St. Francis Takes Third In State X-Country

by Steven Shaff
St. Francis recorded a top-five finish for the third time in the last four seasons Saturday at the CIF State Cross Country Meet in Fresno.

The Troubadours finished among the Top 10 for the fourth straight season and became the third Nor Cal team to earn a podium finish at the Division I state meet (St. Francis, 2012; Davis, 2013) and second in school history.

“I am in shock,” said senior Peyton Bilo. “I don’t even know what to say I am so happy. We did not think we were barely going to crack the top 10. When we saw we were third, it was a great feeling.”

Senior Miranda Myers, a Northern Arizona signee, led the Troubadours in 26th overall in a time of 18:43. She was one of three student-athletes to run under 19:00. 

St. Francis Cross Country team placed third at state meet

“We had a really good run out at two miles,” said Head Coach DuCray. “Miranda was going after it and Peyton was close. Ariane Ardnt had the race of the day coming in under 19 minutes. Having three girls within 10 seconds and the two freshmen stayed within 30 seconds was key. It is not always who has the fast runner but a group of runners.”

DuCray preached the pack mentality with his team all season. 

“Running in a pack is the key to our success,” said Bilo, who was 30th overall in 18:53. “We did not have any standouts like we did last year. We are all close together and hung in there. The pack is what pulled us through. Without each other, we could have not done it.”

Arndt, who was a member of the St. Francis 4x400 meter relay that finished third in the state last spring, had her best race of the season to cross the line 38th (18:55).

“We did not expect it but we ran together and stayed positive,” said Myers.

Freshmen Ava Nkadi and Sydney Vandegrift put together good races in their first state meet. Nkadi was 60th overall and the seventh-fastest freshman in the field, while Vandegrift was 93^rd overall to round out the scoring five.

“It feels amazing,” said Vandegrift. “I could have done better but I am happy with the overall result as a team. I could not have asked for a better team to be with.”

Davis Junior Fiona O’Keeffe was the individual title for the second consecutive season. Great Oak won the team title with 45 points followed by Sac-Joaquin section runner-up Bella Vista in second with 141 points.

Team results: 1. Great Oak 45; 2. Bella Vista 141; 3. St. Francis 186; 4. Clovis North 198; 5. Trabuco Hills 203; 6. Arcadia 225; 7. Vista Murrieta 235; 8. Yucaipa 239; 9. Poly (Long Beach) 243; 10. Homestead 251; 11. Davis Sr. 284; 12. Buchanan 321; 13. E. Roosevelt 330; 14. Monta Vista 360; 15. Monte Vista 381; 16. San Marcos 384; 17. Torrey Pines 402; 18. Palisades Charter 416; 19. San Ramon Valley 427; 20. Lowell 472; 21. San Pedro 553; 22. El Camino 556; 23. Skyline 719.

St. Francis results: 26. Miranda Myers, 18:43; 30. Peyton Bilo, 18:53; 38. Ariane Arndt, 18:55; 60. Ava Nkadi, 19:12; 93. Sydney Vandegrift, 19:36; 127. Chase Worthen, 20:15; 154. Gabrielle Dyer, 20:41. 

St. Mary's Ends EG's Hope For 3 Section Championship Games

The rain was pouring down, Elk Grove fullback Spencer Sheff was tearfully saying goodbye to his high school football teammates as the Thundering Herd was huddled up for one last time in the south end zone of Thunder Stadium.

Elk Grove’s hopes to play in a third straight Sac-Joaquin Section Division II championship game were just dashed moments before by the St. Mary’s Rams, 23-15. 

Sheff had scored both of the Herd’s touchdowns Friday night before the rain started pouring down on the artificial turf. While teammates and coaches all listened to the senior’s comments, no one seemed bothered by the fact they were getting soaking wet.

The 2014 season was over. Elk Grove finished at 10-3. For the first time in school history, they not only won ten or more games four years in a row, but they also had made the semi-finals, the final four of Division II football, in four consecutive years.

