Liberty High School’s Calvin Cakarnis jumped on the high school golf scene two years ago at Indian Summer Golf and Country Club where he tied for second in just his sophomore year at the state championships.

This year he turned it all around and stood alone atop the golf podium, taking home a state championship on May 21 at the Creek at Qualchan Golf Course in Spokane.

Over the two-day tournament, Cakarnis made up three shots to take home first place by a single stroke. His two-day total of 142 was tied for fourth across every single classification.

Cakarnis shot a 74 on day one, which wasn’t world beating, but enough to put him in contention for a state title.

Heading into day two, Cakarnis was tied for sixth, three shots behind the leader. Senior Grady Millar from Mountain View led the pack heading into the second round.

On day two, Cakarnis shot a 68 to leap frog his way to first place. Not a single boys golfer across all six state tournaments shot a round better than 68 this year. Two rounds of 68 were shot last year, but Wyatt Brownell shot a 64 for Burlington-Edison in 2024.

Cakarnis took home Liberty’s first state title in golf at the 3A level in the school’s history, but Chase McIntosh won Liberty’s first ever boys state championship back in 2018 at Columbia Point Golf Course when the school was 2A.