Burbank girls’ golf dazzles with record-setting mark in league match
It’s been a rather impressive season for the burgeoning Burbank High girls’ golf team.
With their best player having yet to participate, the Bulldogs are already way ahead of schedule. It’s led to them qualifying for the CIF Southern Section Team Divisional after making program history Tuesday.
Burbank continued to sizzle after it registered its best-ever team effort over a nine-hole event with a 205 to take second in a Pacific League match Tuesday at Griffith Park’s Harding Golf Course.
“It’s a very good team, very talented,” said Burbank coach Branko Sevic, who conformed the milestone moment. “They are jelling and they continue to support each other and that’s when good things start to happen.
“It’s by far the most cohesive team I’ve had here and there’s that desire to keep improving each match. We did a lot of good things today.”
Arcadia, the defending league champion, finished first with a 194, followed by Burbank (205), Burroughs (253) and Crescenta Valley (296). Glendale competed, but didn’t have enough players to fill out its lineup on the par-36 course.
Burbank received a 39 from freshman Lisette Orellana, who earlier had two first-place finishes in league matches.
“We’ve all improved so much and we are concentrating on the positives, said Orellana, who tied for third with Arcadia’s Tiffany Lo. “It’s been a lot of fun to be around the team and good things are happening.
“I’ve been working a lot on my swing and I’ve been more consistent. My shots have been much more accurate and the balls are getting closer to the holes.”
The Bulldogs received 41s from Madison Lee and Cassie Morin-Gaona and 42s from Regina Ramos and Alyssa Tran.
Burbank will have sophomore Kiara Hernandez in the lineup for the next league match Oct. 2 at Brookside Golf Course in Pasadena. Hernandez, the reigning league champion, transferred to Burbank from cross-town rival Burroughs last summer and had to sit out the first five league matches, per CIF transfer rules.
“Kiara will make us that much more stronger,” Sevic said.
Erica Lee fired a 33 to finish first for Arcadia, which got a 38 from Nicole Ho, 39 from Lo, 40 from Jolie Fong and 44 from Denise Litonjua.
Burroughs, which competed without Jocelyn Kim because of illness, was led by Abby Powell, who carded a 46. The Indians got a 48 from Annika Lingod, 50 from Skye Brauer, 53 from Sadie Demmert and 56 from Adelina Hernandez.
“It was a pretty long course,” Demmert said. “The greens were fast. I think we are getting closer and we’ve been improving.”
Crescenta Valley received a 50 from Eliana Kim, 58 from Katie Bernade, 61 from Sofia Reddersdorf, 63 from Angie Agahasi and 64 from Nina Yalung.
“They’ve been coming to practice looking for ways to get better,” Crescenta Valley coach Mark Samford said. “They are doing a good job of applying themselves.
“They’ll fight until the end of the season and stay focused while playing through.”
Glendale featured four players, with Nikki Harrigan pacing the Nitros with a 55. Glendale, the host team, got a 60 from Arpi Stepanyan, 61 from Gabby Aghajanian and a 71 from Nicole Sermanukyan.
“We had several of our players shoot their best scores today,” Glendale coach Anthony Mohr said. “They’ve been practicing well of late.”
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