With the stands now empty and a few volunteers cleaning up the stadium hurriedly in the downpour,  head coach Chris Nixon took a moment to rejoice at the fact the Elk Grove football program had progressed to this point, even in the midst of gloom that St. Mary’s had put an end to their season.

“This is truly a legacy these seniors will leave for this group, “ Nixon said. “This is a tremendous group. A lot of them played as sophomores. They’ve been a part of three Thanksgiving Day practices.”

Had the Herd overcome three first half fumbles and found a way to come back against a talented Rams defense, Elk Grove would have been in rare company in the Section championship this weekend at Hornet Stadium. The last Division II team to make the championship round in more than two consecutive seasons was the 2002-2004 Oak Ridge Trojans when they won three titles in a row.

In 1996-1998 Atwater made it to three straight Division I championship games, losing all of them, including the last two to Lance Briggs and the Elk Grove Herd.

Del Oro won three D-II titles in a row between 1992 and 1994 and then lost the 1995 championship in trying for a fourth. Going further back Ponderosa was in four straight title games between 1977 and 1980, winning two of them.

You have to go to the early days of the Sac-Joaquin Section to 1976 through 1979 when Cordova won four consecutive Division I football championships.

“Elk Grove has never been in more than two straight semis from what I’ve found,” Nixon said.

SJS Football Semis TONIGHT!

I will be texting from the St. Mary's/Elk Grove Division II semi-final game, as the Herd tries to become the first team since Oak Ridge in 2002-2004 to make it to a Section championship game three years in a row.

Live chat: High school football playoffs

 

A Visit With MT's Trey Nahhas

He's a class act who is re-setting football rushing record books at Monterey Trail High School. Going into Friday's Division I semi-final showdown running back Trey Nahhas is confident the 13th-seeded Mustangs will do well against the top-seeded and defending Section champion Folsom Bulldogs.

His numbers this season are incredible: Coming off a 398 yards, 5 TD performance last week at Merced, Nahhas now has 2,534 yards rushing on 322 attempts - that's about 211 yards per game - and he's scored 33 TD's. The big running back talked with me after practice Wednesday:

Larson Wraps Up 2014 NASCAR Season With ROY Honors

Kyle Larson said it all in a tweet following the final NASCAR race of the 2014 season: “If there was a book to describe my first two years of NASCAR racing, it would be ‘Almost’.”

But, his first year on NASCAR’s Sprint Cup circuit wasn’t an almost. He was selected the “Sunoco Rookie of the Year.” That award not only was based upon how he finished each race this season, his first year on NASCAR’s major league circuit, but also how he carried himself with race officials, the media and the fans.

Seventeen times this year he finished in the top ten. Three times he was second. However, he never took a checkered flag, thus the self-bestowed “Almost” title. 

NASCAR's Sprint Cup rookie-of-the-year, Kyle Larson

"The best feeling I had this year was probably when I finished fourth at Watkins Glen, (New York)," Larson told NASCAR’s Holly Cain. "I didn't grow up racing on road courses and I struggled really bad the whole practice and qualifying that weekend. So then to end up fourth, which was way, way better than I thought I was going to be -- I was super pumped up about that."

Writers and other drivers call him an up-and-coming star, one that will certainly cruise into the winners’ circle one day soon.

"Really to start the year everyone thought I was going to fail,'' Larson said. "At least three-quarters of the people sitting in the media center probably did. Then I think they realized after the first handful of races that our team was capable of running well and the bar got raised and raised more throughout the year.”

"My expectations going into the start of the season were top-15 every week would be great and that quickly turned into wanting top-10s every week and lately top-fives and wins are the goal."

He did win a couple Nationwide races driving for Turner Scott Motorsports, though. One of them came this past May in the History 300 in Charlotte. The other was at Auto Club Speedway in March. Most Nationwide races are held on Saturdays at the same track of the Sunday Sprint Cup events.

