Sidney girls' golf in fifth after first day at state tourney

After a windy and rainy first day of the Class B state tournament at Pioneers Golf Course in Lincoln, the Sidney High girls’ golf team is sitting in fifth place with a team score of 395.

Scottsbluff was the leader after day one with a team score of 374. Omaha Skutt Catholic was second – seven shots back – at 381. Aurora (391) is third, followed by Plattsmouth (394) and Sidney. District-rival Gering is in 10th among the 12 teams.

Junior Rachel Blauert led the Sidney team on day one with a first round score of 94, good for a tie for 18th overall. Freshman Jordan Cook shot a 98, junior Megan Neal shot a 99 and senior Kaleigh Chavez recorded a 104 to round out the team score. Freshman Emma Alexander shot a 108 in the first round.

The top four scores are counted to make up each team’s score, with the fifth score discarded.

Sidney head coach Dani Kuchar says she feels good about the way her team handled the weather and the pressure of the first day at state. She likes where her team is at after the first round.

“We’re right where we want to be after day one,” Kuchar said. “Nerves didn’t really play a factor on the first day. The girls were very relaxed and much more laid back than they were at districts. We’re a young team and (in the second round) we just want to do the best we can and whatever happens, happens.”

Assistant coach Jenn Dinges shares Kuchar’s confidence that her team has a real chance to move up the standings in the second – and final – round.

“Everyone (on the Sidney team) came to play today,” Dinges said. “No one blew up and had a huge score. Our girls have been consistent and if we play our game, we’ll be successful and maybe catch up tomorrow.”

Sidney’s team scores never fluctuated too much from outing to outing during the season and strong team depth helped it to place second at several of the tournaments. Sidney will need to draw on that depth and consistency in order to move up in the standings on day two.

The Lady Raiders have shown an impressive amount of consistency this season. They placed in the top three at every tournament in which they played, including the district tournament.

Scottsbluff’s top golfer Jordan York was in a tie for third overall with a first round score of 80. Gering’s Sam Rahmig started the final day in second-place with an 83, while Scottsbluff’s Hannah Holloway trailed her by just two stokes in third.

All of the players were back on the course this morning for the final round of play.