By VERNON ROBISON
Moapa Valley Progress
A Moapa Valley High School athlete entered new territory last week. Without much fanfare at all, MVHS senior Josie Delgadillo competed in the regional NIAA Golf tournament and came away with a score of 83 on the tough 18 hole course. That put her ranked at #2 in the Southern 3A going into this week’s State championship tournament.
“That’s the best that anyone from Moapa has ever done,” said MVHS Golf coach Lorenzo Delgadillo, who is also Josie’s father. “She had the game all the way through. She has practiced all season for that moment.”
The weather at Thursday’s tournament was near perfect. There was no wind and the sun was shining with mild temperatures.
Josie came to the tournament well prepared. She had spent the previous three days practicing at the Falcon Ridge course playing nine holes on the course each day; getting accustomed to its quirks and idiosyncracies.
“When you practice on the same course, you get to know how fast the greens are going to be in different conditions and what you need to do to take advantage of that,” said Coach Delgadillo. “They can change with water or sun, so she had to get accustomed to it to know how to play the course.”
By the time the regional tournament came around, Josie was ready for it, Delgadillo said. And she performed remarkably well.
“She stayed focused throughout the whole round,” he said. “That was what she needed to do because in golf, if you lose your focus, everything starts to fall apart. She held it together.”
Her regional tournament performance now puts Josie in a pool of 48 female golfers who are competing at the State Championship in Elko early this week. That puts her in the company of only two other female golfers from MVHS ever to go to State, Delgadillo said.
At the State Championship the competition will be intense. The first place spot in the south was won by Lani Potter of Boulder City. Potter recorded a 3-over-par 75 at Falcon Ridge on Thursday. Right behind Josie, in third place in the south was Carolyn Lemon of Western High School who scored an 85.
Coach Delgadillo is confident that Josie can perform well at the State Final. “The girl from Boulder City is very good and Josie hasn’t been able to beat her all year long,” he said. “But she has a good chance to beat her this week if she is on her game. She does have the chance to become a State Champion.”
Delgadillo said that his daughter was excited to be able to participate in Elko. “Any time you make it to the State tournament, it is exciting,” he said. “It is what you dream of when you are playing golf to be in one of those tournaments.”
