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North's Kinney coasts to SOC girls golf crown GRANTS PASS -- Tai Kinney's walk up the 18th fairway should have been relaxed, the result of a six-stroke lead. But the North Medford junior, unaware of how big her lead was, refused to let go of her focus Tuesday at the Grants Pass Golf Club. Only after she dropped a par putt on the final hole for her second Southern Oregon Conference girls golf championship in three years did she ease her foot off the pedal. "I just kept playing until the end," said Kinney. "I had an idea where I was, but I had to keep playing." Kinney shot a 1-over-par 74 to pull away from Grants Pass' Johnna Nealy. Nealy shot a final-round 77. Accompanying Kinney to the state tournament will be Nealy and her Grants Pass teammates, who claimed the team title with a two-day score of 707, and South Medford, which improved 10 strokes on the final day of play to outdistance Roseburg, 720-769, in the team standings. It's South Medford's first trip to the state tournament, which runs Monday and Tuesday at Trysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis. The Panthers were bolstered on Tuesday by the play of junior Abby Fowler, who finished third with her second straight 81, and junior Kacy Clark, whose final-round 86 landed her in fifth place. Grants Pass' Danae Thomason finished fourth. The top two teams and top five individuals advanced to state. "I think this is a real accomplishment," said South coach Lowell Masters. "The girls don't understand what a treat it will be to go to state." Kinney, who won the district title as a freshman but finished third a year ago, entered Tuesday with a three-shot lead and immediately served notice it was her tournament to lose. She fired a 2-under-par 35 on the front nine to extend her lead over Nealy to five shots. "Yesterday (Monday) I started pretty rocky," said Kinney. "It was really nice to get off to a good start." Nealy, who shot an even-par 37 on the front, cut Kinney's lead to four shots with three straight pars to open the back nine, while Kinney bogeyed the par-4 11th. "I figured I would make up some strokes on the back," said Nealy, who was playing on her home course. "Tai is really tough down the stretch." Nealy had her chances to pounce thanks to back-to-back Kinney bogeys on 13 and 14, but she couldn't take advantage, matching Kinney bogey-for-bogey on the holes. "I just wish I could have made more birdies, but they just didn't fall," said Nealy. "I'm a little disappointed." While Kinney and Nealy faltered midway through the back nine, Fowler made a move with birdies on 13 and 14 and a chip-in par 4 at 16. "I gained self-confidence that I lost on the front," said Fowler. "I finally found a rhythm and trusted my swing." Kinney regrouped after the two bogeys and coasted home, parring the final four holes. Nealy bogeyed 16 and 17 to fall out of contention. "I just made some bad swings," said Kinney of her bogeys. "I just wondered where they came from, but I wasn't really concerned." Nealy did all she could by parring the first nine. "I thought I couldn't have played any better on the front," she said. "When I made those two bogeys, I knew that was it." Kinney finished sixth at the state tournament last year, and is hoping for better results next week. "The competition has gotten a lot better in girls golf," said Kinney. "I've improved my game this year. I hope I'm right up there at the top." FINAL TEAM SCORES -- Grants Pass 707, South Medford 720, Roseburg 769, Ashland 805, North Medford 822, Klamath Union 860, Crater 954. FINAL INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (Top 10) -- 1, Tai Kinney, NM, 147; 2, Johnna Nealy, GP, 153; 3, Abby Fowler, SM, 162; 4, Danae Thomason, GP, 168; 5, Kacy Clark, SM, 176; 6, Kari Gerretsen, Ros, 181; 7, Erin Schafer, GP, 183; 8, Heater Warner, Ros, 184; 9, Natalie Botsford, SM, 185; 10, (tie) Lynne Putnam, KU, 192, Bianca Montagnino, Ash, 192, Kelly Berry, NM, 192.Second Round Results GRANTS PASS (348) -- Johnna Nealy 37-40--77, Danae Thomas 41-44--85, Erin Schaefer 47-46--93, Carly Wright 48-45--93. SOUTH MEDFORD (355) -- Abby Fowler 42-39--81, Kacy Clark 42-44--86, Natalie Botsford 46-46--92, Kellie Thomas 49-47--96. ROSEBURG (376) -- Kari Gerretsen 48-44--92, Heather Warner 42-46--88, Jennifer Gaston 48-49--97, Kelly Klein 46-53--99. NORTH MEDFORD (409) -- Tai Kinney 35-39--74, Kelly Berry 45-47--92, Brianna Collins 63-58--121, Chelsea Rettman 59-63--122. KLAMATH UNION (423) -- Lynne Putnam 41-48--89, Krystal Fink 54-56--110, Anne Ganong 48-55--103, Annie Muller 54-67--121 (Catie Dearborn 52-59--121) 423. CRATER (476) -- Callee Goin (55-49--104, Lindsey Fauble 62-57--119, Linsy Johnson 62-65--127, Teresa Gould 63-63--126. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA