SISSONVILLE — After winning its first sectional championship in nearly 30 years last season, the Elkins High School golf team is preparing for another trip to state.

The Tigers, who finished fifth in last year’s Class AA state tournament, are led by Lucas D’Angelo, Drew Hinzman and Dylan Hinzman.

The trio returned to the field on Thursday for the season-opening Capital City Classic at Edgewood Country Club Course.

Elkins finished the tournament with 244 team points, tying for ninth place with Spring Valley in the 33-team tournament.

“It was a good start and I hope we can continue to play with confidence.” Tigers coach Dave Baird says: “We beat all the teams we wanted to beat in our conference (Big 10) and region.”

Drew and Dylan Hinzman led Elkins with scores of 80, while Lucas D’Angelo followed with an 84.

Baird said Luca Collier also finished the race with a good score but was disqualified due to an error on the scorecard.

Shady Spring finished Thursday’s event with 215 team points, ahead of Cabell Midland (220), Hurricane “A” (224), Parkersburg (231) and Class AA state champion Winfield (235) round out the top five.

The 10 at-large schools competing included Fairmont Senior (20th) and Lewis County (21st).

Pocahontas County also finished 25th overall with a team total of 293 points.

Cabell Midland’s Jack Michael won the lowly medallist award with a time of 69.

Elkins will compete in another Callaway Series tournament on Tuesday at Oglebay.