photo by: Courtesy of Steve Randall

From left, Free State golfers Jack Randall, Cash Nelson and Henry Thompson qualified for the 6A state championship.

Three Free State golfers ranked among the top five individual performers from non-advancing teams in 6A regional play on Monday and will advance to state competition.

While Free State did not qualify as a team — it came in fourth place of nine teams — senior Jack Randall and sophomores Cash Nelson and Henry Thompson performed well enough at Olathe-Prairie Highlands Golf Course on Monday to make it to next week’s state championship in Garden City.

Randall, who in November signed to play golf at South Dakota State, shot a 1-over 73, producing the top finish among local golfers and all individuals from non-qualifying schools. He also golfed at the state tournament last year.

His finish was good enough to tie for fourth place behind a trio of first-place Olathe golfers who finished at even par: Olathe West’s Myles Tarvin and Blaine Sullivan and Olathe Northwest’s Carson Phillips.

Nelson and Thompson tied for 16th by each shooting a 6-over 78.

In the team standings, Olathe West (4-over 292), Olathe Northwest (9-over 297) and Olathe South (15-over 303) earned the three team qualification spots, while Free State was a fairly distant fourth with its 29-over 317.

The other two individuals to make the cut were Jackson Sprecker of Mill Valley (5-over 77) and Jacob Pahls of Gardner Edgerton (8-over 80).

Lawrence High, which came in seventh of nine teams with a 50-over 338, got its best showing from Gunnar Wayenberg, who shot a 9-over 81.

Hoffman shares first place at 1A regional

Bishop Seabury sophomore Jace Hoffman improved on his third-place performance at regionals last season, finishing this year’s 1A regional at Washington-Cedar Hills Golf Course in first place.

Hoffman, the lone Seahawk in competition, shot an 8-over 78 to tie with Solomon senior Spencer Coup.

He will now have the chance to participate in the state championship in Hesston.

Washington County, Centralia and Onaga were the three qualifying teams from Seabury’s regional.

4A qualifiers headed to McPherson

Stone Creek Golf Course in Chanute was home to a 4A regional on Tuesday that featured both Eudora and Baldwin. While the schools finished sixth and eighth, respectively, and missed out on overall qualification, Eudora’s Ty Deterding shot a 13-over 84 to tie for the fifth-best overall score in the competition and cement himself as the top individual from a non-qualifying team.

Similarly, Tonganoxie did not qualify as a team out of Clay Center, as it fell five strokes short of third-place Concordia. Wamego dominated and produced the top three scorers, as well as five of the top nine. But the Chieftains’ Colton Brusven shot a 9-over 77 and equaled the fifth-best score from a non-advancing individual to punch his ticket to the 4A state championship.

He and Deterding will be headed to McPherson-Turkey Creek Golf Course next week.

Kaws compete in 3A

On Monday, at the 3A Osawatomie regional, Perry-Lecompton finished at 159-over with a score of 443, which put the Kaws in seventh place out of nine schools.

Their top scorer was Liam Ellis, who tied for 11th with a 27-over 98.