Only Burroughs survives Pacific League girls’ golf gauntlet

ARCADIA — A league champion was crowned, the team standings were finalized and the field of the Pacific League’s final 11 girls’ golfers was set at Wednesday afternoon’s sixth and final league meet at Santa Anita Golf Course in Arcadia.

Though San Marino won the match with 197 points, second-place Arcadia (199) earned the Pacific League crown and finished with a 27-3 record, one win better than 26-4 San Marino.

Locally, Burroughs (19-11) finished third on Wednesday with 208 points and took third overall in the league standings to grab the last automatic spot to the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

Arcadia, San Marino and Burroughs all earned a trip to the Northern Division Team Championship, which takes place Oct. 31 at Los Robles Greens in Thousand Oaks.

“You have to be proud of the girls for what they were able to accomplish,” Burroughs Coach Greg Everhart said. “I’m also really excited about the individual results.

“The past couple of years, we’ve been really close to getting people to move on, but this year we have a legitimate chance of having some players make it to CIF as individuals.”

As for individual results, San Marino’s Elizabeth Wang and Ada Wong tied for the win with an even-par 37. The top area honors went to Burroughs’ Maddie Riggs, who tied for sixth with a two-over 39.

The far more important score was the league’s six-match individual total as the top 11 golfers qualified to the Pacific League finals on Tuesday at Oxnard’s River Ridge Golf Course.

Burroughs’ Riggs and Ashley Phelps were the only locals to punch their tickets as the duo finished sixth (149.5 points) and seventh (146.5 points), respectively.

San Marino’s Wong (first, 173), Cameron McCrary (third, 159) Wang (eighth, 142.5) and Vivian Sun (11th, 137) all advanced, as did Arcadia’s Katie Villegas (second, 166.5), Joanna Wang (fourth, 154.5), Gabby Lewis (fifth, 153.5), Jannell Lo (ninth, 141) and Tiffany Lo (10th, 139).

They will battle to earn a spot to the CIF Southern Section Northern Individual Regional Tournament back at River Ridge on Oct. 24.

There was some confusion in the aftermath of the day’s tournament as to how many players would advance.

It was announced by the coaches that the league would only be sending eight representatives. The latest Southern Section playoff bulletin lists the Pacific League as having nine spots.

As for the day’s scores, Burroughs received 42s from Raelinn Arnold and Annie Adachi, while Gabija Petrulis carded a 43.

Wednesday proved to be a tough day for Crescenta Valley, which finished fourth with 248 points.

Overall, Crescenta Valley (12-18) took fourth in league and missed grabbing a qualifying spot. The Falcons could have wrapped up an at-large berth with a score of 235, which would have given them six qualifying scores for the season, but also missed out.

“There’s no question that we’re all disappointed and the girls were in tears,” Crescenta Valley Coach Grant Clark said. “It was rough and now that’s all water under the bridge. We have a few [nonleague] matches left to get that sixth qualifying score and we need to get it.”

Gloria Namkung finished with a team-best 43 for Crescenta Valley, which received a 49 from Vienna Bebla, a 51 from Yena Cho, a 52 from Emily Redecker and a 53 from Michela Labellarte.

In a bit of an upset, Burbank (2-28) finished fifth with 272 points and picked up a rare victory over La Cañada, which finished with 273 points and a 5-25 mark.

“Finally, we got one,” Burbank Coach Branko Sevic said. “It just shows the hard work of the girls paid off. We’re a young team, we’ve put a lot into this and this will be good building for next year.”

Amy Tran led Burbank with a 45, while Olga Marie Davis carded a 50, Cassie Vargas tallied a 54, Pawee Akkharachotmongkho totaled a 56 and Erin Tanner finished with a 67.

The league season also ended for La Cañada and first-year coach Dennis Ballard.

Ai Ishida paced the Spartans with a 51, while Lucille Park (52), Emma McGinnes (54), Emilee Herrmann (54) and Stephanie Lee (62) rounded out the scoring for La Cañada.

“I’m most impressed with the improvement we made in practice throughout the season,” Ballard said. “On the bus ride over, I set some goals for the girls and most of them came really close, so I was pleased. They’re growing and learning.”