BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
After Day 1, the Sharyland High girls golf team was in third place with a score of 323 at the Class 5A Region IV championship.
Sharyland High sat just one stroke behind Victoria East.
The Rattlers came into the final round ready to compete. Third place would have still guaranteed them a spot at the state tournament, but the team wanted to make a push for the title.
In the end, they came a little short of Brownsville Veterans (610), but the Rattlers did manage to pass East and grab the second spot with a two-day score of 630.
“The girls have been working on this all year,” Sharyland coach Fernando Rodriguez said. “They were very excited about qualifying for state. Brownsville Veterans has a very good team.”
All year, Sharyland’s team has been led by Raquel Flores and Laura Rodriguez. The two have experience and skill and have been at or near the top of most of the tournaments the Rattlers have competed in. So when Laura Rodriguez had what Fernando Rodirguez described as a tough day, the rest of the group was there to help lift the team.
Flores shot a 68, the best round of the entire tournament, which catapulted her into second place in the individual scores. Carolina Cantu went from an 87 in the first round to a 79 in the final round, and Paulina Flores dropped three strokes between rounds.
“It was definitely a confidence booster to the whole team,” Fernando Rodriguez said. “They played together well, and everybody contributed to the team.”
Laura Rodriguez’s struggles still placed her near the top of the leaderboard. After scoring a 74 on the first day, tying her for the top spot, she shot a 78 on Day 2, putting her into a tie for fourth overall.
Sharyland Pioneer finished sixth at the regional meet with a score of 717. Rio Grande City’s Isabella Carmona, who qualified as an individual at the district tournament, tied for the 36th position with a two-day score of 175.
The other individual to qualify for regionals was Sharyland High freshman Maialen Erana. She finished tied for 49th with a 190.
“She played up to her potential,” Fernando Rodriguez said. “For being a freshman, she is going to take this as a learning experience. She has high expectations of herself. She was a little upset, but we talked to her afterwards, and hopefully she will be back here next year.”
No Valley teams or individuals advanced to state from the Class 6A Region IV championship. Weslaco High’s Anika Hovda was the standout, finishing tied for 11th individually with a two-day score of 144 — nine strokes shy of regional champion Morgan Lay of Austin Lake Travis.
Mission High finished 10th with a 746, La Joya Palmview finished 13th with a 777, Edinburg North finished 15th with an 806 and Edinburg High finished 16th with an 826. Austin Lake Travis was the team champion with a score of 550.