At the end of day one, Mercer Island High School’s boys golf team sat eight strokes behind team leader Bellevue High School at the 3A state championships at Creek at Qualchan Golf Course in Spokane.

When day two concluded, the Islanders stood tall as state champs after blasting ahead of Bellevue by two strokes in the final team standings. MI finished first with 605 strokes and Bellevue took second with 607 strokes.

Leading the way for Mercer Island during the tournament on May 20-21 were junior Alex Harwood (tied for sixth, 74-71-145), senior Jack Besecker (tied for eighth, 75-71-146), sophomore Lucas Kornylo (26th, 79-76-155), junior Yijoon Seo (41st, 82-77-159) and senior Ryan Jacobson (tied for 50th, 83-78-161). The top four scores go toward the final team tally.

Harwood and Besecker both shot one-under-pars on day two.

MI head coach Nick Baker provided the lowdown on how the Islanders achieved success: “After the first day, I just knew — it’s golf. And over the course of 18 holes, anything can happen out there. And on that golf course, especially on the back nine, there’s a lot that can go sort of both ways. There’s some holes out there where you can really make some big numbers. And on those same holes, you can also take advantage of them and make birdies and eagles.”

He noted that the Islanders were on the right side of that equation on day two, adding, “It was an absolute blast and top five experience of my life, for sure.”

Amid the windy weather, the Islanders overcame the pressure from day one and played steady golf the rest of the way to notch the title, Baker said.

When reflecting on his team’s comeback on day two to win state, Besecker delved into the keys to the Islanders’ success.

“Our team knew after the first day that we had a chance to win. Eight shots isn’t a lot, especially in a team event where four players count their scores towards the team total,” he said. “We knew we had the capability and skill to win, but we needed to lock in and focus during the last round. On the last day of state, nerves are always high, and whoever can stay calm and focused will win. I think our team did a good job of that, everyone took it shot by shot and didn’t let other factors bother.”

Besecker became excited about day two before he went to bed the night before. He knew MI had a chance to win.

“This started to fuel the fire because when I woke up, I realized how badly I wanted to win. This feeling of ‘needing to win’ propelled me to start playing well beginning on hole 8. From hole 8 and on, I hit almost every green in regulation, only missing two of them,” he said.

For the MI girls at state, sophomore Sabria Elarefi tied for 29th (85-93-178), freshman Ariel Yang tied for 40th (94-89-183) and freshman Brielle Cai tied for 52nd (94-94-188). Senior Estella Roodman and freshman Aviana Cai also participated at state, which took place on May 20-21 at Indian Canyon Golf Course in Spokane.