Port Townsend’s Ronnie Harrell couldn’t quite repeat his first-day magic in the final round of the Class 1A boys state golf tournament on Wednesday.
Neither could Sequim’s Zoei Zbaraschuk in the 2A girls event.
Instead, both had to settle for the best finishes in their schools’ recent history.
Harrell and Zbaraschuk each took home fifth-place medals to lead a group of four North Olympic Peninsula golfers placing in the top 10 on Wednesday.
Harrell followed up his personal best 3-under 69 in Tuesday’s first round at Columbia Point Golf Club in Richland with a 74 on Wednesday.
A few inches here or there, including a narrowly missed eagle putt on the 14th and a double bogey on the 18th, and the Redskins senior could’ve sliced even more strokes off his score.
“I really just wanted to place top 10,” said Harrell, who took 19th and 31st at state his sophomore and junior years, respectively.
“I wasn’t happy about my finish, but other than that I was very happy with how I played.
“I knew I was playing some of the best golf I’d played all year before we even got here. I just didn’t make stupid mistakes and kept my head in it.”
Harrell’s 1-under two-day score of 143 put him six strokes behind Zach Wanderscheid of Goldendale, who won the 1A tourney for the second straight year.
It was the first time in more than 10 years that a Redskins boys golfer finished in the top 10 at state.
“He’s definitely the most consistent golfer I’ve ever had,” Redskins coach Gabriel Tonan said. “Ronnie has pretty much played solid throughout his entire high school career.
“He played really well today.”
A double-bogey on the first hole put Zbaraschuk in an early hole in the 2A girls tourney at rainy Apple Tree Golf Resort in Yakima; one she couldn’t quite dig herself out of.
The four-time state participant sandwiched multiple bogeys around birdies on No. 10 and 11 to finish with a score of 80 in the final round and a two-day score of 154.
Zbaraschuk, who will golf for Sonoma State University in Sonoma, Calif., next year, ended up nine strokes off tournament champion Alexis Keating of Elma after starting four behind.
It was still good enough for Zbaraschuk’s third straight top-10 state finish after taking seventh in 2008 and ninth in ’09.
This year’s fifth-place mark was also the highest by a Sequim golfer since Adam Columbia took fifth in the 3A boys event in ’03.
“More than anything she left the golf course with a smile on her face just to better her previous finish,” Sequim girls golf coach Garrett Smithson said.
“She’s put so much time and effort in, to see all that pay off was great. Now it’s time for her to move on to bigger and better things.”
Port Townsend’s Jenny Grauberger ended up with a two-day score of 174 after shooting an 89 in the final round of the 1A girls event at Columbia Point.
That put her in a two-way tie for sixth place, 20 strokes behind four-time state champion Kelli Bowers of Chelan.
“She wasn’t really happy with the way she played in the final round, but overall it was a good state experience,” Tonan said.
“That’s a good change from last year [when she missed the cut].”
Chimacum had a boys golfer finish in the top 15 at state for the fifth straight year after Eric Nelson took seventh in 1A with a 36-hole score of 145 (1-over).
“I’ve had a great string of guys come through the last five or six years,” Cowboys coach Mitch Black said.
“From Jesse Best to [1A state champion] Chris Johnson to Adam [Barrows] and Eric, we’ve had some really good players.”
Nelson shot the third best 18-hole score in 1A tourney’s final round with a 1-under 71.
He leapfrogged his own teammate, Mason Moug, in the process.
Moug entered the day tied for seventh after his 1-over 73 in the first round, but scuffled through most of the final 18 holes.
The junior found himself in the sand early and often, eventually tallying an 82 for a two-day score of 155 and 22nd place.
The Chimacum boys ended up placing fourth as a team, two places ahead of Port Townsend.
The Redskins had two other golfers, Cody Piper and Sean Anderson, make the cut. The duo were 37th and 40th, respectively.
“It was good to see,” Tonan said of the two Quimper Peninsula teams in the top six. “Chimacum-Port Townsend on the golf side, we really root each other on.
“It’s been a good season.”
Sequim’s Ryan O’Mera also had an up-and-down day at the 2A boys tourney.
Yet if it wasn’t for a five-putt on No. 5 at Apple Tree, the sophomore would have likely placed in the top 20.
As it was, O’Mera shot an 81 in the final round to finish in 28th place at 157.
“This time last year he just missed the second day cut [after a rules infraction],” Sequim coach Vic Quinet said. “He’s grown in maturity even since last year.”
Kim Duce finished 34th for the Wolves among the 2A girls after going for a 102 on Wednesday.
She had a score of 197 after 36 holes.