NOTEBOOK:
Burroughs golfer wins first AJGA event: Burroughs High girls’ golfer Emily Tubert is staying competitive before she heads to the University of Arkansas this summer.
Tubert, a senior, earned her first American Junior Golf Assn. victory by shooting a four-under-par 140 to capture the Under Armour/Vicky Hurst Championship earlier this month.
Tubert began the tournament strongly, as she birdied three of her first six holes on her way to a three-under-par 69.
Strong irons and wedges propelled her down the stretch, as she hit eight greens on the back nine.
“My wedges were really good today,” Tubert said. “I kept the ball in play, hit a lot of greens and rolled in some putts. It’s great to be able to win this tournament on Mother’s Day.”
The Under Armour/Vicky Hurst Championship was a 36-hole stroke-play event conducted by the AJGA Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club in Gold Canyon, Arizona-Prospector Course.
The tournament field boasted 51 boys and 27 girls, 12-18, from 18 states, Canada and Mexico. The boys’ division played the par-72 course at 7,066 yards and the girls’ division played at 6,053 yards.
The AJGA provides exposure for college golf scholarships and has an annual junior membership (boys and girls 12-18) of approximately 5,000 junior golfers from 49 states and 30 countries.
AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. Former AJGA juniors have compiled more than 400 victories on the PGA and LPGA Tours. AJGA alumni include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Stewart Cink, Cristie Kerr, Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel.
This past season playing for Burroughs, Tubert fired a five-under-par 67 In November to capture the championship at the CIF Individual Final and Women’s Southern California Golf Assn. Qualifying at Talega Golf Course in San Clemente.
She advanced to the Women’s Southern California Golf Assn, Tournament at the SCGA Golf Course in Murrieta.
She is the first area golfer to win a Southern Section title. In addition, Tubert is the first female athlete from Burroughs to win an individual championship in any sport.
She is also a two-time Pacific League champion and two-time All-Area Player of the Year.
Tubert’s success has also garnered her some exposure in the golf world, as she has been featured recently in the web pages of Golf Week and The Golf Channel.
Area baseball players headed to Cooperstown tourney: A group of youth baseball players from the Toluca Little League will be playing in a Cooperstown Dreams Park Tournament competition in New York in July.
The group of seven 12-year-olds play for the Toluca Thunder travel team and will be taking part in the week-long tournament along with 96 squads from across the nation.
All seven players have played, or are currently playing, in the city’s Hap Minor Park, Recreation and Community Services league or the Burbank Parochial League.
The Thunder will be playing a tournament in Irvine during the Memorial Day weekend and it has raised funds for organizations like Toys for Tots.
The team includes: Ash Hawkins, Jared Whaley, Ryan Van Loo, Brandon Mersola, Jaret Wrobel, Mikey Napoli, and Michael Naughton.
Former area athletes doing well in college: A host of former Burroughs and Burbank high track and field standouts have enjoyed recent success.
At the Big West Conference Championships May 14-15 at Cal State Northridge, Lilyana Morejon (Burroughs; junior at CSUN) placed seventh in the women’s 5,000 meters (17 minutes, 11 seconds) and was second in the 10,000 (34:59) and Ginny English (Burbank; junior at Cal State Fullerton) placed fifth in the women’s pole vault (11 feet 10 3/4 ).
At the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. Championships May 8 at San Diego State, Daniel Anderson (Burroughs; senior at UCSD) was second in the 800 (1:52) and was a member of a 4x400 relay team that finished fifth (3:19). Also at the same meet, Shana Emile (Burroughs; sophomore at University of California San Diego) placed sixth in the hammer throw (134-8).
At the Western Athletic Conference Championships May 14-15 in Ruston, La., Taryn Campos (Burroughs, freshman at Boise State) was a member of a 4x100 relay team that placed third (46.36) and she also helped the school’s 4x400 relay team place fourth (3:44).
Western Nelson (Burroughs, freshman at Cal State San Marcos) will be racing at National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics Nationals in Indianapolis this weekend.
— Jeff Tully