WACO – Wind gusts of 35 to 40 miles per hour greeted the golfers Wednesday for Day 1 of the Class 6A Region II tournament at Cottonwood Creek Golf Course. Robert E. Lee was able to withstand the conditions enough to post a fifth-place finish entering Thursday’s final round.

The Lady Raiders combined to shoot 354, which leaves REL eight shots behind fourth-place Coppell. Houston Memorial leads the way with 324.

The top two teams and top two individuals not on those teams qualify for the state golf tournament. In second currently is Montgomery (328) with The Woodlands (333) in third. After the Lady Raiders in sixth through eighth are Rockwall (356), Klein Oak (367) and Round Rock McNeil (390)

“It was blowing so hard the wind nearly tipped my cart over,” REL girls golf coach John Taylor said. “The wind got to our good players, but it did to everyone else (too). We are beating three really good teams and hopefully we can play much better tomorrow.”

REL freshman Annaka led the Lady Raiders with an 84. District medalist Sudney McConnell, also a freshman, shot an 89 with Bethany Rocha carding an 89. Rounding out the Lady Raiders scores were Adele Samson (94) and Ellen Choi (107). Taylor said the top three scores on Day 1 all came from the top three teams with the next two medalist spots shooting 78s. He said “it gives Annaka a shot if she tears it up tomorrow.”

The second and final round starts Thursday morning at Cottonwood Creek.