The 22-year-old grew up in Elk Grove, a graduate of Pleasant Grove High School (though he finished 11^th and 12^th grade via independent study so he can race professionally), is now Target’s top spokesman.

Where Are All The Fans?

Two weeks of football playoff games are now in the book and in the Sac-Joaquin Section the semi-final games will be played this weekend in Divisions I, II and III.

In D-2 action Elk Grove will host St. Mary's Friday. If the Herd wins that means they'll be in the Section championship game for the third year in a row. They lost to Folsom two years ago and to Del Oro last season.

In Div.I, 13th seeded Monterey Trail will travel to top-seed Folsom. Monterey Trail hopes to be back in the big game for the first time in four years. 

But, this past week the social media was ablaze with reports that the crowds were quite small, virtually void of students, in stadiums where the second round games were played.

The home bleachers at EGHS Friday during its playoff game vs. Wood

Fox 40’s Mark Demsky posted a photo of a mostly-empty bleacher at Elk Grove High School during the Herd’s second round win over Will C. Wood High School.

Lots of fans and coaches weighed in via Facebook, even the head coach of Division I’s top-seed, Folsom, who had been packing the stands with fans at their Prairie City Stadium most of the past five years.

“We went from a packed student section to nobody in the student section,” Kris Richardson wrote. “Let the kids in free with a student body card!!”

The same kind of reports came in from the Tracy-Jesuit game on Saturday along with the Vacaville/Del Oro playoff contest Friday.

Monterey Trail Outruns The Bears, 51-45

A text from Monterey Trail’s offensive coordinator Rick Arcuri to the Citizen moments after the 12^th –seeded Mustangs defeated the 4^th-seeded Merced Bears on Friday night in the second round of the Sac-Joaquin Section football playoffs: “Monterey Trail 51-45, football heaven, practice on Thanksgiving.”

A few moments later while riding on a joyous team bus, Mustangs’ head coach T.J. Ewing echoed over the phone his assistant coach’s sentiments that a sign of success in the high school game is that your team is practicing at school rather sitting at home eating turkey and watching the pros play on TV.

“That’s a hundred percent correct,” Ewing said. “To play and to practice into Thanksgiving week is the best thing to ask your players.”

Arcuri’s next text was one that told the story of why the Mustangs, a fifth-place finisher in the Delta League, are still alive this season.

“Trey Nahhas, 33 carries, 391 yards, 5 TD’s.”

Just two weeks removed from a school record 346 yards rushing in the season finale against Davis, the Monterey Trail senior halfback once again was a load to take down while erasing his own record.

“I keep telling scouts he’s a once-in-a-lifetime type of player,” Ewing remarked. “I’d sure offer him. The guys around him are inspired by the way he plays.”

SJS Playoffs - Second Round Scores

Monterey Trail 51, Merced 45

Folsom 56, Franklin 13

Elk Grove 59, Wood 34 (Div II)

Grant 63, Downey 21 (Div II)

Modesto Christian 42, Bradshaw Christian 14 (Div VI)

Nahhas also completed a 40-yard halfback pass to Andre Flury to add to his memorable performance.

Now with road playoff wins over Cosumnes Oaks and Merced, the Mustangs, now 8-4, have the biggest obstacle in front of them. This Friday they take on number-one seed, and undefeated, Folsom, who destroyed Franklin, 56-13.

“It’s an honor for our school and our players to be in the Section semi-finals,” Ewing said. “To win two road games says a lot about the character of our team, their willingness to sacrifice for each other.”

Throughout the game Monterey Trail maintained a lead. The Mustangs ran out to a 21-7 advantage after the first quarter thanks to an E.J. Viacrusis to Jermaine Bell touchdown pass, an interception by Andre Flury and a quick TD run by Nahhas.

“Then it got a bit helter-skelter and Merced threw the ball a bunch and kept it close,” Arcuri said. “After they made it 51-45 with about four minutes left, we got the ball at our 20 and drove down the field, running the clock and we ended up taking a knee at their three yardline to end the game.”

