BREMERTON — It was cold, wet, gray and miserable on the Gold Mountain links in Bremerton April 13, but the round went on as North Kitsap swept both the Knights and Lady Knights, battling against themselves, their opponents and the elements.

In the midst of unfavorable conditions, one of the most important assets a golfer can display is focus.

“It was alright. It was so cold and rainy, it was just a hard match just to get into it,” said Lady Vikes’ Miquela Pendleton. “Nothing spectacular, I played average.”

Pendleton’s round of 42 scored 30 points to lead the Lady Vikings to the team victory over Bremerton by an overall count of 65-40. Freshman Hayleigh Wuensch contributed to the cause with 12 points, Megan Mitchell added nine and Paige Woodside scored eight.

Pendleton is getting used to her role as a leader, golfing in the No. 1 spot for the Lady Vikes. On the scoreboard, she has near single-handedly carried the team to each victory it has accomplished in much the same fashion as she did at the Bremerton meet. But she is also providing leadership by example as a young NK team develops.

“We have a lot of new players and it’s been fun to bring them into the whole system and into the team,” Pendleton said, referring to the squad’s three freshman golfers. “You can tell there’s a lot of young talent and it’s fun to get them more involved.”

Coach Jay DeVries said while the atmosphere of the team this year is centered more around recreation than it is on competition, the younger players are picking up valuable lessons that will build foundations for years to come.

“They’re not only improving as far as scoring points but their whole understanding of (the game),” DeVries noted as a major positive the first six meets of the season have created. “It’s many of their first times playing and they are all showing a lot of potential.”

While the younger girls have been picking up the basics and striving to get started, Pendleton has been focused on both improving and excelling but mainly on the number on her scorecard.

“I’ve had some ups and downs but I’ve improved a lot and I have a lot more confidence in my game,” the senior said. “My main focus is on my score itself, trying to get the rest of my scores below 40 for nine holes.”

“She seems to be unflappable,” DeVries said of Pendleton. “She’s very confident in her ability and mentally, she’s there.”

That confidence is something that echoes across North Kitsap’s gender lines as the boys team increased its belief in itself with a win in the first game back from Spring Break.

Stroke counts were higher than usual, but continued focus gave the Vikings the upper hand.

Stephen Duwe led the crew with a plus-six round of 78, scoring 30 points for NK against Bremerton. David Dobson finished with an 82, adding 26 points and Joey Duwe contributed 22 helping to boost NK to its third win of the season by a count of 102-78.

Now, it’s all about cementing consistency through the second half of the year as the Vikes enter the season’s back nine. Both the boys and girls team and individual goals strive for continuous improvement and ultimately postseason play in 2006.