Socorro Girls' Golf Team Cruising; Boys Still Need Legs
SOCORRO, New Mexico (STPNS) -- The Socorro girls' golf team is cruising toward the state tournament, while the boys' team is trying to put the pieces together in time for the postseason.
The defending state champion Lady Warrior team is the only one in Class 3A that has qualified for state, and the girls are improving with each event.
Led by defending state medalist Kayla Cline, Socorro is seeing improved performances from its No. 3, 4 and 5 positions. Junior Haley Raymond, the team's No. 2 player is also playing very well.
"I'm really happy for these girls," coach Margaret Stanley said. "Kayla's game is looking excellent. She's hitting the ball long and straight and her putting is getting better."
Cline has won all but one event this year. At Roswell on Monday and Tuesday, she shot 73-73 to win by 24 strokes. Raymond took second by shooting 87-83. Her round of 83 at the New Mexico Military Institute was her best score this year.
"Haley is hitting it far these days," Stanley said. "For both Kayla and Haley, the courses we play are playing very short. They are out-driving their competitors by 50 yards on every hole."
The Lady Warriors finished third as a team in Roswell, behind Alamogordo and Deming. The Socorro girls shot 360 and 397, earning their fourth and fifth legs toward state.
On Day 1, the Lady Warriors' No. 3, 4 and 5 players all shot their best rounds: Eighth-grader Brittani Webb (94), eighth-grader Tenisha Guerro (106) and senior Brittni Romero (117).
On Thursday, April 17, the girls won the Silver Invitational and shot 397 in cold and windy conditions in Silver City.
The boys have registered one qualifying leg and only have two more opportunities to shoot qualifying scores. If they do not qualify by scores, the Warriors will have to win the district tournament to qualify for state.
The team's No. 1 player, sophomore Ryan Romero, has already qualified as an individual. He won the Ruidoso Invitational on April 14 and 15, and he shot 73-76 at El Alto and The Links to take medalist honors.
The team earned its first leg of the year at The Links as Nathan Vega shot 83; Randall Romero shot 84; Joe Carrilli shot 89 and Eric Mitchusson shot 92.
Vega and Randall Romero posted their best rounds of the year.
In Roswell, the Warriors couldn't take advantage of perfect conditions, missing by three strokes both days. The plains of eastern New Mexico were not as windy as expected and the temperature hit 90 degrees.
"It's disappointing that we didn't earn legs. We just couldn't get four good scores on the same day," coach Russ Moore said. "But I have confidence in the guys that they can qualify for state."
At the NMMI course on Monday, Ryan Romero shot a 79, one of his higher scores of the year. The rest of the team was Carilli (82), Brian Stanley (84), Vega (88) and Randall Romero (93).
Ryan Romero improved by six strokes Monday at Spring River, shooting 73. However, not all of his teammates could match their scores from NMMI. Carilli (87) and Stanley (90) did not score as well Tuesday, while Vega (87) and Randall Romero (92) shot about the same.
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