SIDNEY — Polson's Max Milton and Livingston's Anna Lende jumped on top of the boys and girls leaderboards Friday after the first round of the Class A state golf tournament at the Sidney Country Club.
Milton, who had an eagle on the No. 4 hole, fired a 3-under-par 69 in Round 1, giving him a three-stroke advantage over second-place Brady Powell of Corvallis.
There is a three-way tie for third place between Livingston's Sawyer Gentry, Billings Central's Caleb Fornshell and Corvallis' Dylan Wirt, who each shot first-round 74s.
Meanwhile, Lende leads the girls field by four strokes following a first-round 77. She's in front of Central's Berkley Park and Whitefish's Karlee Brown, who finished Friday tied for second place at 81.
Central's Jordan Nielsen is in fourth place, six shots back of Lende.
In the team races, the Corvallis boys and Billings Central girls set the pace entering Saturday's final round.
State A golf
Oct. 3-4
at Sidney Country Club
First round
BOYS
Team scores: 1, Corvallis, 309; T2, Billings Central, 316; T2, Polson, 316; 4, Livingston, 330; 5, Sidney, 333; 6, Frenchtown, 338; 7, Laurel, 340; 8, Dillon, 353.
Top 15: 1, Max Milton, Polson, 69; 2, Brady Powell, Corvallis, 72; T3, Sawyer Gentry, Livingston, 74; T3, Caleb Fornshell, Central, 74; T3, Dylan Wirt, Corvallis, 74; T6, Colin Jensen, Central, 75; T6, Oliver Rowe, Ronan, 75; T6, Cash Brown, Polson, 75; T9, Tag Jessop, Corvallis, 80; T9, Brayden Garr, Frenchtown, 80; T11, Stuart Gentry, Livingston, 81; T11, Royce Taylor, Laurel, 81; T11, Kalen Price, Sidney, 81; T11, Brady Collins, Sidney, 81; 15, Zach Maki, Dillon, 82.
GIRLS
Team scores: 1, Billings Central, 349; 2, Whitefish, 372; 3, Dillon, 385; 4, Livingston, 401; 5, Hamilton, 404; 6, Lewistown, 410; 7, Miles City, 414; 8, Frenchtown, 416.
Top 15: 1, Anna Lende, Livingston, 77; T2, Berkley Park, Central, 81; T2, Karlee Brown, Whitefish, 81; 4, Jordan Nielsen, Central, 83; 5, Autumn Goodan, Lewistown, 84; 6, Skylar LaPierre, Dillon, 85; 7, Cameron Burnett, Hamilton, 88; 8, CeCe Fornshell, Central, 90; 9, Keegan Campbell, Bigfork, 92; 10, Ryhlee Scott, Whitefish, 93; T11, Briley Alberi, Dillon, 94; T11, Ava Flotkoetter, Miles City, 94; 13, Kaitlin Ferris, Central, 95; T14, Izzy Baisch, Sidney, 96; T14; Izzabella Weber, Lockwood, 96.
