Girls win district golf title; Pagano is champion

Krista Pagano -- champion. photo by Peggy Chesser For the second year in a row, Sisters edged Molalla for the Special District 8 golf championship. The tournament was held at Aspen Lakes Golf Course in Sisters on Monday and Tuesday, May 10-11.

Krista Pagano recorded a two-day total of 175 to win medalist honors for the second year in a row. Pagano shot a 91 on the first day of the tournament and a personal best of 84 on day two to lead the Outlaws to victory.

On Monday, the first day of the tournament, weather conditions were cool and very windy. After 18 holes Pagano held a four-stroke lead over Cece Ferlan of Molalla. As a team, Sisters was up by one stroke over Molalla and up by 60 strokes over third-place Central.

"We'll take the one stroke lead," said Coach Mary Flande. "We played pretty well on the front nine and then everyone struggled on the back because it got so windy and cold."

Brittany Reed shot a season best 101 for the Lady Outlaws and Krystal Fitter carded a 111. Mackenzie McClain finished with 117 and Kelsey Gillespie with 138.

Weather conditions improved on Tuesday and so did the scores.

Flande said, "Going in we knew we were in the hunt if we could play consistent golf and play our best. After the front nine we found ourselves down by 13 strokes. Krista (Pagano), Krystal (Fitter), and Brittany (Reed) were again playing well but so were the girls from Molalla.

"Molalla turned in a very solid front nine," said Flande. Cece (of Molalla) had tied Krista for the overall best score after nine with a score of 40 on the front. Krista and Krystal both shot a 44 on the front nine."

Flande said that if Sisters was going to win they would have to play better on the back nine and Molalla would have to struggle.

"Krista turned in a season best 40 on the back for an 84 total on the day," said Flande. "Krystal played well on the back and finished at 91, 20 strokes better than the first day. Brittany was solid for the second day in a row with a 101. Mackenzie McClain had a great turnaround on the back nine with a 56 and Kelsey (Gillespie) also improved by 10 strokes on the back. Molalla continued to play solid but our kids were able to make up the 13 strokes from the front."

Sisters finished with a two- day team total of 816. Molalla was runner-up with 827 and Central third with 948. Kennedy finished fourth (982), Stayton fifth (1,001), Sweet Home sixth (1,009) and Cascade seventh with 1,160.

"I'm very proud of all these girls," said Flande. "They're a great group of kids and they showed a lot of heart this week. I believe in these kids and they proved once again how competitive and strong they can be when they come together as a group.

"As a team we're very excited about Krista being the individual district champion for the second year in a row. We couldn't be more proud of our senior leader and her accomplishment at the tournament," said Flande.