Koby Lindberg (166), Kasen Moore (167) and Kasey Dilger (168) finished 10th, 11th and 12th, respectively in their flight as the Pahrump Valley High School boys golf team opened its season by playing in the 31st annual Pahrump Valley Invitational High School Golf Tournament on Thursday and Friday at Mountain Falls Golf Course.
Coronado defended its team title, as the Cougars shot a tournament-record 578 to defeat Bishop Gorman by 18 strokes. Jackson Parrish of Liberty won the individual title with a tournament record 10-under 134, while Brett Sodetz of Coronado, who finished 1 stroke behind Parrish, set the tournament record for a single round with a 65 on Thursday.
Dilger posted the best round for the Trojans, firing an 80 during the first round, which featured an eagle on the par-5 7th hole. Lindberg birdied the par-3 14th, Moore recorded a birdie on No. 18, a par-4 hole, and teammate John Taylor, who finished with a 190, birdied the par-5 3rd hole.
Each of the Trojans had a better round Thursday than Friday, and none of them managed to score under a par on a hole during the second round.
As a team, the Trojans’ score of 691 was 13th overall and seventh out of seven teams in the Silver Flight, which was won by Bishop Gorman’s B team with a 637.
Pahrump Valley also entered a B team in the tournament, with Ian Kingsley’s 194 tying for 12th out of 32 golfers in the Maroon Flight. Kingsley was the only B golfer to break 100, doing it during both rounds.
Joining Kingsley on the Trojans B squad were Caleb Sproul (208), Christopher Briscoe (232) and Ryan Geoffrey (237).
Baseball opens in tournament
Once again, the Pahrump Valley baseball team will open its season at the Route 66 Baseball Classic, co-hosted by River Valley High School in Arizona and Needles High School in California.
The Trojans will see how much pitching they have immediately, as the tournament schedule calls for five games between 4 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m. Saturday.
On Thursday, Pahrump Valley will play Arizona opponents Chino Valley (3-1-1) at 4 p.m. and Williams (0-2) at 6 p.m., both at River Valley High School. Friday brings a noon game against California’s Holtville (2-2-1) and a 4 p.m. game against The Meadows (0-0) of Las Vegas, both at Needles High School. Saturday’s game at 10 a.m. will be against host River Valley (1-5).
The Trojans went 4-1 in the Route 66 Classic last season, but Chino Valley is the only repeat opponent from 2019. The Trojans defeated the Cougars 11-4 in their third game of the event. Prior to last year, Pahrump Valley went 1-4 on three consecutive trips to the tournament after a 3-2 showing in 2015.
Odegard’s Yotes reach nationals
Pahrump Valley High School alum Bryce Odegard ran the leadoff leg of the College of Idaho men’s 4 x 800-meter relay team that qualified for the NAIA national indoor championships last week in Brookings, South Dakota.
Odegard, a sophomore, teamed with senior Matt McLaughlin, sophomore Derek Thomas and senior Josh Frey to reach the nationals, where they finished 13th in 8 minutes, 6.31 seconds and did not qualify for the men’s final.
“I was the leadoff leg for the relay, and we all needed to have fantastic days if we wanted to make it through to the finals, and we all had solid days. Nothing special,” Odegard said. “That happens sometimes, and we just have to go into the outdoor season not dwelling on what happened but certainly not forgetting it and using it as a motivator as we look forward toward outdoor nationals in Alabama.
“We certainly will be there striving for a better showing that what we displayed this weekend.”