By MARTY JAMES martyjames.sports@gmail.com
The Napa Valley College women's golf team concluded the Big 8 Conference season on Thursday, Oct. 26, placing fifth in the final tournament of the league season at Turlock Golf & Country Club.
Napa Valley posted a 368-team score. It was the conference's 10th and final tournament of the fall season.
In addition, the Storm's Jill Obelleiro was named to the All-Big 8 Conference team.
Obelleiro led the Storm, posting an 89.
"Congratulations to Jill Obelleiro. Really proud of her. Quite an achievement," said NVC coach Bob Freschi.
Also playing for the Storm was Ping Yang, 91; Desiree Berdiago, 93; Ela Ashley, 95; and Mya Brooks, 107.
Reedley College won the tournament, shooting a 341-team score.
In second place was Sacramento City College at 354.
Sierra College-Rocklin and Modesto Junior College tied for third, each at 363.
Also in the field was San Joaquin Delta College-Stockton at 394.
The rough and speed of the greens made for a challenging day, said Freschi. The greens, he said, were rolling fast.
"I think the rough was the biggest thing," he said.
"Turlock is always a tough one for us. It was a good challenge for us. Again, it's just another example of hey, you don't know what the field is doing. So you've got to grind on every shot, on every hole, and being able to eliminate those double (bogeys) and triple (bogeys) and get a respectable score."
NVC will spend next week preparing for the California Community College Athletic Association-Northern California Regional Championships, Nov. 6-7, at Yolo Fliers Club in Woodland.
"We had a nice conversation about what it's going to take at NorCals. Our focus going into (Thursday) is more on NorCals," said Freschi. "Let's just use this as a tune-up, working on our weaknesses. Everybody has their own weakness.
"I felt like we had some great strides on a certain amount of holes. Now, we're going to have a good week's worth of practice, give it our best effort and try to make a bid to bring home a trophy and then qualify for the state championships."
The top four teams at NorCals advance to the CCCAA State Championships, Nov. 13-14, at Hunter Ranch Golf Course in Paso Robles. The top three teams at NorCals will receive awards.
Six individuals outside of those top four teams also advance to state.
* Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, 2019 after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016, the Vintage High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019, and the Napa High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022.