Vaqueros grab third in Regional Preview with season-low 369

Zach Steinberger shot a season-best 72 on Monday and Theo Andre-Fouet added a 73 as SBCC took third in the 16-team Southern Cal Regional Preview men's golf tournament at Los Serranos CC in Chino Hills.

Orange Coast won the title with a sizzling 3-under 357. Mt. San Antonio was second at 367 and the Vaqueros tied WSC rival Canyons at 369. SBCC won the tiebreaker for third as No. 6 scorer Mikha Benedictus beat his counterpart by one shot (79-80).

Santa Barbara's 9-over 369 was a season best and the first time they broke 370 this year.

Steinberger, a sophomore from Dos Pueblos High, was playing No. 6 in the Vaquero lineup. He tied for eighth while Andre-Fouet, a sophomore from France, tied for 15th. Trent Caraher shot 74 and Brant Schenk and JB Jandro carded 75s.

Nobuhiko Wakaari of Canyons and Connor O'Hern of OCC both shot 4-under 68 to share medalist honors.

"We played well and we could have gone even lower," said coach Chuck Melendez, whose team is 104-15. "I was very proud of them and our effort was good. I told them, 'We need to finish in the top 4 here to have a chance to compete for the state title.' "

The Vaqueros return to conference play next Monday in WSC No. 8, hosted by Citrus at San Dimas Canyon GC.
  
Southern Cal Regional Preview
At par-72 Los Serranos CC
Final scores
 16 teams -- 1, Orange Coast 357. 2, Mt. San Antonio 367. 3, SBCC 369 (better 6th-man score). 4, Canyons 369. 5, Palomar 371. 6, Cypress 376. 7, Irvine Valley 381. 8, Desert 382. 9, Ventura 383. 10, Bakersfield 387. 11, Riverside 389. 12, Saddleback 390. 13, Glendale 391. 14, Mt. San Jacinto 415. 15 (tie), El Camino, Cuyamaca, no score.
 Medalist (par 72) -- 1 (tie), Nobuhiko Wakaari, Canyons, 68; Connor O'Hern, Orange Coast, 68. 3, Zach Brown, Palomar, 70. 4 (tie), Blake Copeland, Mt. SAC, 71; Julio Ibarra, Mt. SAC, 71; Michael Ray, Ventura, 71; Michael Choma, Desert, 71.
 SBCC scores -- 8 (tie), Zach Steinberger 72. 15 (tie), Theo Andre-Fouet 73. 18 (tie), Trent Caraher 74. 24 (tie), Brant Schenk 75, JB Jandro 75. Mikha Benedictus 79.
 SBCC overall record -- 104-15.