Interceptions by Bell and Myles Pruitt in the first half allowed the Mustangs to get the ball back for their veer offense to steer out to a lead. Plus, the Mustangs earned a safety when a snap to the Bears quarterback went over his head and he was forced to land on the ball in the end zone.

Viacrusis had a good night throwing completing eight of 11 passes for 139 yards.

“Our guys went out there tonight purposing not to lose, they never waivered from that,” Ewing summarized.

With Grant’s 63-21 win over Downey and Elk Grove’s 59-34 victory over Wood in Division II, to go with Jesuit’s and Monterey Trail’s wins in the second round means four Delta League teams are still alive. That’s something that doesn’t surprise Ewing.

“Our league is no joke, there’s no doubt about that,” he said. “We play in the toughest league in the Section. Every team has great players on it. Every week we play like it is a playoff game.”

But, the Bulldogs stand between the Mustangs and their first return to the Section championship game in four seasons. A year ago in a non-league game, Folsom won easily, 49-21.

“Folsom is a truly outstanding team, coached by an outstanding man,” Ewing said. “We’ve known their coaches for years. They know how to run that spread (offense) and we have to be able to stop that. It ought to be a very good game and our kids are excited. The road to the championship runs through them, so we have to play them sometime.”

EG Faces Former Mentor; Franklin, MT On The Road

Should be an interesting night of high school football playoffs on Friday.

In town, Elk Grove will host former coach Carlos Meraz and Will C. Wood at 7 p.m. in Division II.

Division I games will be out of town - Franklin will be at top-seeded Folsom and Monterey Trail travels to #5 Merced.

Bradshaw Christian will take on #2 seed Modesto Christian in Modesto in Division VI semi-final action.
Follow the night's action snap-by-snap right here!

Live chat: Prep football playoffs, 2nd round

 

Franklin Defense Stops Modesto, Now Will Face Folsom

From BlackHatFootball.com:

Bring on the No. 1-seed Folsom Bulldogs.

If anyone thinks they may have a chance against the two-time defending Sac-Joaquin Section champions, it’s probably the Franklin Wildcats.

Riding a fast, good-tackling defense the Wildcats set themselves for another showdown with the Bulldogs thanks to Saturday’s 24-10 solid win over No. 8-seeded Modesto (9-2) at Downey High School in Modesto.

A year ago, the ninth-seeded Wildcats (7-4) were knocked out of the post-season in the second round by Folsom, 49-16. In that game Bulldog quarterback Jake Browning was almost perfect, directing his no-huddle offense to 35 points in the first half.

Coach Mike Johnson and crew hope this season things might be different – or maybe a little bit different. Wildcat fans may remember that Franklin’s top three running backs were all injured and out of the Folsom game. This year the top ground gainer, Lamar Jackson, who scored Franklin’s first TD of the game on Saturday, will have to shoulder the responsibility to consistently gain yardage to keep the high-flying Folsom offense on the sidelines.

In their playoff opener on Friday, the Bulldogs scored 42 points in the first quarter en route to a 70-16 rout of Stagg.

Franklin will need to ride a defense that held opponents to only 202 points in 11 games, third best in the Delta League behind Elk Grove (149 points) and Grant (166 points).

The Wildcats were stingy throughout Saturday’s game holding Modesto to a late first-half 27 yard field goal by Julio Corona and a Tre Ingram short run with about a minute left in the game. Franklin held the Panthers’ talented quarterback Nate Phillips to 161 yards passing and 43 yards rushing.

This season he averaged almost 200 yards passing and 120 yards rushing.

Plus, on Saturday, Franklin allowed the Panthers only 21 plays in the second half.

One thing, though, that helped Franklin was that Modesto receivers did drop five passes in the first half, all virtually in key situations. Two were drops in the end zone with another one that came on a fake punt.

Modesto outgained Franklin, 144-113 yards, in the opening two quarters, but trailed the Wildcats, 7-3 at intermission.

