Arcata teammates push each other all the way in race for HDN title

By barstoolfanatics on May 2, 2026 • ( Leave a comment )

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Arcata senior Ryzen Miller has been crowned H-DNL champion in boys golf for 2026 after a big week.

Miller posted the low score of the day in the penultimate league round at Baywood on Monday with a 75, and he followed with a second-best score of 77 at Eureka in the final round of league play on Thursday.

He edged freshman teammate Matisse Stuan for the title by just four strokes.

And, according to their head coach Jeff Mielke, the two golfers helped bring out the best in each other all spring, on their way to leading the Tigers to the team championship.

“One of the reasons we ended up taking league is because we had the top two ranked golfers at Arcata High,” Mielke said.

“They were kind of pushing each other all season, which was a positive for our team. They’re out there seeing each other’s game every day, and it’s nice to have them on the same team, where they’re pushing each other every day.

“That competition within the team definitely helped.”

Miller, who placed first in two of the six rounds in league, finished with a season total of 389, with Stuan posting a season score of 393, which was nine strokes better than the third-placed golfer, Braedon Simpson of St. Bernard’s.

“They’ve been putting in the work,” Mielke said of Miller and Stuan. “They’re always working on their game. They’re pretty dedicated.”

As a team, Arcata finished with a score of 2086, followed by McKinleyville (2106), St. Bernard’s (2126), Eureka (2251) and Fortuna (2278).

Stuan had the low round of the day at Eureka on Thursday with a 74, followed by Miller and Julius Rojo of St. Bernard’s, who each shot a 77.

McKinleyville’s Jared Brunner, and Morgan Zhao and Eureka’s Kaden Goodman all shot an 81 and tied for the next best rounds of the day.

The top seven golfers in the final league standings all received all-league recognition.

Brunner tied for fourth with Fortuna’s Lucas Butler, finishing nine strokes behind Simpson, followed by Fortuna’s Cooper McWhorter (422) in sixth and St. Bernard’s Carson Johnson (425) in seventh.

Goodman (428), Zhao (429) and Rojo (429) rounded out the top 10 on the season and all three barely missed out on all-league recognition.