Montgomery second in 5A; Seven Lakes sixth in 6A
GEORGETOWN — When Montgomery wrapped up its final round of the UIL Class 5A state championship on Wednesday at White Wing Golf Club, the Bears were four strokes away from third place.
About an hour later, after a wait that included refreshing live scores on phones and chips with queso and salsa in the clubhouse, Montgomery celebrated a second-place finish.
“It’s hard to win when you’re not in that final group, but we were only four out after the first day,” coach Kirk Thomason said. “The kids wanted to win and before this, we had won nine out of 10 tournaments. State’s a different thing. Everybody’s at state for a reason.”
Alamo Heights won the 5A crown, finishing 33 over par, four shots ahead of Montgomery. Boerne Champion placed third at plus-40.
Mason Lewis of Granbury won the individual title with a four-under tournament. Tiffany Cao of Midlothian was one shot back in second, and Alamo Heights’ Julia Vollmer shot two-under to round out the medalists.
Senior Remington Isaac led Montgomery in a tie for fourth place. She shot even on the tournament, going two-under on the first day and two-over on the second.
“It was pretty nerve-wracking,” Isaac said of the wait. “I know that we all played not how we wanted to but were happy with the way we moved up. We were happy with second, and I’m happy with fourth. There’s no reason to be upset. We were just kind of hoping.”
Magnolia, led by senior Brandee Fleming, placed 11th.
With a fourth-place finish, Seven Lakes was the top Greater Houston team the last time the UIL state tournament was played in 2019.
The Spartans didn’t perform how they wanted two years later on Tuesday. But they still came out of the Class 6A tournament for the second straight time as the top team from the Houston area.
With two members of that team back — Lauren Nguyen and Grayson Heilman — the Spartans finished sixth with a two-day score of 623 (310-313) at Legacy Hills Golf Club.
“We came out of the gate great yesterday,” Seven Lakes coach Sean Ewing said. “We were leading for 13 holes. We just struggled in the end. Today was an uphill climb the entire day. We just couldn’t get over the hump.”
Lewisville Hebron won the team title at 22-over 598 (299-299). Vandegrift was second (605) and Austin Westlake third (611). Junior Ryann Honea of San Angelo Central was the individual winner with a 1-under 143 (69-74), one shot ahead of Plano East senior Meagan Winans. Winans was even par 144 (75-69).
Seven Lakes sophomore Maelynn Kim finished with a 2-over par 146 (74-72). Tied for fifth, Kim shot even par on Tuesday.
The Woodlands slipped from being in contention after the first round to a ninth-place finish. Senior Avery Blake, who has signed with TCU, came into the round tied for third at 1-under. The senior was steady most of the day with a pair of bogeys on the front nine. She ended the tournament with three straight bogeys to finish 4-over 148 (71-77) and in a tie for eighth place.
Playing individually, Fort Bend Clements senior Natalie Cao and Pearland senior Kendall Jackson both made the top 10.
Kingwood finished in 10th at 635 (311-324). Bella Flores, who tied for 16th, was the top performer for the Mustangs with a 7-over 151 (75-76).
College Park finished 11 out of the 12 teams in its debut in the Class 6A tournament. Gracie Heinle shot 15-over to lead College Park (318322-640), which finished 13 shots ahead of last place Ridge Point.