By SCOTT HARRISON | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
MERCEDES — Brownsville Porter’s Adrian Saenz and Edcouch-Elsa’s Ryann Gonzalez each won their respective individual championships for a second consecutive year Thursday during the District 32-5A golf tournament at Llano Grande Golf Course.
Saenz shot back-to-back rounds of 79, punching in his ticket to the regional tournament for a fourth consecutive year after he carded an overall mark of 158. His score was eight strokes better than PSJA High’s Jacob Flores, and both golfers will now travel to regionals next week as the district’s two individual qualifiers.
“They say the course is easy, but once you add wind on it with the small greens — that don’t bite — it’s a tough challenging course. And you have to rely on your short game,” Saenz said. “I’ve learned the most important part of your game at the regional is the short game, so I really am working on it this year.”
Edcouch-Elsa won the boys title with a 698, while Mercedes became the other team qualifier after the squad finished 64 shots back and 34 strokes better than Brownsville Porter, which followed in third place. Individually, after the top two spots, three of the next four golfers were from Edcouch-Elsa, led by Michael Reyes, who took third place with a 167, which was one shot behind Flores.
“The key to winning this tournament was just not to lose it for ourselves, because after the changes in schools (following realignment), our district hasn’t been that strong,” E-E boys coach Jamie Alavarado said. “The reason for today’s success is because the boys kept their heads straight and had fun, because if they weren’t having fun, things could have taken a turn for the worse.”
Gonzalez shot an 84 in the second round after she turned in a score of 77 on the first day for a 168 total. Still, she was the top golfer in the girls division by 34 shots over Mercedes’ Michelle Medina, who carded a 195.
“I was pretty nervous and had to calm down after the first nine holes because I was 9-over par, but came back to shoot 3-over par on the final nine holes,” Gonzalez said. “I was leaving a lot of putts short on the first nine. It was a lot of stress and work, but I am glad it paid off in the end.”
Edcouch-Elsa and Mercedes dominated at the top of the leaderboard among the girls who competed in the 36-hole event. Besides Gonzalez and Medina, the next three finishers were Mercedes’ Jaymee Gonzalez (199) plus a pair of Yellowjackets teammates, Mirando Medrano and Megan Nichols, who tied at 202.
It was ninth consecutive district win for the Edcouch-Elsa girls, which posted a 779, while the other team qualifier for regionals was Mercedes, which claimed second place with a score of 845 (exactly 100 strokes ahead of PSJA High and Donna North). This title was the fourth under the leadership of E-E girls coach Bobby Hernandez.
“We are young except for Ryann (Gonzalez), who is our leader. And entering the tournament, we had been neck-to-neck with Mercedes, who defeated us three times, while we beat them twice,” Hernandez said. “Our girls played spectacular on the first day (384 on Tuesday) but the wind affected everyone today and that contributed to our 395. Still, our girls were focused to continue the streak.”
Since PSJA High and Donna North ended regulation in a tie, a playoff was held and won by PSJA to determine the third-place medalists.
The individual qualifiers for the regional in the girls division were Donna North’s Kristi Villanueva (207) and Catherine Treviño (214) of PSJA High.
District 32 —5A golf tournament individual finishers
Boys
Adrian Saenz (Brownsville Porter) —158
Jacob Flores (PSJA) — 166
Michael Reyes (Edcouch-Elsa) — 167
Justin Martinez (Edcouch-Elsa) — 171
Tomas Zamorano (Donna North) — 173
Canaan Vazquez (Edcouch-Elsa) — 179
Alex Cantu (Mercedes) — 180
Timothy Tamez (Mercedes) — 180
Tony Garcia (Edcouch-Elsa) — 182
Eziquiel Niño (Edcouch-Elsa) — 183
Girls
Ryann Gonzalez (Edcouch-Elsa) — 161
Michelle Medina (Mercedes) — 195
Jaymee Gonzalez (Mercedes) — 199
Mirando Medrano (Edcouch-Elsa) — 202
Megan Nichols (Edcouch-Elsa) — 202
Kristi Villanueva (Donna North) — 207
Flor Rojas (Edcouch-Elsa) — 214
Catherine Treviño (PSJA High) — 214
Brianna Gracia (Mercedes) — 220
Brianna Rivera (Mercedes) — 231
Boys team leaders
Edcouch-Elsa — 698
Mercedes — 762
Brownsville Porter — 796
PSJA “Team A” — 817
Brownsville Pace — 929
PSJA Southwest “Team A” —944
Donna North — 971
Donna High — 977
PSJA High “Team B” — 1003
PSJA Southwest “Team B” — 1120
Girls team leaders
Edcouch-Elsa — 779
Mercedes — 895
PSJA High — 945
Donna North — 945