A Panther fumble early in the third quarter gave Franklin good field position and after a five-minute drive, Wildcat back Rahsaan York scored from the one-yard line on a fourth-down-and-goal situation. It was 14-3, Franklin.

After another Modesto fumble in Franklin territory, quarterback Jacob Lopez scored on a one-yard jog and Franklin led, 21-3, after three quarters.

Kardo Ballesteros tacked on a 34-yard field goal for the Wildcats with 3:14 left in the game.

With the loss Modesto continued a streak of futility they hope one day will end. The Panthers have never won a playoff football game.

“It’s frustrating that this school has never won a playoff game, but you learn something every year,” Modesto coach Rich Alkire told the Modesto Bee. “This year we were in the ballpark. Last year it wasn’t close.”

Herd Steamrolls Vintage; MT Squeaks By Cosumnes Oaks

Vintage High School’s first visit to the Sac-Joaquin Section football playoffs in seven years was, well, one that they’d all like to forget.

Vintage looked helpless and completely unable to stop the talented Thundering Herd squad, losing 69-7 to a team that has made it all the way to the Section’s Division II championship game the past two seasons.

The number-two seeded Thundering Herd poured it on the Crushers quickly. Running back Eltoro Allen sprinted 75 yards for a touchdown on just the third play of the game and the rout was on.

 ---------- Playoff Scores ---------

Monterey Trail 29, Cosumnes Oaks 28

Grant 42, Patterson 23

Inderkum 60, Valley 8

Bradshaw Christian 47, Gustine 6

Saturday, 1 p.m. Franklin at Modesto

Elk Grove led 34-0 after just one period and had a 62-7 halftime lead.

Herd defenders were in the face of Crusher quarterback Jared Horn throughout the night, forcing him to throw four interceptions, two that were returned by Manny Scott-Anderson for TD’s.
Scott-Anderson also blocked a punt that gave the Herd a short field in the first quarter. Plus, he rushed for two more touchdowns.

Prior to the late second quarter drive that led to Vintage’s only score of the game, Horn was just four-of-19 passing for 69 yards. He finished six-of-24 for 91 yards and a 17-yard TD pass to Connor Bates.

The Crushers’ rushing attack didn’t do much either. They had only 75 yards on 25 attempts.

Athletes Sign NLI; Football Teams Prep For Playoff Openers

Sixteen athletes from Elk Grove Unified High Schools signed NCAA National Letters Of Intent Wednesday morning. Here's their list of signees:

At Bradshaw Christian High School Wednesday two of their basketball players signed their letters of intent. Jordyn Bell will be attending Nevada-Las Vegas while Erika Bean will be playing next season at Utah.

Nine young women at St. Francis High School inked their letters, as well. They are:

National Letter of Intent signees at St. Francis

Danika Bailey, Softball, California

Lauren Charter, Water Polo, California

Erin Crooks, Swimming, Lafayette

Anna Donald, Volleyball, UC Davis

Marissa Gollnick, Volleyball, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Kylie Green, Volleyball, UC Irvine

Hayley Kusserow, Lacrosse, St. Mary’s

Miranda Myers, Cross Country/Track & Field, Northern Arizona

Miranda Reyes, Crew, Portland

Football Squads Prep For Playoffs

High School football's second season gets underway tomorrow night with three games locally.

The big showdown in Division I will be Monterey Trail, a 13th seed, playing at Cosumnes Oaks, the fifth seed. The Mustangs finished in fifth place in the Delta League with a 6-4 mark overall. The Wolfpack is in the big school division for the first time after winning the Capital Valley Conference this year. Kick off is at 7 p.m.

In Division II, Elk Grove, the number-two seed, will host Vintage at 7 p.m.

Bradshaw Christian will take on Guistine in a Division VI contest, also at seven.

Two other local teams will play their opening game away.

Franklin, which finished fourth in the Delta League, will be on the road Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Downey High School against Modesto.

