and second and third April 4 at the Lyons Invitational, carried the team to two second-place finishes.
Friday, playing in the friendly confines of Hillsboro Municipal Golf course, Kent led all golfers with a round of 75, and Kunantaev shot 76.
At Lyons, Kunantaev was second with a round of 77, and Kent was third with an 81.
Their scores were good enough to earn the two-man championship, 21 strokes ahead of second place Goessel.
"Both shot respectable scores and finished very well individually at both tournaments," head coach Scott O'Hare said. "But neither of them were pleased with there scores at both tournaments."
That shows the two know how much their scores mean to the team.
At Hillsboro they combined with Gavin Serene (89), Daniel Dick (91), Jared King (96), and Jake Kenney (108), to shoot 535 in the six-man competition.
Marion was first with a score of 519.
Serene, Dick, Kenney, and King teamed up in the four-man competition and finished fifth out of eight with a total score of 384.
The scoring at Lyons consisted only of a four-man competition.
The four lowest scores were counted, and Hillsboro tied with Hoisington with a score of 359.
Along with Kunantaev and Kent, Dick was the third lowest with a round of 99, and Kenney chipped in with a round of 102.
"I was pretty discouraged by their scores at Lyons, but had to remind myself that, aside from Justin and Daniel, three of the four were playing in their first ever high school varsity tournament and playing on a course that they had never seen before," O'Hare said.
"These four (Dick, Kenney, Serene, and King) improved their combined score by 31 strokes from Tuesday to Friday.
"Granted it was moving back onto their own course, but I think it still shows signs of potential and promise."
The varsity will be off until April 18 when they play at Derby's Hidden Lakes course at the Wichita Collegiate Invitational.
Junior varsity golfers will be at Marion Tuesday, and play April 17 at Hesston.
