KALISPELL — Across every trophy hunt at the Class AA state golf tournament, the margins between competitors is razor-thin.

The boys team and individual tournaments, as well as the girls team and individual tournaments, are separated by a combined nine strokes.

In the girls team tournament, Billings West leads the pack by two strokes. Last week, the Golden Bears placed second in the Eastern AA divisional behind Bozeman Gallatin, highlighting the parity at the top of the leaderboards.

“We’ve been competing against (Billings) Senior, Bozeman, Gallatin, those chasing schools that are close to us, all year long,” West head coach Marcus Drange told 406MTsports. “It’s seemed like any given week, any of those teams can come out on top, and that’s been really fun.”

Great Falls’ Hanna Boyd leads the individual pack for the girls at 6-over, while Bozeman’s Cooper Bourret’s 2-under round was enough to lead the boys after day one. Missoula Sentinel leads the boys team hunt, shooting a 9-over 297.

The high schoolers will return Friday morning to Northern Pines Golf Club for another round, where one boy, one girl and two teams will take home state championships.

“You never expect to lead after one day,” Sentinel head coach Rich Stapleton said. “We just take it moment by moment, shot by shot, and see how the outcome plays out.”

Two Sentinel Spartan boys tied for third, as Hudson Goroski and Jack Schaefer both shot 1-over 73s. Goroski, who birdied three of his first four holes, said he had plenty of experience with Northern Pines from playing last year’s divisional tournament at the club, and complimented the conditions.

“It’s really pure,” Goroski said of the course. “For October, the greens are running super awesome, very true.”

“It was an up and down round today, for sure. It was a grind.”

Sentinel finished as the state runner-up last fall, trailing only the defending champion Glacier Wolfpack. The Spartans also placed second to Glacier in this years’ Western AA divisional a week ago, but Sentinel leads its’ divisional foe by five strokes after the first day. Bozeman sits in second, two strokes above Glacier at 12-over.

“The kids know who they’re playing against,” Stapleton said. “Losing last year, it definitely leaves a sort of taste in your mouth. It gave us some motivation coming into these playoffs.”

Stapleton said his team simply needs to stay the course to bring home a trophy, as well as clean a few things up in tomorrow morning’s practice.

“You can tell the guys want it really bad, and I want it,” Goroski said. “We’re going to try and take it home tomorrow, for sure.”

For tonight though, calming the team is the goal.

“We’re going back to the hotel, just chillaxin’,” Goroski said. “Don’t get too high, don’t get too low, just stay medium. Get a good night’s sleep, and come back ready tomorrow.”

While none of the Billings West girls reached the top five after 18 holes, three reached the top 15. It’s a testament to the consistency of the squad, relying on each golfer to play their part en route to a successful round. Drange said more than anything else, he saw grit from his girls Thursday.

“It’s a fair golf course, but there are some challenges if you don’t get off the tee well,” Drange said. “You can be staring at a big number. That’s been our whole season-long talk, just keep the ball in short grass where we can hit it again. Overall as a collective, I think we did that today.”

Drange said his team features a mix of returning veterans and golfers competing in their first state tournament. He’s seen the veterans take the younger players, “under their wing,” helping them through the experience and guiding their emotions.

“I think we sometimes get wrapped up in the competitive spirits and try to compete, and place and be in the mix,” Drange said. “My big message to them is just to have fun and keep it light and loose and trust their process. All of the work that built up to this was done in advance, so now they just get to go out there and show it. The results come from the process.”

As competitive as the girls competition as been all year long, Drange said his message to the team tonight will be that the job isn’t finished. He was proud, though, that his girls were on the practice greens after the round concluded, still working on their games.

“It’s been super close between these schools. I almost wouldn’t even say we’re in the lead,” Drange said. “We’re just halfway done with the tournament. “

When the golfers return Friday morning, each one of them will have a trophy on their mind.

“I want them to settle in as quick as possible,” Drange said. “The nerves might be a little high with it mattering more than last week or before.”

“I think it’s gonna be kinda windy, maybe a little Wild Western tomorrow, but I’m excited to see how they respond tomorrow. We’ve still got 18 holes to play.”