Valley, a team that returns to the post-season for the first time in 14 years, will open the Division III playoffs at top-seed Inderkum, Friday at 7 p.m.

Kaur Misses State Golf; Valley Makes D-3 Football Playoffs

Gurman Kaur’s 2014 high school golf season has gone from record-breaking to disappointing.

The disappointment came at the end when the Franklin junior shot an 82 Monday, ten strokes over par, at the CIF/NCGA NorCal Regional Championships played at the Club at Crazy Horse Ranch in Salinas.

Kaur was four strokes out of advancing to the CIF State Championships next Tuesday at Red Hill Country Club in Rancho Cucamonga.

Her biggest success this fall came Oct. 20 in the final Delta League tournament of the season. Kaur set a course record at WildHawk Golf Club firing a ten-under-par 62.

Two golfers from the Sac-Joaquin Section did well enough to qualify for the State match: East Union’s Brooke Riley and Courtney Vogel of Woodland Christian.

Riley fired a one-under-par 71, despite driving the ball into water on number one. She finished in a two-way tie for third.

Vogel shot a 78 to finish ninth at the NorCals.

In the team totals St. Francis of Mountain View took first place with a score of 401, seven strokes better than Dougherty Valley.

Oak Ridge, the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters’ team champion, placed seventh with a 447, followed by Turlock at 483 and Davis with a 487.

Valley Makes Division III Playoffs

It’s an accomplishment for any football team to qualify for the playoffs. But in the case of the Valley Vikings, making the Section’s Division III post-season is huge.

They are in the playoffs for the first time since 2000. That year they defeated Jesuit, 35-28 in overtime, in the first round before falling to Nevada Union. 36-7.

Nahhas Huge In MT Win

Trey Nahhas may have saved his best for last. At least as far as school records go, Nehhas certainly concluded the regular high school football season with his best football game ever.

The Monterey Trail High School running back gained 346 yards on only 20 carries and scored six of the Mustangs’ touchdowns in a 60-24 romp over Davis Friday night at Mark Macres Memorial Stadium. Two of the first three times he touched the ball, he scored on romps of 51 and 52 yards.

“We just stuck to what we know,” Nahhas said. “We play like we practice and we had a good week of practice and took that into the game.”

Trey Nahhas (#32) lines up behind his offensive line

The Mustangs’ coaches claimed the last time one of their running backs topped 300 yards in a game was when Drake Tofi did it in 2010, the last year their team played in a Sac-Joaquin Section championship game. With Nahhas now toting the single-game record, they hope this game might be a sign of good things to come in the next few weeks.

The win assured Monterey Trail (6-4 overall, 3-4 Delta League) a spot in the upcoming Division playoffs, which means Nahhas and the Mustangs’ veer offense can inflict more damage on opposing defenses before the 6-0, 180 pound running back can call it a high school career.

“We were hungry and we knew we had to win this one for the playoffs,” Nahhas said. 

---Friday's Scores----

Elk Grove 44, Sheldon 0

Franklin 38, Pleasant Grove 10

Cosumnes Oaks 45, Ponderosa 21

Bradshaw Christian 40, San Juan 6

Valley 48, Florin 19

Saturday -

Laguna Creek vs. Johnson

Grant vs. Jesuit

Nahhas is a 4.0 student, too, which means schools such as Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo would love to have him continue a football career as a Mustang, the same nickname as his high school’s.

“He’s a great kid and no one deserves it more than Trey Nahhas,” Monterey Trail head coach T.J. Ewing said. “That’s a dream student-athlete. You always want a student-athlete like that to represent your school. He speaks volumes about the kind of kid we have here and who we are coaching.”

Nahhas is also one of the bigger running backs Ewing has coached at Monterey Trail.

“He’s a specimen,” Ewing added. “Take his shirt off, he’s a specimen. He’s super, highly-intelligent, too.”

