Vaqueros grab fourth and final state berth; Sherpa takes sixth

Pratima Sherpa shaved 10 strokes off her first-round score and Marie Naud was 15 shots better on Monday as SBCC finished fourth in the Southern Cal Regional women's golf tournament at Via Verde CC in San Dimas.

Canyons, the defending state champion, won the 36-hole tourney by 29 shots with rounds of 327 and 318 for a two-day total of 645. Saddleback was second at 674, Desert took third at 682 and the Vaqueros (350-352) secured the fourth and final state qualifying berth with a 702 that was four shots better than tourney host Mt. SAC.

Sherpa, a freshman from Nepal, fired a 77 on Monday to tie for the third-lowest score in the 58-player field. She shot 87 and 77 to place sixth with a 164. Alexa Bleth (90-90) was 21st, Paris White (88-94) tied for 23rd and Cally Casterline (85-98) took 25th.

Naud, a freshman from Saugus, lowered her score by 15 strokes with a final-round 91.

"Paris was the last one in and we were tied with Mt. SAC for the last state spot," said coach Chuck Melendez. "She ended up shooting four better than Cally and that's what we won by. We got in by the skin of our teeth."

The Vaqueros will be making their fifth straight trip to the CCCAA State Championships. They won state titles in 2013 and 2015 and finished second, third and fourth the last three years.

"This was a tight course and a tough putting course," Melendez noted. "Pratima played great today. She had several birdie putts that stopped right on the lip. I really admired the effort of Paris and Marie today, they were both battling back problems."

Haruka Koda, the WSC individual champion from Canyons, captured the Southern Cal title by shooting a 1-over 145 (72-73--145). Katie Stribling of Saddleback was eight shots back in second (78-75--153).

Canyons, Saddleback, Desert and SBCC will join the Northern Cal top four (Reedley, Modesto, Sierra, San Joaquin Delta) for the 36-hole CCCAA State Championships next Sunday and Monday at Morro Bay Golf Course.

Southern Cal Regional
At par-72 Via Verde CC
Final scores
 Team (top 4 advance to State) -- 1, Canyons 327-318--645. 2, Saddleback 346-328--674. 3, Desert 344-338--682. 4, SBCC 350-352--702. 5, Mt. SAC 360-346--706. 6, Cuyamaca 375-354--729. 7, Mt. San Jacinto 415-397--812. 8, Bakersfield 468-480--948. 9, Antelope Valley, no score.
 Medalist -- 1, Haruka Koda, Canyons, 72-73--145. 2, Katie Stribling, Saddleback, 78-75--153. 3 (tie), Precious Saelee, Mt. SAC, 78-80--158; Jessie Lin, Canyons, 81-77--158. 5, Raegan Preece, Desert, 78-83-161. 6, Pratima Sherpa, SBCC, 87-77--164.
 SBCC scores -- 6, Sherpa 87-77--164. 21, Alexa Bleth 90-90--180. 23 (tie), Paris White 88-94--182. 25, Cally Casterline 85-98--183. 29 (tie), Marie Naud 106-91--197.
 SBCC overall record -- 52-22.


Marie Naud was 15 strokes better on Monday when she shot 91 in the final
round of the Southern Cal Regional at Via Verde CC in San Dimas. (File photo
by Ken Sciallo/Sevilla Photography)