Westlake golf team moves on at Northern Divisional

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers SHE'S ON THE MARK—Westlake High's Tiffany Uichanco posted an 86 during Monday's CIF-SS Northern Divisional. Even when the Westlake High girls' golf team isn't playing its best, the Warriors are still better than the most of their competition.

Although the Warriors weren't in top form Monday at the CIF-Southern Section Girls Golf Northern Divisional at River Ridge Golf Club in Oxnard, WHS still shot a 437, good enough for a fourth-place finish.

Westlake, which finished 27 strokes behind winner Hart of Newhall, moves on to the CIFSS Girls Golf Team Finals today at Cypress Ridge Golf Course in Arroyo Grande.

Second-place finisher Dos Pueblos and third-place finisher Diamond Bar also advanced.

Other local schools that competed but failed to advance include Royal, La Reina, Oaks Christian and Camarillo.

"We're very happy with the outcome," Westlake head coach Dave Costley said. "This is only the second time this program has made the top four at the Northern Divisional, so it says a lot."

Westlake finished four strokes ahead of Righetti for fourth place.

"Near the end it was getting kind of close, but I didn't realize how close because I was busy helping out everyone with scores," Costley said.

"On the scoreboard we were in third place for a while, and a couple girls would come up to me now and then and ask me about teams that hadn't turned in their scores yet. They'd ask me, 'How good is Diamond Bar? How good is Righetti?'"

Westlake was led by Kate Gatena, who shot a team-best 81. Gatena's score was five strokes behind tournament medalist Amanda Corr, who posted a 76 for Hart of Newhall.

Other Warriors contributing to the effort were Tiffany Uichanco (86), Charlotte Gibson (89), Liz Cornelison (90) and Vivian Shi (91).

"We're really excited that we get to move on because we have four seniors and this is their last chance to do something great with the team," Gibson said.

"Overall, I don't think we played our best today, but that gives us more confidence going into Thursday's match."

Not only will Westlake have more confidence, but they'll also have a good knowledge of the course, thanks to Gibson.

"I played Cypress Ridge about a week ago, and it's a super-nice course," Gibson said. "It's a tricky course, but you just need to know where to hit the ball ahead of time. I'll definitely be sharing my yardage notebook with my teammates before we play the course."

Westlake's Marmonte League rival, Royal, placed ninth with a 479. The Highlanders' season is now over, but head coach Bob Misko was proud of his team's final effort in 2008.

"At a match like this you're playing with the best of the best," Misko said. "We were hoping to finish in the top 10, and we came in ninth. We have all of our girls coming back next year except for Jenna (Fisher), so the future looks good for us."

Fisher paced RHS with an 87. Other Highlanders playing well included Taylor Gould (93), Brittani Sua (95), Lindsey Lewis (100) and Lauren Carlson (104).

Misko said he'll root for Westlake at Arroyo Grande.

"Well, if we can't make it to the next round I want Westlake to go far because they're in our league, and I want the Marmonte League to be represented well," Misko said.

Coming in six strokes behind Royal in 10th place was Oaks Christian.

Leading the Lions was Remy Molyneux's 88. Taylor Stucky (92), Sarah Pate (101), Tiffany Meinert (101) and Chloe Fang (103) also chipped in for OCHS.

La Reina came in 13th place with a 493. Makenna Cox led the Regents with a 90, while Brenna Callero (91), Christina Sinner (95), Kate Jacobsen (99) and Ali Martin (118) also made an impact.

Finishing five strokes behind La Reina was Camarillo with a 498. ACHS senior Kelly Crossan said the event was bittersweet.

"Going into the match, our team didn't think we had much of a chance of moving on, so we just decided to have a fun day of golf together one last time," Crossan said.

"On the last hole I lined up to putt and I said to myself, 'This is the last time I will ever putt as a Scorpion.' It was kind of emotional out there for me."

Crossan said the windy conditions and quick greens made for a tough course.

"Our coach warned us about the fast greens ahead of time," Crossan said. "I had about six threeputts today, and I don't really three-putt that much."

Crossan led Camarillo with an 86, while Kathryn Lee (90), Taylor Lew (104), Carly Tanaka (106) and Dani Belvedere (112) also contributed for the Scorpions.