Central Catholic and St. Mary's chase district golf titles

DISTRICT GOLF PREVIEW – Centennial's Nick Chianello tries to repeat as champion

By David Ball

The Gresham Outlook, May 5, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009

David Ball / Gresham Outlook

Centennial's Nick Chianello won last year's district tournament by three strokes.

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Central Catholic has been the dominant team on the boys side, winning all six regular-season meets. The Rams closest challenge came in a nine-stroke win against Barlow early in the year.

The Bruins are the most likely team to fill the No. 2 and final state berth after earning runner-up honors in five of the six tournaments. Barlow holds a 28-point lead against third-place Centennial, meaning the Bruins simply have to finish in the top half at district to protect their position.

Centennial sophomore Nick Chianello will try for a repeat title after beating Central Catholic’s Jake Wagner by three strokes last season. The duo appears to be on a collision course again with Wagner winning three regular-season meets and Chianello taking top honors twice.

The boys tournament will be hosted Monday and Tuesday, May 7-8, at The Resort at The Mountain in Welches.

St. Mary’s appears to be a lock for the girls team title after winning all six regular-season tournaments by an average of 30 strokes. That leaves Central Catholic and Gresham to battle for the second and final team berth to state.

The Rams finished second during the regular season and gained a huge cushion by beating Gresham by three strokes in last week’s tournament. Central would have to falter to a fourth-place district finish for Gresham to have a realistic chance at state.

Emily Slayton has been Gresham’s top player all season, winning the last two league meets.

The girls tournament is held Monday and Tuesday, May 7-8, on the east course at Glendoveer.

Extended previews for Mount Hood Conference district golf, track and tennis events are published in the Saturday, May 5, issue of The Outlook.