By MARTY JAMES martyjames.sports@gmail.com

AMERICAN CANYON – Markus Nanpei tied for low individual medalist honors with a 3-over-par 75 and the Napa Valley College men's golf team took third place in a Big 8 Conference tournament on Monday at Turlock Golf & Country Club.

It was the ninth North Division tournament of the Big 8 Conference's spring season. Turlock is a par-72, 6,700-yard course.

Napa Valley, which shot a 412 team-score, remains in first place in the North Division. The Storm has won six Big 8 Conference North Division tournaments so far. "We've got to do better than we were (Monday)," said Napa Valley coach Bob Freschi. "It was one of those days where it wasn't easy for any of us. We couldn't really dial it back in and we let things snowball. Uncharacteristic of us, but sometimes that's how golf goes.

"I think staying in the present moment, we need to do a better job of. A couple other things that we talked about as a team, that we have to be better at – discipline being one of them.

"Fortunately, we have a nice practice day today."

Napa Valley returned to Chardonnay Golf Club & Vineyards, its home course, for a practice session on Tuesday.

Nanpei continues to play very well for the Storm. He plays in the No. 1 spot in the lineup.

The Storm went into Monday's tournament having won five straight tournaments.

Modesto Junior College and San Joaquin Delta College-Stockton tied for first place in the team scoring, each with 406 totals.

Sierra College-Rocklin was fourth with a 415-team score.

Matthew Commander had an 8-over-par 80.

Brayden Dixon had an 84, Nick DeBellis had an 85 and Anthony Guiomar had an 88.

Also, playing for the Storm was Jaxen Perryman with a 92.

The Storm's overall depth, with eight players, has been a key. Lawrence Pepito (knee) and Tyler Momono (back) have both been out with injuries.

"Another thing I'm proud of is how we're a team, we go eight deep. We've all had opportunities and things arise over the course of the season," said Freschi. "Unfortunately, you're going to go through injuries, sickness.

"That was one of the things I wanted to build on from last year, was depth on our team. We have depth and it shows, with how our team is playing. I'm really proud of Anthony Guiomar. He's playing well for us. His score has been counting. He paid his dues and he's playing.

"So, good depth, and just got to be better than we were yesterday. But, again, it's sometimes you're going to have breaks that don't go your way and you miss short putts. That's the peaks and valleys of a season."

Freschi is expecting Momono to play for NVC on Wednesday, when the Storm goes to Wildhorse Golf Club in Davis for the 10th tournament of the conference season.

"We're right back at it (Wednesday) at Wildhorse. So, it's a good opportunity to see what we're made of and see if we can come back and play better golf. It doesn't matter what our opponents do. We've got to take care of some things in-house," said Freschi.

NVC can clinch the Big 8 North Division title with a first-place finish at Wildhorse Golf Club.

* Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, 2019 after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of

the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016, the Vintage High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019, and the Napa High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022.