Notebook: Teams fine tuning for district tournaments
Each Rio Grande Valley district except for the 30-5A boys had, or will have, its pre-district golf tournament this week. While it will wait until Monday for that, everyone else got one last tune-up before everything is put on the line.
On Wednesday at South Padre Isle, 32-5A had its final practice round and, as expected, the boys side was a battle between Weslaco High and Brownsville Hanna.
While the Panthers came out on top, 319 to 325, the Golden Eagles feel they’re in a solid position going into the district invitational Monday and Tuesday.
"It’s going to be a really, really good match," Hanna coach Adrian Garcia said.
Hanna also paced the girls field with a 368, besting Los Fresnos by 18 strokes.
"My two freshmen placed their averages where I asked," Garcia said. "This is not the real one, but there’s definitely a lot of confidence going into Monday."
Weslaco High also had the top individual performers for the day-long event, as Kassandra Rivera shot an 81 to lead the girls and Garrison Lackey shot a 73 to lead the boys.
Both 32-4A and the 30-5A girls had its pre-district meets Thursday. 31-5A will hold its today.
TENNIS, TOO
The district tournaments in tennis are about to get underway, too, with 31-5A first up on Monday and Tuesday at PSJA Memorial.
Going in, Harlingen South will be the heavy favorite.
"This is one of the strongest teams they’ve ever had," Harlingen High coach Jay Tanamachi said of South. "We have our opportunities, we just have to make the most of (them)."
While everyone will be fighting for second place in the boys singles draw with South’s Tomas Stillman an overwhelming favorite to win, all the other draws should be wide open.
"It’s the end of the individual season, we’ve played a lot of tournaments. You just try to get them as much experience as you can," Tanamachi said. "We got some kids seeded, so hopefully they’ll come through."
The top two finishers in each draw — boys singles, girls singles, boys doubles, girls doubles and mixed doubles — will advance to the regional tournament later this month in San Antonio.
"We’re working hard," Tanamachi said. "We’ll see what happens on Monday."
RESULTS
In the Rio Grande Valley Boys Tournament of Champions last week at Palmview, San Antonio O’Connor came into the Valley and won the event, besting San Antonio Johnson by six strokes, 611 to 617. Weslaco High had the top Valley score with a third-place 624. Sharyland’s A team was next with a 626, while its B team had a 628.
However, individually, Roman Robledo of Harlingen South came out on top with a 140, including a day-one low of 67. Garrison Lackey of Weslaco High was second with a 144.
In the PSJA Memorial Girls Invitational, which was last week at Tierra Del Sol, Sharyland had a 684 to win by five strokes over Edcouch-Elsa. Individually, Jessica Tamen of Edinburg High went low with a 141. Kassandra Rivera of Weslaco High followed with a 147, while Alainey Muro of McAllen High had a 148.
Todd Orodenker covers golf and tennis for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via e-mail at torodenker@brownsvilleherald.com.
