Socorro golf teams come home with medals

Through chilly turbulence at the Links at Sierra Blanca in Ruidoso, the Socorro boys and girls golf teams learned a good lesson in persevering through adversity.

And the Warriors came away winners in Monday’s tournament.

On the boys side, Isaiah Silva shot a four-over 76 to take individual medalist honors.

And the girls whipped the field, shooting 360 as a team to stalk off with a whopping 55-stroke victory.

It sets up Socorro for Monday’s District 3-1A/3A championship at the New Mexico Tech Golf Course in preparation for the upcoming, two-day state championship tournament May 12-13 at the Riverview Golf Course in Farmington.

“It was not our best day, but we persevered through the wind,” said boys coach Miguel Griego.

The Warriors finished third with a 338, a stroke behind second-place Grants and five behind winner Los Lunas, both of which play in bigger classifications.

“We kept our streak alive of not losing to a 3A team all season,” he said. “All throughout the day, we were right there even with one of our best players not playing his best, but we didn’t have the finish we wanted,”

Silva’s day was particularly strong because he had to overcome a rough opening.

“He didn’t have the start or the end that he wanted,” Griego said. “His first five holes, he had one birdie and the rest bogeys so it was a little bit of a rough start for him. During the middle stretch, he held it together and fought back pretty good.”

Nazario Silva turned in one of his better outings, carding an 84, while Ian Gonzales was two strokes back at 86. Andrew Handrich limped home with a 92, as did Tavin Benavidez.

“Two of our players who really struggled had a hard time with the wind,” Griego said of Handrich and Benavidez. “One (Handrich), puts a lot of spin on it, and the other (Benavidez) tends to hit the ball very high. These conditions kind of made it tough for them.”

Still, it was a good teaching moment for the whole team, Griego said.

“Afterward, talking with the guys, we always want to keep their morale up, and with district and then state, we wanted everyone to take a look at what they can work on this week,” he said. “We want them to use it as more of a learning experience. We want them to take these things and work hard this week on those things. I think it’s going to be real beneficial to us.”

For the girls, it was business as usual as all five players were among the top-10 finishers. Natasha Apodaca led the way with an 84 to take second overall, followed by Ariana Crespin, who was third at 87.

Kailyn Woods checked in with a 94 for sixth, followed by Abbegail Mungiua a stroke back in seventh, while Avery Timmons was ninth with a 101.

“We’ll take it,” girls coach Kristen Griego said of the blowout win. “We actually dealt with (the conditions) pretty well. In the morning, we went out with the understanding had we might have to hit more club or less club depending on how the wind was blowing. But we pretty much stayed calm, which is always a good sign. If we can be calm and present, we can always turn a round around.”

The Warriors showed their moxie with their steady play, the coach said.

“I think it was important for us to fight through the conditions because we’ve been lucky with the weather. We haven’t had a lot of weather compared to springs past,” Kristen Griego said. “Being able to handle the conditions and what the winds bring – it was colder and the gusts were little bit stronger than what we had seen in a while -- we did a good job of staying present and we showed that we can stay in it and score pretty well despite the conditions.”

All things considered, it was the type of round a coach appreciates, she said.

“We were just steady all day,” Kristen Griego said. “Even if we made a bad shot or had a bad hole, we were able to come back. There was nothing really outstanding or amazing. I’m happy with a boring, more-consistent day. Not a whole of ups and downs.”