By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers finished 10th out of 12 teams Tuesday at the UIL Class 5A girls state tournament at White Wing Golf Club in Georgetown.
After Monday’s opening round saw the Lady Chargers shoot a 351 for ninth place, counting their four top scores, the Brownsville Veterans girls came in with a 347 score Tuesday to finish with a two-day total of 698 for 10th place.
Brownsville Veterans coach Thomas Abete said although it wasn’t the showing his team sought, it was still a valuable learning experience.
“I thought it was a great overall experience for the girls to be able to play with the elite golfers from around the state,” Abete said. “We didn’t play as well as we wanted to, but that’s the game of golf.
“The girls never gave up and fought hard until the end and enjoyed every moment along the way,” Abete added. “I’m very proud of these girls.”
The two-day individual scores for the Lady Chargers (top four players) on the par-72 course at White Wing were Julie Lucio, 75-76 — 151; Fahtima Avila, 82-83 — 165; Cecilia Garza, 96-89 — 185; and Anisa Nieto, 98-99 — 197. Gigi Ramirez (101-102 — 203) was the fifth player for the Lady Chargers.
Brownsville Veterans qualified for the 5A state tournament for the second straight year by finishing in second place behind Sharyland High at the Region IV-5A Tournament on April 26 in San Antonio.
A year ago, Brownsville Veterans became the first girls golf team from the city to advance to the UIL state tournament. The Lady Chargers finished fifth in the team standings at state in 2017.
Individually, Lucio, a University of Houston signee, finished in a three-way tie for 12th place on Tuesday.
The tournament medalist was Halle Whitney of Magnolia, who shot 71-72 — 143, which was a 1-under-par two-day total. Second place went to Jasmine Zhang of Midlothian with a 72-72 — 144, while third place belonged to first-day leader Gabriella Tomanka of Grapevine with a 69-76 — 145.
Laura Rodriguez led Sharyland High, the second-place team, with a 75-73 — 148 for seventh place individually.
Grapevine captured the 5A team championship in decisive fashion (a 24-stroke margin) by shooting 305-315 — 620. Sharyland High was second with a 324-320 — 644 and Midlothian was third with a 321-325 — 646.