By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Playing in the UIL Class 5A state golf tournament for the first time was a learning experience for the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers.
They completed Tuesday’s final round of the two-day tournament at Bastrop’s Wolfdancer Golf Club with a fifth-place team finish by carding a score of 344-340 — 684.
The Lady Chargers finished Monday’s opening round in a tie for fifth place with Frisco Wakeland at 344. The Lady Chargers were four strokes better over the second round Tuesday on the par-72, 5,561-yard course.
“I told the girls (prior to the final round), ‘Let’s improve our standing or at least hold on to our spot,’ and that’s what we did,” Brownsville Veterans coach Jose Luis Zarate said. “We still represented Region IV the best we could by finishing better than any other team in our region.
“I’m proud of them,” added Zarate. “For never being at state before, they did well. Some teams have been to state quite a few times. It’s definitely a great experience to go through it and get used to what it’s like.”
Grapevine trailed by one stroke after the first round and put together a solid second round to handily win the tournament with a 320-308 — 628. Defending state champion Humble Kingwood took second place with a 326-327 — 653. First-round leader Magnolia couldn’t duplicate Monday’s effort and wound up in third place with a 319-340 — 659.
Frisco Liberty was fourth at 339-334 — 683 and Brownsville Veterans was just a stroke behind in fifth at 344-340 — 684. Sharyland High finished sixth at 346-342 — 688.
Individually, the Lady Chargers all finished out of the top 10 as Julio Lucio shot 78-83 — 161 and teammate Vanessa Campos matched her with an 84-77 — 161. Also for the Lady Chargers, Fahtima Avila shot 88-92 — 180 and Cristina Pullen shot 94-88 — 182.
The Lady Chargers were without Cecilia Garza, who had to pull out of the tournament after nine holes on Monday due to a medical condition.
Top individual medalist honors went to Halle Whitney of Magnolia, who defeated Caitlyn Lindell of Mansfield Lake Ridge in a playoff. Whitney shot 71-79 — 150 and Lindell shot 74-76 — 150 to create a 36-hole tie and force the playoff.
Third place individually went to Gabriella Tomanka of Grapevine who shot 78-73 — 151.
Sharyland High’s Laura Rodriguez, second after the opening round, finished eighth with a 73-81 — 154. Also for Sharyland High, Raquel Flores finished tied for ninth with an 82-74 — 156.
The Lady Chargers graduate only one player, which is Pullen. The other four players are underclassmen.
“It was more windy Tuesday than it was on Monday, so the girls had to adjust to that,” Zarate said. “The wind was howling. They fought hard and I’m proud of them.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess