Mountaineers win first-ever home golf match

The Rainier High School girls and boys golf teams won their respective matches on Wednesday, April 16, at the Tahoma Valley Golf Course in Yelm.

For the Rainier girls, Lily Peralta finished first overall with a score of 39, Olivia Cotham-Mills placed fourth and Shyann Weschler placed fifth. May Nygaard of Mary M. Knight finished second with a score of 49.
Rainier was awarded the team victory over Mary M. Knight, with the latter failing to register the necessary four scores.

For the Rainier boys, Josh Peralta finished first overall with a score of 36. Thomas Sprouffske placed second with a score of 40. Riley Griffith of Napavine finished third with a score of 41. Adna’s Trevin Salme and Alex Smith finished fourth and fifth.

The Rainier boys earned the team victory, defeating Agape-Cornerstone by a total score of 181 to 219.
After the match, winners Lily and Josh Peralta spoke about their afternoons on the course.

“I think I did pretty well,” Josh Peralta said. “I just tried to keep my mind from anything, play my next shot and even if I get a bogey, you know, next shot, maybe I could get a birdie and so, just play it how it is.”
“I played pretty decent, maintained a lot of pars,” Lily Peralta said. “I did get a double bogey on one hole, and then kind of bounced back from that, which was good, and finished pretty strong.”

The match at Tahoma Valley was billed as Rainier’s first ever home contest, despite taking place in Yelm. Coach Andy Bartell talked about the quick growth of the program, now in its second official year.

“I think we grew from five boys and eight girls to like 12 boys and 11 girls I believe we have this year,” Bartell said. “So, you know, getting the numbers out was really huge, cool thing to see in year two. We’ve done fundraisers back-to-back years that have really helped us be able to get some stuff. We have a simulator now there at the school where we can go on rainy days and still get our work in.”

Bartell said he’s emphasized the idea that this sport is more than just a social outlet, and his golfers have bought in.

“The idea of us being able to have a team trophy at districts is really something that they’re shooting for,” Bartell said. “So that’s really cool to have them, you know, kind of start figuring out that this is something that we can work for to put some trophies in the case that’s a team trophy and not just individual things.”

On the course, the Rainier golf team exudes a sense of family. It comes naturally.

Lily and Josh Peralta are siblings. As are Moroni, Marian and Maddison Jackson. And don’t forget the Sprouffske brothers, Thomas and John Paul, whose father is assistant coach Jonathan Sprouffske. Mother Shelley provides photography and graphics for the team’s Facebook page. Other parents and family members help caddy or supply refreshments throughout the matches.

“And then me being a football coach, you preach kind of brotherhood and family,” Bartell said. “So that kind of rubs off on them a little bit, too, you know, we’re here for each other. And they really took it to heart. Our team dinners, I mean, they’re all at one table together talking about their day and how things are going and they just really ran with it.”

Lily Peralta, who aspires to play college golf, said that it’s been cool being able to help set the goals and standards of such a young program. Her brother, Josh, also wants to keep playing after high school but, as a sophomore, knows he still has plenty of time.

This year, the team decided to select captains. Moroni Jackson was chosen for the boys and Olivia Cotham-Mills was chosen for the girls.

“They look up to those team captains,” Bartell said. “They voted on them, so that was a cool thing that we put in this year as well and they’ve just really bonded together.”

The Rainier golf teams continued their season on Tuesday, April 22, at Riverside Golf Club. Results were not available before press time. The district tournament is scheduled for May 7–8 at Mint Valley Golf Course in Longview.