The reigning Western Athletic Conference MVP has the Spartans on track for their first-ever league championship.

Last week, Beckman won a fifth straight WAC tournament on the familiar Manteca Park Golf Course, finishing 5-over-par 77. As a team, Lathrop netted a 468 and won comfortably ahead of runner-up Livingston (484). The Spartans have won the last four after placing second to Livingston in the opener on March 13 at St. Stanislaus Golf Course.

Beckman has picked up where he left off following his promising freshman campaign in which he finished as the top golfer in the WAC, took second in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV Tournament and became just the third Lathrop boys golfer to reach the SJS Masters Championships.

With two conference tournaments remaining, Beckman (180 points) remains ahead of Beyer’s Landon Fainter (173) on the season leaderboard.

Beckman has been a model of consistency, scoring between 77-79 on four different par-72 courses. In the first tournament, he won with a 9-over 63 at St. Stanislaus.

Lathrop is back in action Thursday for the sixth WAC tournament of the season at Dryden Park Golf Course in Modesto. The conference final is also at Dryden on April 28.