By BRIAN ROSENER ~ DAR Sports Editor

REPUBLIC -- Trent Hillis stormed back Tuesday at the MSHSAA Class 4 state golf championship but the Poplar Bluff sophomore couldn't catch Kevin Kring.

Hillis birdied two of his final three holes and finished with the only sub-par round of the day but ended up fourth, three strokes back.

Kring, a senior at Springfield Central, followed a first-day even-par 72 with another to earn medalist honors.

"Being all-state is an honor and I improved from last year, but I was trying to win the whole thing," said Hillis, who earned all-state honors last year with an eighth-place finish.

"I guess I can build on my experience from the last two years."

At the Class 2 tournament in Springfield, Clearwater's Tanner McKinney also earned all-state honors with a ninth-place finish. The sophomore followed his first-round 77 with a 79 for a two-day total of 156. Jace Long of Dixon won medalist honors at evenpar 144.

At the Island Green Golf Course in Republic, Poplar Bluff's Zack Stricker finished tied for 49th, nine strokes behind the final all-state spot, while senior Corey Poteet improved 10 strokes from his first-day round to finish tied for 96th.

"Very proud of all three of them because they fought back, didn't give up and that's their character," Mules coach Billy Pyland said. "Working hard at it and never giving up no matter how bad things go, they'll be very successful in life because they always strive for the best."

Poteet picked up birdies on Nos. 2 and 5 but finished at 80 for the day and 170 for the tournament.

Stricker picked up birdies on Nos. 6, 10 and 14 and carded nine pars but ran into trouble on Nos. 4 and 17 to end up with a 79 and a two-day total of 162.

"I definitely could play nine strokes better, that's for sure," Stricker said. "Need to work on chipping and putting. I hit the ball good, just didn't get up and down."

Hillis started the day five shots behind the first-day leaders and birdied the par-4 fifth hole after starting on No. 2. After a bogey on the par-4 sixth, the same hole he double bogied in the first round, Hillis picked up a birdie on the par-5 eighth and was 1-under after nine holes.

A bogey on 11 and another on 16, both par-4s, put Hillis 1-over for the day but the sophomore came right back with a birdie on the 418-yard, par-4 17th then birdied his final hole, the 366-yard,

Jackson freshman Tanner Werner, the co-leader after the first round, finished tied for second with Glendale's Brian Steele, one shot behind Kring at 145. Rockhurst's Matt Ledom was tied with Hillis for fourth, leading his team to an improbable team title.

Rockhurst, which won by three strokes over Park Hill South, did not qualify as a team by winning districts but had four individuals advance.

In other state tournaments:

CLASS 3: At Rivercut Golf Course in Springfield, Dexter sophomore Chance Holden shot another 79 and finished tied for 19th, a shot from earning all-state honors.

CLASS 2: At Deer Lake Golf Course, Malden junior Zane Huckeby shot an 89 to finish tied for 52nd with a total of 173.

CLASS 1: At Silo Ridge in Bolivar, Van Buren freshman Zane Betz shot an 87 and finished tied for 18th at 169, six shots from earning all-state honors.