Sherpa, Smith, Bleth finish 4th, 5th and 6th in WSC Finals

Pratima Sherpa, Melanie Smith and Alexa Bleth all shot 80 on Monday and placed fourth, fifth and sixth in the WSC Finals women's golf tournament at Camarillo Springs GC.

Haruka Koda of Canyons won her second straight WSC crown with a 1-under 143 (72-71). She beat teammate and first-day leader Paige Heuer by seven strokes (70-80--150). Jessie Lin (76-77--153) of Canyons took third.

Sherpa, a freshman from Nepal, shot rounds of 77 and 80 for a 36-hole total of 157. Smith was a stroke back in fifth (78-80--158) and Bleth was another six shots behind in sixth (83-80--163).

Koda, who was the medalist in six of the 10 WSC tourneys, was named WSC Player of the Year. The Vaqueros landed five players on the 10-woman All-WSC team – Sherpa, Bleth, Cally Casterline, Paris White and Marie Naud. The main criteria was WSC season scoring average.

Casterline (89-87) took ninth in the WSC Finals and White (92-85) was 10th. Naud had the biggest improvement over Sunday's round (8 strokes lower) and White shaved seven strokes off her first-round score.

"I really felt like we were going to burn it up today but it didn't happen," said SBCC coach Chuck Melendez, who's in his 20th season. "Several girls had trouble putting. The greens had been punched (aeration process) recently and that made it tougher."

Canyons won the WSC Finals with rounds of 301 and 315 for a 616 total that was 36 shots better than runner-up SBCC (327-325--652).

The Cougars captured their third straight WSC title with a perfect 50-0 record. The Vaqueros were second at 40-10 and Antelope Valley was third (25-25).

COC claimed WSC No. 10, which was also played on Monday. Koda fired a 1-under 71 for medalist honors and Lin was second at 77. The Vaquero trio of Sherpa, Smith and Bleth tied for third at 80 along with Heuer of Canyons.

The Cougars beat the Vaqueros by 10 strokes (315-325) in WSC No. 10. AVC was third at 405.

Canyons, SBCC, AVC and Bakersfield all advance to the Southern Cal Regional on Nov. 10-11 at Via Verde Country Club in San Dimas.

WSC No. 10
At par-72 Camarillo Springs GC
Final scores
 Team -- 1, Canyons 315. 2, SBCC 325. 3, Antelope Valley 405. 4, Bakersfield 443. 5, Citrus 469. 6, Moorpark, no score.
 Medalist (par 72) -- 1, Haruka Koda, Canyons, 71. 2, Jessie Lin, Canyons, 77. 3 (tie), Pratima Sherpa, SBCC, 80; Alexa Bleth, SBCC, 80; Melanie Smith, SBCC, 80; Paige Heuer, Canyons, 80. 7, Makayla Dorman, AVC, 83. 8, Paris White, SBCC, 85.
 SBCC scores – 3 (tie), Sherpa 80, Bleth 80, Smith 80. 8, White 85. 10 (tie), Cally Casterline 87. 13, Marie Naud 91.

WSC Finals
At par-72 Camarillo Springs GC
Final 36-hole scores
 Team -- 1, Canyons 301-315--616, 2, SBCC 327-325--652. 3, Antelope Valley 422-405--827. 4, Bakersfield 434-443--877. 5, Citrus 439-469--908. 6, Moorpark, no score.
 Medalist (par 72) -- 1, Haruka Koda, Canyons, 72-71--143. 2, Paige Heuer, Canyons, 70-80--150. 3, Jessie Lin, Canyons, 76-77--153. 4, Pratima Sherpa, SBCC, 77-80--157. 5, Melanie Smith, SBCC, 78-80--158. 6, Alexa Bleth, SBCC, 83-80--163. 7 (tie), Makayla Dorman, AVC, 87-83--170; Shabana Poswal, Canyons, 83-87--170.
 SBCC scores -- 4, Sherpa 77-80--157. 5, Smith 78-80--158. 6, Bleth 83-80--163. 9, Cally Casterline 89-87--176. 10, Paris White 92-85--177. Marie Naud 99-91--190.
 Final WSC standings -- 1, Canyons 50-0. 2, SBCC 40-10. 3, AVC 25-25. 4, Citrus 20-30. 5, Bakersfield 15-35. 6, Moorpark 0-50.
 SBCC overall record -- 47-19.