CHS golfers second, third at Lovington

LOVINGTON — Junior Jolei Adkins shot 39-41 — 80 on Thursday, helping Clovis High’s girls to a second-place team finish in the Lovington Invitational golf tournament.

Adkins tied for medalist honors with Lovington’s Aubrey Williams, but lost to her on the first hole of a playoff.

“Everybody was watching,” Lady Cats coach Joe Dvozenja said of the playoff. “It was sad for Jolei (to lose), but it was good experience for her.”

Only three full teams competed for the girls. Lovington was first at 343, while the Lady Wildcats finished at 369 and Portales came in at 450.

Portales’ top finisher was senior Emma Gonzales, who finished at 50-57 — 107.

For the boys, Lovington took first in five-team competition at 334, with Artesia second at 355. Clovis (372) edged out Carlsbad by four shots for third place.

Sophomore Jett Stone and eighth-grader Gavin Anderson led the Wildcats with identical rounds of 42-43 — 85.

“This is a tough course,” Cats coach Dale Fullerton said of Lovington Country Club. “It has real fast greens. We hit the ball pretty well, but it’s hard to get it up and down on the greens.”

The boys medalist was Lovington’s Aston Aranda at 2-under par 70.

Clovis squads return to action on Tuesday in the Clovis Christian Invite, scheduled for 9 a.m. at Colonial Park Golf Course.

RISD Invite — Clovis Christian’s boys came in a solid third in the two-day RISD Invite at Roswell, posting a four-man tally of 675.

Deming took team honors at 602 while Hobbs was second at 648. CCS finished 15 strokes ahead of fourth-place Roswell High.

Clovis High came in ninth in the 10-team event at 775. Deming’s Ben Mariscal was the individual medalist with a two-day total of even-par 144.

Sophomore Noah McKay put together two solid rounds to lead CCS, shooting 40-40 — 80 on Tuesday for a two-day total of 139. The Eagles struggled a bit more on the tougher Spring River Golf Course, as did a number of the boys squads, after playing New Mexico Military’s course on Monday.

Stone led CHS with a two-day total of 169, including 40-45 — 85 on Tuesday. The Cats’ only other player to break 100 on either day was Anderson, who came in at 45-44 — 89 for a 36-hole tally of 178.

Meantime, the Lady Cats shot a four-person score of 386 on Tuesday to end up fifth out of seven teams at 791. Junior Jolei Adkins led the way at 177, including 46-41 — 87 on Tuesday at Spring River, while junior Kiaya Gallegos whacked 12 strokes off her Monday count at 47-46 — 93 to close at 188.

Texico’s girls had four players on Tuesday but just three on Monday and thus did not have a team score. The Lady Wolverines were paced by sophomore Liz Elam at 190, including 49-45 — 94 on Tuesday.

Texico’s next outing is also in the CCS event on Tuesday.