PATTERSON — All Brooke Riley and Jordan Vinson could think about was the shots they missed.

Riley had her confidence shaken early after a wayward tee shot sailed out of bounds on the second hole at Diablo Grande’s Legends Course. She triple bogeyed the hole.

Meanwhile, Vinson three-putted six times, and veteran Brittany Ugalino struggled en route to a 99 — more than 10 strokes off her normal 18-hole average.

No matter.

East Union still captured its seventh Sac-Joaquin Section banner in eight years Monday in the Division IV Tournament, edging runner-up Vista del Lago, 443-452. Sierra, making its first appearance at a section event since 2008, placed fourth out of the eight teams with a 526.

The Lancers had three medal winners, as Riley finished 5-over 77 for third place and Vinson took fourth with a 79. Breanna Perkins added an 86 for sixth. Two Vista del Lago players produced the best rounds, with medalist Emilee Hoffman turning in a 71 and Noor Ahmed a 76.

Elsewhere, Ripon High continued its surprising late-season momentum by garnering the school’s first-ever girls golf title in the Division V tourney in Lodi.

For Vinson, the team’s achievement was enough consolation to forgive herself for the shots she left on the greens at challenging Diablo Grande.

“It’s good to win it going out your senior year and keep that (streak) going,” she said.

Brittany Conjin rounded out scoring for East Union with a 102. Rebecca Leonard carded the throw-out of 110.

Expectations are higher for the SJS Masters Tournament at The Reserve at Spanos Park, as the Lancers seek their first NorCal berth in five seasons.

“We can all shave some strokes next week and hopefully we’ll all play decent enough to move on,” Riley said.

Head coach Dennis Wells anticipates that a sub-430 score will at least give East Union a chance.

Second-year Sierra coach Jack Thomson and the rest of the Timberwolves took the happy-to-be here approach Monday after ending a four-year drought of not reaching divisional tournament. Vanessa Rodriguez led them with a 96. She was followed by McKenna Doyle (100), Kayla Wilson (107), Lexus Barnes’ (111), Legacy Barnes (112) and Krystal Rayevich (112).

“It was a good year,” said Thomson, who led Sierra to second place in the Valley Oak League. “We’re only losing Lexus (to graduation), so we’re young. I’m real proud of the girls because they just got better as the year went on. We’re real happy with fourth place.”

Manteca High had two representatives who held their own with solid scores. Katie Hankins checked in with a 93, and Kaylie Grimes a 97.



Division V

Ripon had to beat a champion for a third time to be the champion.

The Indians’ late-season run started at the end of the Valley Foothill League regular season, when they knocked off North Division titlist Escalon in a dual match. They did it again to win the VFL — North Tournament, and repeated the feat Monday at Micke Grove Golf Links by outpointing the second-place Cougars, 524-553.

“I have never seen a team just absolutely step up the way this one did late in a season,” Ripon coach Eric Dambrosio said. “We needed to beat Escalon twice just to advance (to divisionals), and the girls were clutch again today.”

Did he see this coming at the start of the season?

“Not at all, honestly. At the beginning of the year I knew they had the potential, but I didn’t think they would realize it by this point of the season.”

Sienna Starck paced the Indians with a third-place score of 89 as she added a new medal to her collection. Erin Wever placed 10th with a 99, crushing her previous-low of 111 in an 18-hole tournament. Hailey-Rae Rose (104), Alex Gonzales (116) and Clair Wever (116) made up the rest of the team’s score. Alyssa DeMara’s 130 was the throw-out.

Kaitlyn Groshong was the lone qualifier for Ripon Christian. She shot a 111.

The Indians will join East Union at the Masters Tournament set for Oct. 28 in Stockton