KALISPELL — Some Butte High golfers took a big first step toward qualifying for next week’s Class AA State tournament at the Butte Country Club Thursday.

Butte High senior Chase Choquette is tied for fifth place on the boys’ side of the Western AA Divisional tournament. Bulldog junior Kate DeShaw is tied for eighth place on the girls’ side.

Choquette fired a 1-under-par 71 on the Northern Pines Golf Course. He is tied with Glacier’s Torren Murray.

Luke Nelson of Glacier tops the leaderboard after firing a 4-under 68 on the first round. Hudson Goroski of Missoula Sentinel and Austin Kaufman of Helena High are tied for second at 69. Jack Schaefer of Sentinel sits at fourth at 70.

As a team, the Sentinel boys matched par for a 288 to take control of the team race. Glacier is second at 294. Helena Capital is a distant third at 319. Missoula Big Sky is fourth at 320, one shot ahead of Flathead.

Butte High sits in sixth place at 339.

The top four teams advance to the State meet. The next eight individuals, including ties, also move on.

Lane Lisac shot an 86 for the Bulldogs, beating teammate Braden Donnelly by one shot. Miles Choquette carded a 95 for the Dogs, and teammate Beckham Kinsey hit a 98.

DeShaw shot a 94 to jump into the top 10. Maggie Milton of Glacier is leading the way at 86. She is one shot better than teammate Kendall Tkachyk and Capital’s Harlow Anderson.

Glacier leads the team race at 359. Helena High is second at 381, followed by Missoula Big Sky at 406. At 431, Butte High holds onto the fourth spot. The Bulldogs are two shots better than fifth-place Capital.

Butte’s Keeley Johnston is just outside the top 10. She is tied for 12th at 99. Baely Norris hit 118, while Sage Leber shot 120, and Julia DeShaw hit a 137.

The final round begins at 10 a.m. Friday. Follow along live on the Golf Genius app with the passcode “25WAADIV.”