STOCKTON – Jackie Ketner found herself matched up with a pair of the area’s best golfers, but that did not phase the East Union standout as she turned in a solid six-over round during the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Girls Golf Championship at The Reserve at Spanos Park.

Ketner attacked one of the more challenging courses in Northern California playing alongside Escalon High’s Presli Pilati and Lalita Gupta of Rio Americano and more than held her own, finishing with an 18-hole score two strokes better than Pilati and eight lower than Gupta.

The Lancers missed out on an opportunity to advance as a team, finishing the round with a combined score of 460, just 14-strokes more than the last advancing team, Christian Brothers, and its round of 446.

“We were definitely capable of advancing,” co-head coach Brian Goulart said. “We figured that 440 would be enough to advance and we were course because 446 advanced. We can definitely do that.

“It’s one of those things where pressure becomes part of it.”

Frances Telles finished with a respectable round of 88, while teammates Jillian Goulart and Tori Souza both closed out with 94’s. Salina Tiscareno shot a 106 and teammate Heather Souza finished the course in 109 shots.

St Francis turned in the tournament’s lowest team-round, shooting an impressive 373. Oak Ridge High followed in behind St. Francis with a team score of 437 and Christian Brothers finished behind Oak Ridge.

“We just didn’t answer to pressure very well,” Goulart said. “We have shot a lot lower than that on some tougher courses even this year.
“We just didn’t get it done.”

Ketner’s round was nearly impressive enough to land her a berth in the CIF Northern California Championships Monday at Almaden Country Club in San Jose, but the Valley Oak League individual champion closed her round three-strokes behind Marissa Hinchman of Lodi High who advanced with a 75.

“That was a real good score for most people,” Goulart said of Ketner’s round. “But she has played that course really good; she’s shot as low as two-over on that course, so she wasn’t real happy.

“Her round would have been okay for her had we shot a little better as a team.”

Shawnee Martinez was the lowest qualifying individual with a score of 71, while Paige Lee of Granite Bay (73) and Sagee Palavivatana of Center High (73) finished behind her.

The Lancers closed out another phenomenal season, leaving the returning players loft aspirations to shoot towards next season.

“One thing I have to say about this group is they are some hard workers,” Goulart said. “They never missed a day of practice, they all got along well, it really was a special group. Nobody thought we were any good.

“We basically replaced two college golfers with two beginning golfers and still got the job done.”