File photo – McKinleyville’s Jake Gardner in action earlier this season.

Arcata’s Mason Alway and St. Bernard’s Breadon Simpson tied for low score on the day in round four of H-DNL boys golf on Monday, as McKinleyville’s Jake Gardner put some space between him and the chasing pack in the race for the season championship.

Competing at Baywood Golf & Country Club, Alway and Simpson each carded a round of 80, one stroke ahead of the field in what was another close round of action for the league boys.

It was the second straight week there was a tie for top spot on the day after Gardner and Fortuna’s Dawson McWhorter each shot a 76 at Del Norte.

McWhorter had the third best score of the day and was just one stroke back of Alway and Simpson, with Gardner shooting an 82 for fourth.

Four golfers from four different schools finished just three strokes apart in what continues to be a closely-fought campaign this spring.

Gardner’s score, however, was good enough to move him four strokes clear in the league standings, which allows a golfer to drop their lowest round of the season.

The McKinleyville standout sits at 228 on the season, with McWhorter (232) and Alway (237) rounding out the top three and remaining well in contention.

Simpson (240) is fourth, with Fortuna’s Robbie Shoemaker and Arcata’s Ryzen Miller both at 250 and tied for fifth.

Arcata teammates Lucas Wemberly and Zayne Morris-Slattery are tied for seventh and the final all-league spot in the season standings.

Morris-Slattery had the fifth best individual round on Monday, shooting an 85.

Several other golfers also impressed on Monday, with 14 of them shooting a 90 or better.

Miller and Shoemaker tied for the sixth best scores of the day with rounds of 86, followed by Gardner’s McKinleyville teammate Morgan Zhao, who shot an 87.

Eureka’s Kaden Goodman, Fortuna’s Lucas Butler and McKinleyville’s Carter Reeves each shot an 88, while St. Bernard’s Carter Johnson shot an 89 and Fortuna’s Hunter Kelley carded a 90.

Trevor Hunt led the South Fork boys with a round of 94, while Nicolas Jager led Del Norte with a 96 and Riley Baldy paced Hoopa with a 125.

Fortuna edged Arcata by just one stroke (345 to 346) for the team win, giving each team two wins on the season.

McKinleyville (356) was 10 strokes back, with St. Bernard’s (367) and Eureka (372) rounding out the top five.

File photo – The Fortuna boys took the team win on Monday.