Watch The Football Playoff Show

The Sac-Joaquin Section will stream a broadcast announcing its football playoff brackets for Divisions I through VII on Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m. To view the show, watch it here:

Fourteen EGUSD Athletes To Ink Intent Letters

Next Wednesday will mark the opening of the "early" NCAA National Letter of Intent signing period. Annually several local athletes use this occasion to ink their names onto commitments to colleges. This year 14 EGUSD seniors will sign those letters in one big ceremony at 7 a.m. at the Trigg Building in the board room. They are:

Typically, this is the time where softball players sign their letters because college coaches already are in contact with the girls during their summer tournament play. What is a bit surprising is that Hank LoForte, the shortstop at Franklin, is the only baseball player signing. Nick Madrigal, Elk Grove's shortstop, told me in September he's committed to Oregon State, but is open to being drafted in June by a pro team. Not sure why he isn't inking Wednesday.

I know his twin brother Ty may end up at Cosumnes River College along with half-brother Brooks Day. Hawks head coach Tony Bloomfield is interested in those two. Their Herd teammate, Carlos Moseley, could also play at a local community college.

Laguna Creek's Jack Walsh will likely play at the next level, too.

Community colleges don't offer letters of intent like the four-year schools do. Yet, the quality of baseball at our local JUCOs is quite good. Most CRC players leave after their two-year stint with scholarships at D-1 universities.

Both Josh Pigg and Kyle Von Ruden, teammates at Franklin H.S. and CRC, are now at the University of Hawaii.

Friday's Football

Locally our high school football teams will wrap up the regular season and the two teams that need a win in order to get into the post-season are Monterey Trail and Franklin. At 5-4, the Mustangs need to beat Davis at home to seal a trip to the post-season. Six wins pretty much insures a team a spot.

The Wildcats have the same mark and they play at Pleasant Grove (3-6), a team that for the first time in many years won't be in the post-season.

Undefeated Grant and one-loss Jesuit play Saturday for the Delta League championship.

Follow that game and all the others in the region here.....

Live chat: Prep football Week 10, 6:30 p.m.

 

Kaur Wins SJS Masters' Golf, M.T. Preps For Must-Win Game

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Kylie Fong may be the best female golfer in high school this season, but whether the Franklin High School senior ever plays on the Ladies’ Professional Golf Association tour remains doubtful. She’d rather go into nursing when she graduates from college a little more than five years from now.

“I don’t personally see myself as a professional,” Fong admits. “I see myself continuing to play golf. More like, just for fun.”

Fong will play another four years of competitive golf, though, because she’s on her way to Grand Canyon University in Arizona where she’ll get the opportunity to play virtually year round. Beyond that, she’d rather make golf just a fun outing.

Franklin's Kylie Fong who finished sixth yesterday at  the Section Masters

She started playing at age six, watching her dad practice in the backyard.

“He had set up a net in the backyard and I was watching him hit balls and it looked interesting to me,” Fong recalled.

Some of Fong’s best outings this season has come at just the right time. In the past few months she’s won eight Junior Golf Association of Northern California tournaments. During the high school season this fall she’s taken first place in all four Delta League tournaments. She was the medalist in the Sac-Joaquin Section’s Division I-North championship.

She says it’s because she’s been working on her short game in practice.

“I’ve definitely seen my scores drop a lot,” Fong said. “I’ve been a whole lot more consistent. This season I’ve been shooting in the mid- to low-70s.”

But, on Monday she slipped a little at the Section’s Masters Championship. She fired a three-over-par 75, good for sixth place overall, at the tough course at the Reserve at Spanos Park in Stockton.

The top four individuals will proceed onto the girls’ NorCal Golf Championships now. One of those four was teammate Gurman Kaur, who shot a two-under-par 70. She tied with East Union’s Brooke Riley  and Vista del Lago’s Emilee Hoffman for medalist honors.

Finishing in fourth was Courtney Vogel of Woodland Christian who shot an even-par 72.

In fifth place was Brittney O’Bryant from Pleasant Grove who was two strokes out of qualifying for NorCals with a 74.