‘Hawks charge to girls crown

Spencer Patterson

Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2001 | 10:06 a.m.

Monika Lee didn't need to be reminded about the success of Green Valley's girls golf program on Tuesday. She has seen it up close and personal for the past six years.

First the Silverado senior watched her older sister, Mira, win a pair of state titles with the Gators in 1996 and '97.

Then, Lee and her Skyhawk teammates dropped all eight dual matches to Green Valley during her four-year career, part of the Henderson school's state-record 121-match unbeaten streak.

But on Tuesday, Lee's Silverado squad finally got one back from its area rival. The Skyhawks captured the 2001 Sunrise Region team championship, besting Green Valley by 16 strokes at Silverstone Golf Club to end the school's run of five consecutive zone/regional titles.

"It's kind of hard to believe, and it still hasn't hit me yet," Lee said. "We tried so hard to beat them (during the season), but it didn't happen so we weren't even thinking about it today."

Agreed Silverado coach Tari Hawks: "To be honest, it came as a surprise. I'm not one who really watches the numbers, so when the Green Valley coaches came over and informed us we'd won I was surprised.

"I'm really proud of the girls, coming up at the end of the year and grabbing it when they didn't really expect it."

Freshmen Stephanie Bird and Chloe Nelson led the charge for the Skyhawks, posting scores of 79 and 83, respectively, to place fourth and fifth individually. Lee shot an 86, Elisha Trainer finished with an 87 and Stephanie Hrdlicka chipped in a 99 to round out the team's total score of 434.

As expected, defending state champion Durango rolled to its second straight Sunset Region team title, besting second-place Bishop Gorman 402-425. Whitney Welch (70), Erin Andrews (73) and Sondia Gogue (82) spearheaded the Blazer victory.

Despite the win, Blazers' coach Kathy Faber said her squad can play better and is looking forward to the upcoming 4A State Tournament, Oct. 17-18 at Black Mountain Golf and Country Club.

"They're disappointed with their scores, so hopefully they'll come back with some better games and show their potential," Faber said.

Two former individual state champions -- Durango's Welch and Foothill's Christine Fernandez -- rose to the occasion again Tuesday, earning regional top medalist honors.

Welch, the 2000 state champion, opened her round with four pars, an eagle and a birdie despite strong winds, for her two-under 70 and the Sunset crown.

"I've been working on my wind shots for this, hitting pitch shots all day last weekend, and I can honestly say I played like a champion in the wind," Welch said. "I just wanted to put in a good score to make sure the team won."

Fernandez, who bested her older sister, Mary, in a playoff for the 1999 state title as a member of Green Valley's squad, overcame a seven on the opening hole to finish with an even-par 72 on Tuesday.

"Normally if I start off bad, it doesn't always go as well as it did today," Fernandez said. "I'm not used to playing in this type of weather, so I was pretty excited about how I played today."

Fernandez's score also helped the Falcons claim the Sunrise's third team state berth. Palo Verde rounded out the Sunset trio, holding off fourth-place Bonanza.