BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
After Day 1 of the UIL Class 5A Region IV tournament on Wednesday, it was clear the Sharyland High girls would be hard to catch.
The Rattlers literally had to weather a storm to win the tournament on Thursday at The Republic Golf Club in San Antonio, earning a trip to state.
“Yesterday, we had a rain delay,” Sharyland High coach Ashley Garza said. “As of early this morning, we were ahead by 18 shots. I knew we were OK, but anything could happen in 18 shots. I told the girls, they need to play boring golf, which is fairways and greens, and two-putts. That’s what they did.”
The 5A girls state tournament will be held May 21-22 at White Wing Golf Course in Georgetown.
“We did play at the state course earlier this year,” Garza said. “We won second in that tournament. It’s a longer course, and we definitely need to work on up-and-downs and greens in regulation.”
Sharyland won the regional tournament with a team score of 624. Brownsville Veterans placed second with a 657, and Boerne Champion (673) took the third and final state team qualification.
Sharyland Pioneer finished fifth, and Brownsville Lopez finished 11th.
None of the Rio Grande Valley’s 6A regional qualifiers advanced to state.
Senior Raquel Flores led the way for Sharyland. She won the individual tournament with a two-day score of 145.
“Yesterday, she started off with five bogeys, so she was five over on the back side, and she went five under on the front side,” Garza said. “One birdie she made was a long putt on No. 3. She birdied 2, 3 and 4 yesterday, and then came back and birdied 8 and 9, as well. She played solid. … Today, she struggled a little bit, but it wasn’t unmanageable. Two solid days of competition.”
Brownsville Veterans’ Julie Lucio was tied for third with a two-day score of 154, which put her into a playoff with Hannah Choi from Stephen F. Austin, who will also be advancing to state. Lucio won the playoff to claim third place.
The storm that shortened the first day rolled in around 2 p.m. on Wednesday. Two of Sharyland’s players had to come back to finish their round Thursday before the start of the second round. In all, just eight of the 20 groups finished entirely on Wednesday. Some groups had as many as six holes left on their Day 1 scorecards on Thursday morning.
“Paulina (Flores) and Amanda (Shinn-Roldan) did not finish their rounds yesterday, so they had to come in at 7:30 this morning to finish their rounds,” Garza said. “And then they had to turn around and play another 18 holes. It’s tough to do, especially when you are up at 6 in the morning and you have to come in and play one round, and then turn back around and play another round. But they were mentally prepared, and they just kept doing the same things they did yesterday. Amanda shot an 82 yesterday and an 82 today, so very consistent. The whole team was very consistent.”
Flores was clutch throughout the tournament.
“Raquel is very focused when it comes to hitting he golf ball,” Garza said. “She does relax in between shots, which is what everyone should do. When it comes down to her routine, she’s focused, and she shoots really well.”
VALLEY HS GOLF RESULTS
UIL Class 6A Region IV Tournament
Thursday, April 26
Final Round
Girls
Team Scores
1, Austin Westlake, 281-293 — 574; 2, Austin Lake Travis, 291-302 — 593; 3, San Antonio Reagan, 300-298 — 598; 4, San Antonio Churchill, 309-316 — 625; 5, Smithson Valley, 325-326 — 651; 6, San Antonio Brandeis, 344-333 — 677; 7, San Antonio Clark, 349-359 — 708; 8, Los Fresnos, 338-374 — 712; 9, Mission High, 359-373 — 732; 10, Laredo Alexander, 364-372 — 736; 11, New Braunfels, 368-371 — 739; 12, Laredo United, 372-375 — 747; 13, PSJA High, 381-386 — 767; 14, Weslaco High, 404-403 — 807; 15, Edinburg High, 403-439 — 842; 16, La Joya Palmview, 453-447 — 900.
Individual Scores
1, Sadie Englemann, Austin Westlake, 70-69 — 139
2, Bentley Cotton, Austin Westlake, 66-74 — 140
3, Madelyn Jones, Austin Westlake, 70-74 — 144
T-4, Macy Fox, Austin Lake Traivs, 71-75 — 146
T-4, Romina Gonzalez, San Antonio Reagan, 73-73 — 146
6, Averi Goecks, Austin Lake Traivs, 72-75 — 147
T-7, Hanna Liu, Austin Lake Travis, 72-76 — 148
T-7, Emma McMyler, San Antonio Brandeis, 73-75 — 148
T-7, Hailey Derrickson, Austin Vandergrift, 72-76 — 148
T-10, Dylan Beldon, San Antonio Churchill, 74-76 — 150
T-10, Megan Sells, San Antonio Reagan, 78-72 — 150
Other Valley Leaders
18, Mia Lerma, Mission High, 79-74 — 153
29, Micaela Leandro, Harlingen High, 78-83 — 161
31, Briana Silerio, La Joya Palmview, 80-83 — 163
UIL Class 5A Region IV Tournament
Thursday, April 26
Final Round
Girls
Team Scores
1, Sharyland High, 310-314 — 624; 2, Brownsville Veterans, 328-329 — 657; 3, Boerne Champion, 351-322 — 673; 4, Dripping Springs, 351-344 — 695; 5, Sharyland Pioneer, 348-360 — 708; 6, Victoria East, 366-366 — 732; 7, Flour Bluff, 379-366 — 745; 8, Corpus Christi Veterans, 393-358 — 751; 9, Victoria West, 374-380 — 754; 10, Stephen F. Austin 1, 382-375 — 757; 11, Brownsville Lopez, 406-418 — 824; 12, San Antonio Harlan, 420-420 — 840; 13, San Antonio Southside, 464-450 — 914; 14, Eagle Pass Winn, 479-454 — 933; 15, Stephen F. Austin, 502-480 — 933.
Individual Scores
1, Raquel Flores, Sharyland High, 72-73 — 145
2, Zayda Cedillo, Victoria East, 77-75 — 152
3, Julie Lucio, Brownsville Veterans, 78-76 — 154
4, Hannah Choi, Stephen F. Austin, 79-75 — 154
5, Gabriela McNelly, Medina Valley, 80-75 — 155
6, Fahtima Avila, Brownsville Veterans, 74-84 — 158
T-7, Laura Rodriguez, Sharyland High, 76-83 — 159
T-7, Karsyn White, Victoria East, 78-81 — 159
9, Maria Guajardo, Sharyland Pioneer, 88-73 — 161
T-10, Emily Ritchie, Boerne Champion, 82-80 — 162
T-10, Carolina Cantu, Sharyland High, 85-77 — 162
Other Valley Leaders
12, Amanda Shinn-Roldan, Sharyland High, 82-81 — 163
T-14, Paulina Flores, Sharyland High, 80-86 — 166
T-14, Linsey Garza, Sharyland Pioneer, 81-85 — 166
T-20, Cecilia Garza, Brownsville Veterans, 87-82 — 169