The girls’ varsity golf team will be advancing to state for the third year in a row after winning the 5A Region II championship at Rockwall Golf and Athletic Club.

“Regionals was awesome. We won by 27 strokes so we had a pretty good lead,” junior Loren Matrone said. “We were in the lead by four the first day and kind of blew it away the second day, it was an awesome way to win.”

While the girls advanced to state last year with a second place finish at regionals, this year they advance as the first place team in the region.

“Last year we had a lot more of a challenge because the teams were a lot stronger in the region,” golf coach Shannon Glidwell said. “We were in second place, pretty good ways behind the team ahead of us. This year we had a huge rally and we were the first.”

The girls faced wet weather at the regionals tournament. Despite heavy rain and wind, the team pushed through for the win.

“Our first day was a big struggle, the weather was really poor. We were not quite at our best, but we were still good enough to compete after day one,” Glidwell said. “Day two we really pulled ahead and shot our class and played great so it was awesome.”

Glidwell, after going to state for the fourth time in the past five years, believes each year playing at the state tournament is a chance for improving skills and is hopeful for a state rank this year.

“Winning is going to be difficult, though I think we have a really good chance,” Glidwell said. “We have to play our best, everybody has to be mindful and aware. It’s a really difficult golf course, there’s a lot of pressure, but we are as good as anyone that we are going to play.”

For the five girls on the varsity golf team who spent both fall and spring seasons practicing and playing at tournaments, winning state is a strong possibility.

“It feels really good to know that we’ve worked hard and it’s paying off,” junior Darby Deans said. “If we all play our best, we have a good chance to win.”

The team will face high ranked teams across the state of Texas and attempt to bring down any competition to bring home the school’s first team state championship.

“There are some really competitive teams from down in the Austin area, so it’s going to be tough but we’ve got a great team and a bunch of girls who work really well together and play well together,” Matrone said. “If we play like we can, we can win. It would be unreal.”