Sharyland, Edinburg North's Espericueta in lead after first round of regionals

SAN ANTONIO - The Sharyland Lady Rattlers stormed to a one-stroke lead and Edinburg North's Felicia Espericueta is tied for first place on the leaderboard after the first round of the Region IV-5A girls golf tournament held Monday at Olmos Basin Golf Course.

Ale Cantu fired an opening-round 73 to lead Sharyland, which carded a 314 score, just ahead of Austin Westlake (315). Smithson Valley (322) is in third place heading into today's final round.

Ana Choi and Samantha Garcia shot 79s for the Lady Rattlers and Ale Valdez checked in with an 83 for the District 30-5A champions.

"I think that there's still some room (for improvement)," Sharyland coach Susan Lopez said. "The girls came to the turn at 4 over as a team. On the second nine, which is the front side, they had some holes that they had some trouble with.

"We have to put it together for 18 more holes (Tuesday), though. We have a lot of golf left to play."

Individually, Espericueta, the 2006 Region IV-5A champion, shot an even-par 72 and is tied atop the leaderboard with San Antonio Churchill's Jessica Borth. Sharyland's Cantu is in third place. Weslaco High's Elizabeth Hovda is also in contention. She is in a four-way tie for sixth place after turning in a score of 76.

Espericueta, the Edinburg North star who fell one stroke short of a state berth last year, wasn't entirely satisfied with her opening round despite being in the lead.

"I was hoping to go a little lower," Espericueta said. "I hit the ball pretty good. I couldn't really putt. If I can putt (today) hopefully I can go lower. The course is in pretty good shape, the greens are a little bumpy.

"It was an OK round. I wouldn't say anything spectacular. It was an OK round. I feel pretty confident. I just need to make a few more putts (today)."

In the Region IV-4A tournament at the Golf Club of Texas, Edcouch-Elsa paced the Rio Grande Valley contingent with a first-day score of 380, placing them seventh heading into today's final round. Linda Castillo shot an 88 to lead the Lady Yellowjackets.

"Overall we did pretty good," E-E coach Jorge Benavides said. "It's a learning experience. I'm proud of the girls. We'll see if we can do a little bit better (today)."

District 32-4A individual champion Jessica Salinas of Mission Veterans Memorial carded a 93. Lady Patriots coach Tomas Ocaña said the team was thrown off by playing from longer tees than during Sunday's practice round. Salinas is looking for a lower score today.

"I could have done better," she said. "It caught me off guard that they moved the tees back so now I'm just getting used to the distance and my putting was kind of off."