Burbank High golf’s Irene Maemura medals in league match
PASADENA — Irene Maemura of the Burbank High girls’ golf team and Crescenta Valley picked up breakthrough efforts during the third Pacific League match of the season Wednesday.
Maemura, a senior and reigning All-Area pick, carded a three-under-par 33 to earn medalist accolades in a match that saw host Crescenta Valley turn in its best effort with a second-place finish at Brookside Golf Course No. 2.
PHOTOS: Third Pacific League golf match
Maemura collected three birdies to finish with the outright low score for the first time in a league match this season. She previously shared medalist honors with San Marino’s Elizabeth Wang, as both carded an even-par 34 at La Cañada Country Club on Sept. 2.
“It’s the longest course she’s played in league, but you come to realize that no course bothers her,” Burbank Coach Branco Sevic said. “Everything with Irene is straight forward. She’s getting more and more mature with her game overall and it’s like she’s on autopilot right now.”
San Marino won a league match for the third straight time with a 193 and was led by a runner-up Bella Setio (35). Crescenta Valley carded a 210 to take second, followed by Arcadia (219), Burroughs (240), La Cañada (251) and Burbank (254).
Crescenta Valley Coach Lee Pope said the Falcons needed a breakout performance.
“I’m very pleased right now because we were looking to move up,” said Pope, the reigning All-Area Girls’ Coach of the Year. “It’s like icing on the cake to get second and I think we knew we could play better than we did in the first two league matches.
“It’s a very big effort. Now, we want to use it as a springboard and hope we can gain some momentum heading into the next league match.”
Crescenta Valley received 41s from Gloria Namkung and Audrey Chung, 42s from Laura Perez and Andrea Han and a 44 from Gina Chung.
Burroughs was led by Ashley Phelps, who carded a 43. The Indians also got a 45 from Maddie Riggs, 48 from Bella Nava, 51 from Katrina Villareal and 53 from Raelinn Arnold.
Burroughs Coach Greg Everhart said the Indians have met his expectations through the halfway point of the season.
“I think we are at where we are supposed to be,” Everhart said. “We’ve finished fourth in all of our league matches and we are showing signs of improvement.
“We just want to get to where we have all of our players shooting in the 40s.”
La Cañada received a 42 from senior Keilee Bessho. The Spartans also got a 45 from Rachel Oh, 46 from Sydney Lew and 59s from Lexie Dreyfuss and Hannah Chew.
La Cañada entered Wednesday’s match coming off a sixth-place finish at the previous league match Sept. 9 at De Bell Golf Club in Burbank.
Spartans Coach Rich Wheeler, the reigning All-Area Boys’ Coach of the Year, said La Cañada had several players competing at Brookside for the first time.
“We had three of our players who had never played the course, so it’s good to move up a spot after taking sixth the last time,” Wheeler said. “We are still working at getting things together since we have a pretty young team.
“It’s day by day and inch by inch in trying to get better.”
Burbank got a 45 from Amy Tran, 53 from Alexis Poche, a 61 from Erin Tanner and 69 from Caitlin Brooks.
The next league match will begin at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Santa Anita Golf Course in Arcadia.