ROSWELL — The smaller schools dominated the first day of play in the Spring Challenge golf tournament, hosted by Roswell High and Roswell Goddard.

Class 3A Lovington opened a five-shot lead over Roswell High in the 13-school competition. Meantime, Portales (305) and Socorro (307), both 3A schools, held down the next two spots.

Clovis High came in at 318, good for ninth place, in a competitive first day. The boys played at the New Mexico Military course while girls competed at Spring River Golf Course; they’ll switch courses for today’s final 18 holes.

Freshman Ethan Peterson shot 39-38 — 77 for the Wildcats, earning a fourth leg toward state tournament competition. Sophomore Zach Griego was next at 39-40 — 79.

Lovington’s Ty Black was the individual leader, shooting a 4-under 68. Portales’ Donavin Sanchez was second, one stroke back.

The Clovis girls shot 436 an stand 12th in the 14-team event. The Lady Wildcats, with only four players available for the event, were led by senior Kolby Rains at 51-50 — 101.

Texico was seventh after shooting a score of 407. That was good for the third state qualifying leg for the Lady Wolverines, ensuring them a trip to state later this spring.

Sophomore Erin Scanlan led the way for Texico, shooting a round of 45-46 — 91.

Deming had the girls team lead at 345, 10 strokes ahead of Alamogordo and Artesia. Karissa Speck of Artesia was the individual leader at 77.

Spring Classic
Monday
Boys
At NMMI course, Roswell
Team standings: 1. Lovington 294; 2. Roswell High 299; 3. Portales 305; 4. Socorro 307; 5. Roswell Goddard 309; 6. Hobbs 312; 7. Sandia Prep 314; 8. Alamogordo 315; 9. Clovis 318; 10. Carlsbad 334; 11. New Mexico Military 336; 12. Artesia 347; 13. Taos 365.
Top four individuals: 1. Ty Black, Lovington 68; 2. Donavin Sanchez, Portales 69; 3. (tie) Sonata Duncan, Ruidoso and Jeffrey O’Dell, Alamogordo 71.
Clovis results: Ethan Peterson 39-38 — 77,Zach Griego 39-40 — 79, Corbin Best 41-39 — 80, Kyler Brewer-Hill 39-43 — 82, Kyle Wornell 45-45 — 90.
Girls
At Spring River G.C., Roswell
Team standings: 1. Deming 345; 2. (tie) Alamogordo and Artesia 355; 4. Roswell Goddard 363; 5. Socorro 370; 6. Hobbs 387; 7. Carlsbad 391; 8. Texico 407; 9. Espanola Valley 420; 10. (tie) Portales and Ruidoso 429; 12. Clovis 436; 13. (tie) Lovington and Sandia  Prep 444.
Top four individuals: 1. Karissa Speck, Artesia 77; 2. Haley Raymond, Socorro 81; 3. Lauren Dodson, Deming 82; 4. (tie) Bianca Dominguez, Deming and Rachel Romo, Alamogordo 85.
Clovis results: Kolby Rains 51-50 — 101, Michaela Hulder 51-53 — 104, Marish Sparks 53-51 — 104, Veronica Anaya 61-66 — 127.
Texico results: Erin Scanlan 45-46 — 91, Holly Harrison 51-49 — 102, Kristen Beltran 53-54 — 107, Dionna McWhorter 47-62 — 109,, Allison Myers 59-53 — 112.