OMNI Tucson National

Division I: Oct. 30-31

 

There were a few tricks and a lot of treats at the Division I state championships held at the OMNI Tucson National on Monday and Tuesday. The girls of Xavier Prep won their 35th state championship and the Chaparral Firebirds collected their seventh title on the boy’s side, but it took two full days of golf to decide who would walk away with the medals and trophies.

Xavier finished with a 15-over-par 591 (288-303) to beat Hamilton by nine strokes and Pinnacle came in third after shooting 617 (305-312) but Red Mountain forced a tie for third place by shooting 312 on the second day to close the gap. Hamilton won the D-I championship in 2010 and has finished runner-up three times since then, including a 293 to 295 loss to Xavier last year.  Pinnacle finished in the top three four times since 2011.

The Gators have put together seven team championships in a row and the team’s sophomore sensation, Ashley Menne, won her second individual title, also in back-to-back fashion. Menne finished with a 4-under 140 (69-71) in the 36 holes of competition, including 2-under on the final round played on the always difficult Catalina Course.

“I’m glad I won, it’s pretty exciting,” Menne said. “I knew I fell behind a little today, but I just played my game and I feel I turned it around the 11th hole. I remained focused.”

Sandra Day O’Connor senior Michelle Nguyen put together one of the best tournaments of her life by her estimation. Nguyen finished in 13th place last year but actually led the field by a couple strokes in the early going on Tuesday.

“I knew I was right there after yesterday,” Nguyen said. “I was excited to play, and I knew it was getting close. It was great tournament.”

The Wyoming commit finished two strokes back with a 2-under 142 (70-72) and Hamilton standout Jenny Bae took a third with a 1-under 143 (73-70). Bae put together the best round of the day on Tuesday but Millennium standout Maddie Laux came up with the biggest treat on Halloween with a hole-in-one on the fourth hole.

Ashley Menne (Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

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As mentioned before, Chaparral won the seventh title in program history and the first since 2009 but it wasn’t easy. The Firebirds put together a 2-over 574 (298-276) to hold off Brophy by one stroke (296-279) 574 to 575. Hamilton took third with 596.

The lead changed several times during the day on the Sonoran Course and the story was the same for the individual title.

Gabriel Salvanera came in as the top-rated D-I golfer in the state but the Queen Creek junior found himself on the driving range after he was done for the day, thinking he would have to compete in a playoff round due to the number of golfers within striking distance throughout the tournament.

“I played loose and confident and I knew I was in a good position, but it got more stressful during the day,” Salvanera explained. “I felt it wasn’t over when I was done so I went to the driving range to prepare until my friend ran over and told me I had it.”

Salvanera was in a three-way tie (71) for first after the first round, the next three golfers were in a tie for second and the next three after that were battling it out in third place. In all, 16 golfers were within three strokes of each other.

Brophy standout Tony Hendricks was one of those players tied with Salvanera on Monday but Salvanera shot a 4-under 66 on Tuesday to hold Hendricks off 137 to 138 for the championship. Desert Vista standout Scott Schadler and Chaparral standout Mason Domecq shot a 4-under 139 to take third place.

 

The Division III state golf tournament will also be held at the OMNI Tucson National on May 11 and 12.

Gabriel Salvanera. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)