By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The Brownsville Veterans Memorial girls made history for their school Tuesday at the Region IV-5A golf tournament in San Antonio.
Thanks to their first-place finish — both individually and as a team — the Lady Chargers have qualified for next month’s UIL state tournament in golf for the first time.
The two-day Class 5A regional event was played at San Antonio’s Golf Club of Texas.
Leading the way for the Lady Chargers was junior Julie Lucio, who shot a 3-under-par 69 Tuesday to go with her 74 from Monday. She won individual medalist honors with a two-day total of 1-under 143. It was four strokes better than runner-up Raquel Flores of Sharyland High who came in at 79-68 — 147. Sharyland High teammate Laura Rodriguez was third at 74-78 — 152.
The top three teams qualified for the 5A state tournament May 15-16 at Wolfdancer Golf Club in Bastrop along with the top three individual players who were not members of a state-qualifying team.
Lucio was elated about her showing, particularly her final round. She is a Brownsville Hanna transfer who went to the Class 6A state tournament a year ago playing for the Lady Golden Eagles.
Now she’s making history for the Lady Chargers.
“I knew I could do better (after the opening round),” said Lucio, who was the individual medalist at the District 32-5A Tournament earlier this month in Brownsville. “I am so ecstatic that I came back. My mindset was to attack the course and grind it out. I made some crucial putts when I had to.
“The birdie I made on the 18th (a par-5, 420-yard hole) was the highlight of my round (Tuesday),” Lucio added. “I’m so proud of my team and the way they hung in there.”
The Lady Chargers won as a team by recording scores of 307-303 — 610. Second place went to Sharyland High at 323-307 — 630 and third place belonged to Victoria East at 322-314 — 636.
“All of our girls played their hearts out and played through adversity,” Brownsville Veterans coach Jose Luis Zarate said. “There’s no better feeling in sports than witnessing hard work paying off.”
Along with Lucio, the other scores for the Lady Chargers were Vanessa Campos (76-78 — 154), Fahtima Avila (81-74 — 155), Cecilia Garza (78-82 — 160) and Cristina Pullen (79-87 — 166). The best four scores counted toward a team’s overall score each round.
The other team qualifier to the regional tournament from 32-5A was Brownsville Lopez. The Lady Lobos finished out of the running with a two-day total of 817.
Also being played Monday and Tuesday in San Antonio was the Region IV-6A golf tournament at Republic Golf Club.
No teams or individuals from the Rio Grande Valley advanced to state from the 6A regional event. Among the best rounds recorded at the tournament by Valley players from District 32-6A included Weslaco High’s Anika Hovda (73-71 — 144) and Los Fresnos’ Briana Garza (78-73 — 151).
Scheduled the next two days for the boys in San Antonio are the Region IV-6A Tournament at Republic Golf Club and the Region IV-5A Tournament at the Golf Club of Texas. The same format exists for the boys to advance to state in those events.