Smith returns from long layoff and finishes 5th with 78

SBCC's Pratima Sherpa made the top four in her ninth straight WSC tournament on Monday and teammate  Melanie Smith played her second round of the year and finished fifth in WSC No. 9 at Camarillo Springs GC.

Monday was also the first round of the 36-hole WSC Finals.

Sherpa shot 77 and placed fourth behind Canyons' 1-2-3 finish of Paige Heuer (2-under 70), Haruka Koda (72) and Jessie Lin (76). Smith, playing in the No. 5 position, was one stroke behind Sherpa in fifth place at 78. Alexa Bleth (83) tied for sixth.

Canyons fired a 301 (75.3 average) to claim its ninth straight conference win this year. The Vaqueros were second at 327 and Antelope Valley was a distant third at 422.

The Cougars are the defending state champion and have won 18 straight WSC events. They're a perfect 45-0 on the year and clinched their third straight WSC title. The Vaqueros, who've finished second in nine straight WSC tourneys, are 36-9.

Smith, a freshman from El Paso, Texas, shot 80 in the season-opening South Coast Classic and WSC No. 1 two months ago. She withdrew from WSC No. 2 on Aug. 26 and hadn't played for the Vaqueros until Monday's WSC tourney.

"Melanie has been battling a bad back," said coach Chuck Melendez. "I'm not surprised that she shot 78. She has the most tournament experience of all our players and her dad's a teaching pro. She really knows how to get her ball on the proper line. She almost had a hole-in-one today on a par-3."

Sherpa had an unfortunate situation where someone picked up her ball and she was assessed a two-stroke penalty.

"That affected her for a while afterward," said Melendez. "She needs to learn how to forget quickly when bad things happen. She birdied 15 and hit a nice shot at 16 within five feet. She decided to keep the pin in on her birdie try and it hit the pin and popped out."

"This isn't a difficult course. I think we'll play a lot better tomorrow."

WSC No. 10 and the final round of the WSC Finals will be contested on Monday at Camarillo Springs, starting at noon.
 
WSC Finals (1^st round) and WSC No. 9
At par-72 Camarillo Springs GC
 Team -- 1, Canyons 301. 2, SBCC 327. 3, Antelope Valley 422. 4, Bakersfield 434. 5, Citrus 439. 6, Moorpark, no score.
 Medalist (par 72) -- 1, Paige Heuer, Canyons, 70. 2, Haruka Koda, Canyons, 72. 3, Jessie Lin, Canyons, 76. 4, Pratima Sherpa, SBCC, 77. 5, Melanie Smith, SBCC, 78. 6 (tie), Alexa Bleth, SBCC, 83; Shabana Poswal, Canyons, 83.
 SBCC scores -- 4, Sherpa 77. 5, Smith 78. 6 (tie), Bleth 83. 10, Cally Casterline 89. Paris White 92, Marie Naud 99.
 WSC standings -- 1, Canyons 45-0. 2, SBCC 36-9. 3, Antelope Valley 22-23. 4, Citrus 19-26. 5, Bakersfield 13-32. 6, Moorpark 0-45.
 SBCC overall record -- 43-18.