For the second time in school history, the Battlefield golf team took home the Northwest Regional championship last Tuesday with a two-stroke victory over Mountain View.

The Bobcats followed up a week later at states with a fourth place finish, scoring a 610 over two dues. That put BHS just one stroke behind third-place James River (609). Langley (593) won it all and Chantilly (602) finished in second at the Laurel Hill Golf Course in Lorton.

Senior PJ Leonard's 71 on the second day of states helped him earn a bronze medal for finishing third overall. It is the second time in BHS history a player has medaled at the state tournament.

With a team tally of 315, Battlefield had to persevere through what head coach Thomas Metts described as a "very, very challenging" course at the Westlake Golf Course in Hardy during the regional tournament.

Such a high score "was more reflective of the golf course" than individual player ability, he explained.

Leonard led Battlefield with a three-over 74 while Karsihma Thiagaraj shot a 78.

Her sister Khushboo Thiagaraj came in third on the team with an 81 while Doc Schulte finished one stroke behind her with an 82.

Their four scores are what the team used to tally its final showing. Two other BHS golfers also competed as Thomas Fricke put up an 85 and Nick Kwon checked in with an 87.

Leonard's mark earned him recognition as the third best player of the regional tournament and made him the only Battlefield representative to be featured on the all-region team.

This week, meanwhile, marked the third time a team from Battlefield has made it to states. The team's previous best outing was a fifth-place finish.

However, only the top three teams at states actually come home with something tangible to show for it.

"We want hardware. We want to be in the top three," said Metts.

With his team down 10 strokes behind Langley (298) and also trailing James River (303) and Chantilly (306) after the first day of the state tournament, Metts said he did not expect Battlefield would be able to bring home the gold after Monday night.

However, if the team could cobble together an outing where it shot under 300, he thought at the time that a top-three spot would certainly be within reach.

"I know we're capable of beating them," he said. "I can easily see us finishing second."

He mentioned that after the first day of states, all six players returned to the links at either Dominion Valley or Piedmont afterward to practice.

"All of them," emphasized Metts. "That's how bad they want it."

Among the eight-team field at day one of states, Battlefield checked in at fourth place only one stroke in front of Deep Run (309) and three ahead of Kellam (311). Mountain View and First Colonial tied each other at 324.

The crucial mark for Battlefield came in that all four of the team's top golfers all had scores under 80, as did both Langley and Chantilly.

Karishma Thiagaraj placed first for BHS with a 75 followed by Leonard (76), Khushboo Thiagaraj (78) and Schulte (79). Fricke (84) and Kwon (90) rounded out BHS's team effort.

Leonard's score came as a matter of resiliency after starting off the day with three bogeys.

According to Metts, he hit almost par from there on out.

"I saw our players not get to a hot start but they did finish" well, he said.

After the tournament concluded Tuesday, sophomores Khushboo Thiagaraj and Thomas Fricke went right back to the links to practice for the next season. They'll be joined in 2012 by their classmate and rising star Brian Ganow, a player Metts says "you're going to hear a lot about next year."

As for this year, "I'm very proud of my seniors who were great leaders," said Metts. "I'm hoping it rubs off on the younger guys."