RC women take 3rd at regional meet

Maria Sierra Sanz and Jessica Shurety both turned in stellar outings this past weekend and helped power the Ranger College women's golf team to within a whisper of history. The RC women narrowly missed their first-ever berth in the national tournament by placing third at the Region V Golf Championships.

Ranger College finished the season ranked No. 4 in the national poll.

The Lady Rangers recovered from a slow start to make a hard push for one of the top two qualifying spots in the regional meet. The RC women posted a second-round improvement of 12 strokes on Saturday despite playing in a gusty wind. As a team, the RC women finished Day 2 of the meet with the second-best round, tying McLennan Community College with a mark of 329.

"These girls have had great attitudes all year," said RC golf coach Houston Moore. "They played well for 27 of the 36 holes. Unfortunately, it was 36 holes and we missed out on advancing to the national tournament. The good thing, however, is we will return four of our starting five next year so the future looks good for us."

Regional champion Western Texas College posted the top score on Day by shooting a 324. The round vaulted WTC to the regional championship as they finished the 36-hole meet with a score of 644.

McLennan, thanks to a first round of 332, took second at 661.

Ranger found itself in a hole early. RC carded a mark of 341 in the first round and went into the second round of the one-day tournament trailing McLennan by nine strokes.

Sanz and Shurety highlighted the Lady Rangers' outing with stellar individual performances. She recorded rounds of 82 and 78, respectively, and placed fourth overall with a total of 160. Shurety tied for sixth overall with a total of 167. She carded rounds of 83 and 84, respectively.

By finishing in the top six, Sanz and Shurety both earned all-region honors as freshmen.