Al Case / Ashland Daily Photo

PORTLAND — Riley Kirk and Ty Beyer secured All-Cascade Conference status and the Southern Oregon men’s golf team landed its first top-three CCC Championship finish as the season came to a close Wednesday at Glendoveer Golf Course.

Kirk ended the 54-hole tournament at 1-over on the par-73 course to tie for eighth place – the best-ever championship finish for a Raider in the three-year history of the program. The freshman from Kelso, Wash., carded a 75 in the final round to lock down his third top-10 effort in four CCC tournaments this season.

All-CCC honors went to the golfers with the 10 lowest scoring averages in conference play. Kirk’s was 73.6, which ranked sixth in the circuit, and Beyer’s was 74.1, which ranked eighth.

Beyer, a sophomore from Woodburn, finished strong with a 71 in the final round to end at 7-over and in a tie for 16th place. Oliver Ausland matched Beyer’s Round 3 score to move up six spots on the leaderboard to a tie for 11th place at 3-over.

Ricky Reisner wrapped with SOU’s best round of the week, a 3-under 70 that brought him to 8-over on the tournament and a tie for 18th. Mason Labow (+17) tied for 29th.

The Raiders finished 13-over as a team – 15 strokes ahead of fourth-place College of Idaho and 18 behind second-place Lewis-Clark State. Round 3 was their best of the tournament by a margin of 13 strokes; they went 5-under collectively.

No. 9-ranked British Columbia won the title, as expected, with a score of 21-under. The Thunderbirds also produced the individual champion in Aidan Schumer (-9), who was 14-under over the final 36 holes.

The Raiders had never before boasted multiple All-CCC performers in the same season. Last year, Labow became their first. Ausland nearly cracked the list with the circuit’s 14th-best average (75.3).

Every player on their roster is eligible to return next season.

MEN’S TEAM SCORES (final) – 1. British Columbia -21 (294-279-282—855), 2. Lewis-Clark State -5 (295-294-282—871), 3. Southern Oregon +13 (302-300-287—889), 4. College of Idaho +28 (298-305-301—904), 5. Oregon Tech +40 (302-311-303—916), 6. Corban +43 (306-298-315—919), 7. Multnomah +46 (319-308-295—922), 8. Walla Walla +56 (318-309-305—932), 9. Bushnell +74 (315-314-321—950)

SOU MEN’S RESULTS (of 45 total golfers)
T8. Riley Kirk +1 (71-74-75—220)
T11. Oliver Ausland, +3 (76-75-71—222)
T16. Ty Beyer, +7 (75-80-71—226)
T18. Ricky Reisner, +8 (80-77-70—227)
T29. Mason Labow, +17 (83-74-79—236)

Cheng repeats as all-conference performer, leads Raider women to 4th in CCC

PORTLAND — Keira Cheng’s superlative finish made her fourth place at 9-over in the Cascade Conference Championship and an All-CCC honoree for the second year in a row on Wednesday at Glendoveer Golf Course.

The sophomore led the charge as the Southern Oregon women’s golf team made up five strokes on College of Idaho to tie for fourth place in the last outing of the season, shooting 25-over collectively in the third and final round.

Cheng, the sophomore from Los Alamitos, Calif., erased a nightmare start to the tournament with two of the sharpest rounds of her career. She was 10-over through 18 holes on Monday, but moved up 10 spots on the leaderboard with a 1-over 74 in Tuesday’s second round. She tied for the top score in Round 3 – a 2-under 71 that boosted her five more spots after birdying four of the first seven holes.

Cheng, who became SOU’s first-ever All-CCC performer as a freshman last season, repeated the feat by ending up with the seventh-best scoring average in conference action at 76.6. She was top-10 in three of four CCC tournaments, but this was the first top-five effort of her career.

Mia Montrager also enjoyed a promising finish to her freshman season, tying for 11th place at 20-over. Her score of 78 in the third round was her best of the week.

Abby Francis (+36) placed 23rd, Haley Brown (+39) 25th and Mya Oakes (+49) 31st on the leaderboard. Bontrager and Brown ended up tied for the CCC’s 19th-best scoring average (82.0).

Top-ranked British Columbia won the tournament at 19-over, outpacing second-place Oregon Tech by 20 strokes. UBC’s Elizabeth Labbe was the medalist, finishing 7-under.

WOMEN’S TEAM SCORES (final) – 1. British Columbia +19 (302-299-294—895), 2. Oregon Tech +39 (311-300-304—915), 3. Lewis-Clark State +26 (318-319-324—961), T4. Southern Oregon +100 (334-325-317—976), T4. College of Idaho +100 (323-331-322—976), 6. Corban +148 (346-331-347—1024), 7. Bushnell +158 (344-347-343—1034), 8. Walla Walla +178 (357-348-349—1054)

SOU WOMEN’S RESULTS (of 44 total golfers)
4. Keira Cheng, +9 (83-74-71—228)
T11. Mia Bontrager, +20 (82-79-78—239)
23. Abby Francis, +36 (85-84-86—255)
25. Haley Brown, +39 (87-89-82—258)
31. Mya Oakes, +49 (84-88-96—268)