Girls golf: Kermit falls out of medal contention on final day

AUSTIN Maybe it wouldn't have hurt so much had a better finish not been in reach.

But to have a seven-stroke lead for third place heading into Tuesday's final round turn into a rout the other way wasn't exactly pleasant for the Kermit Lady Jackets at the UIL Class 2A State Golf Championships.

Making its first state appearance as a team since 1985, Kermit had to settle for a fourth-place finish after getting passed up by Salado for the third-place finish and bronze medal.

"It's something to be proud of, but you're always going to want more," Kermit senior Lauren Nutt said of simply making it to the state tournament. "Salado improved 30 strokes better and we got worse by 30 strokes. It just doesn't feel good."

The difference wasn't quite that dramatic, but Nutt didn't exaggerate too much.

Salado shot a 337 in the second round to finish at 696 for third place while Kermit fell back to a 375 in its second round after a 352 in Monday's first round to come in at 727.

There never was a question about the top two spots, and Wall's stronger second round led to its third consecutive state title. Wall shot a 324 in the second round and finished at 643 while Callisburg fell back to a 344 for a 665 total.

However, the third-place medal was Kermit's to win with a seven-shot edge heading into the second round.

"I think a lot of it was nerves," said Kermit senior Danielle Rivera, who was the only Lady Jackets player with previous state experience after qualifying as a medalist last year. "We knew we were in third and I think we wanted to, I guess, out-do ourselves, and we just lost it. I know I did."

Rivera finished 15th in the medalist standings at 171 after an 88 in the second round, which followed her 83 in the first round.

Lauren Nutt actually shaved six strokes and shot an 87 - the team's best for the day - and finished at 190 for the tournament. Allison Michel shot 99 for the team's third-best score in the second round, Lindsay Nutt came in at 101 and Ravyn Marshall rounded out the team scoring at 109.

"It hurts, but we didn't play as good as we should have and the team that caught us (Salado) played well," Kermit coach Cody Guynes said. "I'm proud of the girls. It was the first time here for four of them and we've got a lot of those back, so we'll build on that and hope we'll be back."