By ROY HESS | Staff Writer
The golf seasons for the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers and Los Fresnos Lady Falcons ended Tuesday at their respective region tournaments.
Golfers qualify for state from this week’s regional competition by finishing as one of the top three teams or as one of the top three individual golfers not on a state-qualifying team.
Playing at the Region IV-5A Tournament at McAllen’s Palmview Golf Course, the Lady Chargers finished out of the top three places in fifth Tuesday with a 703 two-day score. They were attempting to reach the Class 5A state tournament for the third straight year.
The Lady Chargers were fourth after the first round Monday. Complete final results weren’t immediately available Tuesday.
Fahtima Avila led the Lady Chargers by shooting an 80-82—162 across Monday and Tuesday.
Alamo Heights and Sharyland High tied for the team lead with two-day scores of 651. Alamo Heights captured the regional championship in a playoff with the Lady Rattlers. Boerne Champion was the third-place team at 663.
The top three medalists were Emily Ritchie of Boerne Champion (83-70—153) in first followed by Jacklyn Gonzalez of Alamo Heights and Gabriela McNelly of Castroville Medina Valley.
Individually, La Joya Palmview’s Briana Silerio qualified for state as a player not on a state-qualifying team.
Meanwhile, playing at the Region IV-6A Tournament at San Antonio’s Republic Golf Club, the Lady Falcons wound up eighth with a two-day score of 681. Los Fresnos actually had two girls teams playing at the regional event, and the Lady Falcons’ B squad finished 12th at 741.
The regional tournaments for the 6A and 5A boys run today and Thursday at the same courses the girls played.
Brownsville Veterans golf coach Thomas Abete praised the effort of his girls squad, which won a number of tournaments this season.
“Well, things didn’t go quite our way this tournament, but I’m extremely proud of my girls’ efforts the entire season,” Abete said. “This game (of golf) is a tough one, and the girls have put forth some incredible effort and dedication to their team and school. I can’t praise them enough for the level of play they competed at.
“Unfortunately, things didn’t turn out how we would have liked, but that’s the world of sports,” Abete added. “You win some and you lose some. We thank all who have supported us throughout this entire season, and we hope we can rebuild and be back again next year.”
The Lady Falcons are hoping to build upon their regional experience of the past two days.
“I’m just extremely proud of their development over the school year,” Lady Falcons coach Luis Gonzalez said of his team. “We seem to be chipping away at the competition. We had a strong finish today and put in a nice showing at regionals.
“I’d just like to thank the girls for their hard work over the (school) year, and the parents, especially for their help in getting these girls ready (for the season) a summer ago,” Gonzalez added. “I’d also like to thank our athletic department for allowing us to field two varsity-caliber teams, and for having great teachers who were able to work with these kids (so they could play golf) while missing out on a school day.
“It’s been a long school year, and I’m looking forward to a little bit of rest before getting back at it again in the summer. I told these kids they need to enjoy the fruits of this last school year. There’s a lot to be happy about.”
Austin Westlake Red won the girls 6A regional title with a 580 two-day team score, and Austin Westlake Blue was second at 618. San Antonio Johnson was third at 628.
The top three medalists at the 6A regional were Sadie Englemann of Austin Westlake Red (72-69—141), Hanna Liu of Austin Lake Travis (70-72—142) and Emma McMyler of San Antonio Brandeis (71-73—144). Also qualifying for state individually was Kinsey Ray of San Antonio Reagan (73-73—146).