WINNEMUCCA - Going into last weeks NIAA Division I-A State Girls Golf Championship in Mesquite, many already penciled in Faith Lutheran to win back-to-back state titles.
Lowry, the Division I-A North regional champions, believed they had a shot at the Crusaders or at last least a chance in finishing in the runner-up spot.
However, the Lady Bucks got off to a rough start on the first two holes of the tournament on Monday, Oct. 21, on the Oasis Canyon Course and were forced to play catch up from there.
"I wouldn't say it was a rough day, but it was a rough first couple of holes," said LHS head coach Vince Mendiola. "What we didn't want to happen to us happened. We sent out our first four girls and on the first two holes and we were 24 over par. When you look at any regional or state championship, you don't want to get out of the gate slowly. It can be demoralizing and you start questioning yourself. Still, I was pleased with the how girls hung in there and finished it out. They could have easily thrown in the towel after the start, but they hung in there."
The Lady Bucks shot a two-day total of 765 to finish third, while Faith Lutheran won its second consecutive state championship, shooting a 676. Clark was second at 734, Elko finished fourth with a 794 and Fernley (821) and SECTA (888) were fifth and sixth, respectively.
Faith Lutheran's Julia Becker won the individual title with a 151 and Fernley's Brittany Evans was second at 160. Elko's Kaily Beatty was third at 164.
"They were challenging courses," Mendiola said. "Faith Lutheran Clark has the opportunity to play those courses being so close to them. Oasis Canyon was very hilly and you don't know where you are hitting it to if you aren't familiar with the course. You look at the card and it tells you to hit here. From there, you are just trying to guide the shot and it starts playing with your mind. To the girls' defense they fought back. To be only 12 shots out of second place after day one, we felt pretty good. We decided to refocus our thoughts and went out and tried to finish second."
Lowry's Alyssa Dendary was 12th overall with a 178, which included rounds of 94 and 84.
"I know she wasn't happy with the way she played," added the coach. "She just had a couple of bad holes that bit her. In between, she played beautiful golf. She was the only girl on our team that played down in Mesquite two years ago."
Seniors Ning Landt and Caitlin Orr were 16th and 17th at 188 and 193, respectively. Landt had rounds of 94 and 94, while Orr shot 95 on day one and 98 on day two.
Elise Rose was 21st at 107-99-206, Brooklyn Backus placed 24th at 214 and Abby DeLaMora placed 35th with a score of 253.
"We had some girls that posted some nice scores," Mendiola said. "Ning and Caitlin played well. Brooklyn shot a 100 on the second day and wanted to break a 100 badly. That is twice that she shot 100. Elise came back with a nice round on the second day. I know the girls were very frustrated and they though they had a chance. You get it all together and a big number jumps up and bites you. There is no doubt in my mind that every one of them were trying to compete as hard as they could."
The Lady Bucks lose Landt and Orr to graduation, but have a strong group of underclassmen coming back.
"It was a very nice year for us," Mendiola said "We won a regional championship and finished third at the state championships. The girls were a good bunch to work with and were willing to do anything I told them. We have a nice future ahead of us. I saw some very good freshmen step up for us this year. We took five freshmen to tournaments this year. I think they know what a state tournament is all about now. Hopefully, we learn from there experience and hopefully, the girls get out there and work on their game."[[In-content Ad]]
