The boys entered their third straight state tournament as favorites last year but again failed to win as a forgettable first day negated the Eagles’ tournament-best second-round score en route to a fourth-place finish.
Both teams return to the University Interscholastic League state tournament this year, both in the same roles as last year - the Lady Eagles are underdogs to heavy favorite Wall, while the Eagles are one of the boys’ favorites. The first round begins at 8 a.m. Monday at Morris Williams Golf Course in Austin, with the final round set for Tuesday.
The main reason the defending state champion Lady Eagles are underdogs is that three players are gone from last year’s team. Only Katie Harris and Sarah Dowell return. Freshman Haley Kemp and sophomore Stephanie Hoernis round out the squad.
Even with Harris winning the Region IV crown and Dowell taking third, the Lady Eagles finished 62 strokes behind regional champion Edna.
“We’re going to have to do our best,” Harris said. “We did lose three great players, but we did get two that are useful and are going to (keep improving). But Sarah and I are still here and we’re still looking to win.”
While coach Bobby Peschel said the goal in any state tournament is a title, he also acknowledged that the numbers speak for themselves.
“I think you have to be realistic,” Peschel said. “If we had four girls that shot in the 80s, even this year may be difficult to repeat because of the strength of Wall.
“Wall was not supposed to be beaten by us last year and was totally shocked we beat them. This year, they’ve got four girls that are playing at a high, high level and are going in as the consensus No. 1 team.”
The Lady Hawks return most of their team, including sisters Kyla and Kendra Whittley. Kyla Whittley posted a 69-71-140 to run away with the Region I tournament.
In contrast, Harris shot a 161 to win the Region IV title by 15 strokes.
“We still have a shot to compete, especially myself and Katie, for an individual title,” said Dowell, who was 16 shots back of Harris at the regional tournament. “We’re still keeping our heads up. I think we have a chance to do something.
“I finished third at regionals, and that was a little upsetting. My goal is beating all Edna girls and finishing as the No. 1 player on our team - like last year.”
So even if a team or individual crown seems like a long shot, Peschel said the Lady Eagles have been in that position before.
“The reason you play is you go down there and hope you have your best day,” Peschel said. “You have to receive some satisfaction out of the fact you’ve done as good as you an do. That’s what our girls are trying to go down there for - they each go down there, have their career day and have nothing to be ashamed of.”
Like the girls team, the Salado boys also lost three players from their state squad of 2006. But the Eagles aren’t devoid of talent.
Salado returns Region IV boys champion Ryan O’Rear and senior Clint Permenter, who is competing in his fourth state tournament, to go along with sophomores Jared Hahn, Tom Baine and Tyler Pines.
“This year was supposed to be a real big rebuilding year,” Peschel said. “Going down there, I don’t think we have anything to lose. We should be able to go down there and hopefully put up some of our best scores of the year. If we can do that, we’ll be right in it.”
Peschel said Hahn, O’Rear, Permenter and Baine have taken turns posting the Eagles’ low tournament scores, giving Salado the same type of balance its girls team used last year in its title run.
Peschel said that Spearman and Callisburg posted team scores similar to the Eagles at their respective regionals, but he thinks the favorite is Region III winner and defending state champion Edgewood.
“You have to look at Edgewood because they’ve been there and done that,” Peschel said. “You can’t take that away from them until somebody else beats them.”
And just as he thinks the Eagles will be a threat in the team standings, he believes O’Rear can be a factor in the race for the individual title.
“He’s been our scoring leader all year,” Peschel said. “He’s been playing very consistently. He posted a second-day 72 at regional, and the capability of him dropping lower than that is there. He’s looking to get his score into the low 70s or even 60s. I’m not saying that to put pressure on him, but the ability to do that is there.”
O’Rear said the lesson of last year’s tournament and its slow first round is one the Eagles haven’t forgotten.
“We fought back and shot the low round the second day,” O’Rear said. “I think it’s just a matter of hanging in there and trying your hardest on every shot and not getting down on yourself.”
And even on a team laden with sophomores and inexperience, confidence is one thing the Eagles don’t lack.
“I think we’re pretty confident in how we’re going to do,” Hahn said. “We placed first at regional, so all we have to do is be confident and shoot a good, solid round in the first round.”
