BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
Tuesday marked the end of an era at Sharyland High School. Three seniors will be graduating from the girls golf team — Laura Rodriguez, Raquel Flores and Amanda Shinn-Roldan.
Before they left, though, they wanted to make their mark on the program that they have given so much to over the last four years.
They did just that at the UIL Class 5A state tournament, finishing second overall as a team on Tuesday at White Wing Golf Club in Georgetown.
“The tournament went well,” Sharyland coach Ashley Garza said. “We didn’t perform as well as we wanted to yesterday, which put us in fourth place. We were only five strokes off of second place, so that’s not that many strokes. Grapevine played really well yesterday, and they were about 19 strokes ahead.”
Sharyland took second place by two strokes, scoring 644 to Midlothian’s 646. Grapevine won the tournament with a 620.
“I didn’t look at the score until we got to the back nine. When I looked at the score, I knew it was very integral that we just par out,” Garza said. “If we didn’t par out, I knew we would lose it.”
Rodriguez capped off her career with her best finish at state, taking seventh individually. She shot a 75 on the first day before coming back with a second-round 73 to give her a 148 overall.
“It’s a huge accomplishment,” Garza said. “Last year, she played really well the first day, and she came back on the second day, and didn’t play as well as she wanted to. For her just to finish with two solid scores was her goal. …This was her tournament. She needed to play well, because she got second at district and then she placed fourth at regionals. So I think this was her tournament to shine.”
Magnolia’s Halle Whitney won the tournament with a 143. Midlothian’s Jasmine Zhang (144) took second, and Gabriella Tomanka of Grapevine (145) was third.
Rodriguez will go on to join former Sharyland teammate Ana Erana at St. Edwards next year. Raquel Flores will join her older sister Mariana at Rogers State University. Their younger sister Paulina is a junior and will take over as one of the leaders for the Rattlers next year.
This year’s finish is the best team showing at state for all of Sharyland High’s seniors.
“I feel like all three seniors are very strong players,” Garza said. “They do not give up. They are very strong-willed, and they really practice their hearts out. I know that they will all be successful in the next step of their careers.”