By Matt Phelps

Mercer Island Reporter

The Mercer Island boys golf team qualified six athletes for districts for the first time in school history on Monday, as the team finished second to Mount Si at the Snohomish Golf Course.

“Considering the talent that we have had the last couple of years, this is pretty impressive,” said Islander coach Tyson Peters. “Some of these guys had never played an 18-hole tournament.”

Islander Crawford Leeds led the Islanders with a 6-over-par-78 for the day, placing fifth overall. Teammate Charlie Kern finished seventh, just one stroke back (79), on the par 72 course.

Islanders Kirby Ingram and Kyle Code both shot an 82 on the course.

“This is really promising for the future, since many of these guys are young and new to the game,” said Peters.

George Jiranek and Ryan Samp shot 83 on the day. Both players qualified for districts by playing through a playoff. Samp was forced to make a 10-foot putt on his last stroke to take the final spot during the playoff.

Labeling the team as young is an understatement — there are no seniors, and only two of the six players competed in the postseason last year.

“No one on the team played phenomenally well, but at this point, it is just about moving on,” said Peters.

Mercer Island’s qualifying of six players is made all the more impressive by the fact that just 16 players qualified overall. Mount Si also qualified six players for districts and had the top player during the KingCo tournament.