McALLEN — McAllen Memorial and Sharyland High are in prime position to earn a spot at the Class 5A boys golf state championship tournament by taking second and third after Day 1 of the Region IV tournament at Champion Lakes Golf Course in McAllen.
Sharyland High finished Monday six strokes behind Smithson Valley at 24 over par with Octavio Cantu (1-over) leading the team. Cantu birdied three times on the front nine and is second individually behind Smithson Valley’s Ryan Griff, who is three strokes ahead.
Sharyland High’s Lorenzo Garza is at 5-over and tied for sixth, and teammates Vik Akin and Nico Trevino are both at 9-over.
McAllen Memorial is two strokes behind Sharyland High in third. The top three teams make it to state.
Memorial’s Dylan Villarreal is 2-over after a 74 and tied for third with Smithson Valley’s Aiden Page.
Villarreal, Diego Amour (7-over), Evan McGurk (7-over) and Liam McGurk (9-over) are holding off fourth place by 13 strokes.
Harlingen South is 15 strokes behind Memorial in sixth place. But even if the Hawks do not shave off enough strokes to challenge for a team spot, Jeffrey Janik is in the top individual qualifying spot and Hudson Gonzales is not far behind.
Janik is in fifth place at 4-over par after a terrific back nine. Gonzales had a strong front nine to come in at 8-over, only two strokes behind the last individual spot. Three individuals who are not on teams that qualify earn a spot at state.
Mission Veterans is 10th and Weslaco East is 16th.
Smithson Valley, the defending state champions, came in at 18 over and has players on its second team that are going to push for qualifying spots.
Day 2 tee times start at 8 a.m. at Champion Lakes GC in McAllen.
