GOSHEN - Warsaw's golf team won the Northern Lakes Conference, thanks to the performances of two sophomore golfers.

Sophomore Justin Howell fired a 78 and sophomore Jason Henthorn a 79 as the Tigers finished second in Saturday's NLC Tournament. Goshen, which hosted the tournament at Maple Crest Country Club, won with a score of 318. Warsaw shot a 319.

But Warsaw's 5-1 first-place record in NLC dual matches, combined with the second-place finish at the tournament, put the Tigers first overall in the NLC in 1998 with 13 team points. Goshen, which finished in a three-way tie for second in NLC dual matches with a 4-2 record, finished second overall with 10 team points.

The Tigers were 15-3 and sectional champions one year ago, but they finished second in the NLC.

Like it has all season, balance again keyed the Tigers. They fired a 158 on the front nine at Maple Crest and 157 on the back nine. All five golfers were within six strokes of each other. After Henthorn and Howell, senior Kevin Powell and junior Jeff Phillips fired 81s. Chris Osbeck added an 84.

Powell had the best nine-hole score of any Tiger. After firing a 45 on the front nine, he bounced back with a 36 on the back nine.

"This was a tough road to take in that we had three conference matches away at three awfully tough golf courses, and then the NLC Tournament was away," Warsaw golf coach Bob Turner said. "Everyone contributed today. I know #Chris Osbeck was a bit disappointed, but his 38 at Goshen last week put us in the position we were in as the leader of the NLC round-robin (regular season matches)."

Howell was named to the NLC All-Conference first team, while Powell received honorable mention. Warsaw's first-place finish in the NLC also earned Turner the Coach of the Year award.

Concord's Aaron LeMaster took medalist honors with a 74.

Team results: 1. Goshen 318, 2. Warsaw 319, 3. Plymouth 329, 4. Concord 329, 5. Wawasee 332, 6. NorthWood 336, 7. Northridge 348

Warsaw scores: Justin Howell 39-39 78, Kevin Powell 45-36 81, Jason Henthorn 40-39 79, Chris Osbeck 41-43 84, Jeff Phillips 38-43 81

Wawasee scores: Travis Coy 87, Ryan Skaggs 90, Scott White 84, Chad Wortinger 79, Lucas White 82

1998 NLC REGULAR SEASON RECORDS

1. Warsaw 5-1

2. Wawasee 4-2

2. NorthWood 4-2

2. Concord 4-2

5. Goshen 3-3

6. Northridge 1-4

7. Plymouth 0-5

1998 FINAL NLC STANDINGS

(Combining regular season records and NLC Tournament)

1. Warsaw, 13 points

2. Goshen, 10 points

3. Concord, 9 points

4. Wawasee, 8 points

5. NorthWood, 7 points

6. Plymouth, 6 points

7. Northridge, 3 points

1998 NLC COACH OF THE YEAR -ÊBob Turner, Warsaw

1998 NLC ALL-CONFERENCE GOLFERS

Justin Howell (Warsaw)

Travis Coy (Wawasee)

Jake Yoder (NorthWood)

Aaron LeMaster (Concord)

Brant Fowler (Concord)

Jackson Stewart (Goshen)

Brandon Keim (Goshen)

Jeff Geofford (Plymouth)

1998 NLC HONORABLE MENTION

Kevin Powell (Warsaw) [[In-content Ad]]