Johansson, Vaqueros capture State titles

Fanny Johansson carded a 77 on Tuesday at Tracy Country Club and SBCC got a giant lift from its last two players that vaulted the Vaqueros to their third Women's Golf State Championship in the last eight years.

Johansson, a freshman from Sweden, finished eight shots ahead of the field at 5-over 151 (74-77). Nea Bennett (80-79) of Fullerton was the runner-up at 159.
 
"We struggled a little today but it was a tough course," said Johansson, who had three birdies. "My long game was good but I had a hard time putting. It was great to see our final two players shoot under 85. They really came through."

Jackie Ramirez, the Vaqueros' No. 5 player, shot 84 and No. 6 Megan Herrera turned in an 82 as Santa Barbara shot 329 for a 646 total. The Southern Cal Regional champs beat Fullerton by four shots and Northern Cal champ Canada by 18. Modesto was fourth at 696.

"This feels really good," said SBCC coach Chuck Melendez. "I'm very proud of this team. We worked extremely hard and got better and better as the year went on."

It's the ninth overall State title in SBCC history and the last three have all come in women's golf (2006, 2008, 2013). The 2013 state champs went 32-0 in WSC play and 69-3 overall.

Herrera and Ramirez were the only Vaqueros who shot better than their first-round score, improving by six and three strokes, respectively. Vanesa Villa (77-86) tied for ninth at 163 and Saralisa Ortega (83-86) was 19th at 169.

    Complete State Championship results
  
State Championships
Final 36-hole scores
At par-73 Tracy Country Club
 Team -- 1, SBCC 317-329--646. 2, Fullerton 327-323--650. 3, Canada 333-331--664. 4, Modesto 342-354--696.
 Individual (par 73) – 1, Fanny Johansson, SBCC, 74-77--151. 2, Nea Bennett, Fullerton, 80-79--159.
 SBCC scores -- 1, Johansson 74-77--151. 9 (tie), Vanesa Villa 77-86--163. 19, Saralisa Ortega 83-86--169. 20 (tie), Maggie Daly 83-87--170, Megan Herrera 88-82--170. 22 (tie), Jackie Ramirez 87-84--171 .