Girls Are State Bound!
The Lady Vikings are Region 4-4A Champions for the first time in 4A after two days of play in Victoria at the Club at Colony Creek.
Day one started with a beautiful sunrise as we warmed up on the range. We escaped all but a sprinkle or two, but we got the wind….
Day 1: Sophomore Violet Wheeler got us started on hole 1 on Wednesday. She made 5 pars in a row and was leading the tournament. Then, she birdied hole 8 to get back to even par for the round. The wind kicked up as we made the turn to the very challenging back 9. Violet finished with a round of 90, tied for 12th in the tournament. Adriana Owen had 5 pars on her day and was also tied for 12th with a 90. Jenna Janson had 3 birdies through 13 holes and took over the lead in the tournament at +1. She finished the day in 5th with a +7, her best round of the season, 78. Grey Henson, a freshman, had an eagle on the 8th and 2 birdies on the hardest two holes on the course. She shot 91 and was in a tie for 16th. Senior Bailey Burlew had the wind whipping by the time she teed off. She had 3 great pars in her round of 95 (26th). Leah Escalona was a medalist and had to tee off on the very tough back 9 to start her tournament. She made a couple of pars, shooting 53 on those tough 9 holes! She was tied in 53rd place at the end of the round. Addison Brown was also a medalist. She had a good first 9 as a freshman at regionals, shooting 49, and finished the day in 53rd position. Together, the Lady Viking Team shot 349 and had an 8-stroke lead over La Vernia (357) and 11 strokes over Fredericksburg (360).
Day 2: Leaders go off last, so we were in the second flight on Thursday. The Lady Vikings were determined to hold on to their lead! Bailey Burlew was first on the tee for us. She made a couple of good pars on her round, finished with a 2-day total of 194, and was 33rd in the region. Grey Henson had 5 pars on the front 9, 2 on the back, and finished the par 5 18th with a beautiful approach shot into the green. Her eagle putt missed by an inch, and she had a nice tap-in birdie to finish with an 88 and a 2-day total of 179, which was the 11th-best in the region! Adriana Owen had a great day on the course - 4 pars for a 42 on the front and an amazing 6 pars in a row, a bogey at the island green, par on 17, and with an approach wedge into the 18th, she made a very tricky side hill putt for birdie. A 6 over 77 is a new PR for Adriana and was good for a tie for 7th at the tournament! Violet Wheeler matched her PR on day 2 with a +8, 79. Rolled in an eagle putt on #8 and finished the front 9 in 40, had 5 pars on the back 9 for a 39. Her 2-day total of 169 earned her a 9th-place individual finish for the tournament. Jenna Janson had 4 pars and a birdie on her day. She finished the 2-day tournament with a score of 167 in a tie for 7th. Our 2nd day team total was 333, only 1 stroke off the school record of 332. Leah Escalona had her best front 9 of 46 with 2 pars and a birdie. She had a 2-day total of 212. Addison Brown made 4 pars on her way to a 97. She finished with a strong 2-day total of 204, which was 46th place.
There were 16 teams and 16 individuals who qualified for regionals, 95 total players. Our Lady Vikings qualified 7 players and had 4 players in the top 11. Lady Vikings (682) increased their first-day lead by 23 strokes to finish 31 strokes ahead of the second-place team, Fredericksburg (713).
