HAMILTON — Whitefish’s Billy Smith sits in third after the first round of State A golf on Friday, trailing leader Aubrey Kelley by five strokes.
Livingston’s Kelley fired a 68, and Polson’s Carson Hupka shot a 71. Defending champion Carson Hackmann of Laurel is in fifth.
Smith’s teammate, Johnny Nix, is tied for 12th after shooting a 79.
Laurel leads Livingston and Polson by 10 strokes for the boys’ team title.
Polson has a comfortable lead on Livingston for the girls’ team title with 379 strokes to second place Frenchtown’s 400.
Frenchtown sophomore Katie Lewis built a nine-stroke lead over Miles City’s Karsyn Swigart, carding a 77.
Ashley Maki of Polson shot an 87 and sits in third and her teammate Kila Cannon is in a tie for sixth. Alyssa Pretty on Top of Ronan is tied for fourth place.
Class A State Golf
Hamilton Golf Club
Hamilton
Boys
First Round
Team scores: Laurel 302, Livingston 312, Polson 312, Whitefish 314, Hamilton 318, Corvallis 335, Lewistown 340, Billings Central 343.
Top 15 Individuals
Aubrey Kelley, Livingston 68
Carson Hupka, Polson 71
Billy Smith, Whitefish 72
Max Cianflone, Hamilton 73
Cameron Hackman, Laurel 74
Eli Weisenberger, Laurel 75
Ryder Lee, Miles City 75
Sam Norman, Laurel 76
Brady McCollum, Laurel 77
Jackson Heath, Hamilton 77
Hunter Emerson, Polson 78
Danyk Jacobsen, Livingston 79
Brady Powell, Corvallis 79
Johnny Nix, Whitefish 79
Matthew Peschel, Whitefish 80
Kyle Kennah, Laurel 80
Tate Jessop, Corvallis, 80
Girls
Team scores: Polson 379, Frenchtown 400, Hamilton and Laurel, 401, Billings Central 406, Livingston 420, Sidney 428, Ronan 490.
Top 15 Individuals
Katie Lewis, Frenchtown 77
Karsyn Swigart, Miles City 86
Ashley Maki, Polson 87
Kiaralynn Weidinger, 92 Lockwood
Alyssa Pretty on Top, Ronan, 92
Jori Haugen, Billings Central 94
Kila Cannon, Polson 94
Camille Poncin, Livingston 95
Clare Konen, Polson 95
Shea Reber, Havre, 95
Skylar LaPierre, Dillon, 96
Emma Hollingsworth, Hamilton, 96
Molly Cooney, Laurel, 98
Brooklyn Brown, Hamilton 98
Madison Harada, Laurel, 98
Grace Martello, 98 Frenchtown
Stella Jaffe, Whitefish 99
Aubrielle Grandpre, Livingston 99;