May 3, 2005
SPORTS
Golfers shine in 2-day event
Four out of six girls placed at the Lady Thunderbird Classic event held on April 19 and 20, leading them to another victory over local community colleges. The two-day event was hosted by MCC and held at the Dobson Ranch golf course.
MCC competed with other women golfers from community colleges such as Pima, Scottsdale, South Mountain, Paradise Valley, and Gateway.
MCC brought home four out of the six medals that were presented by Mesa Coach John Guerrero. Sara Falkenberg placed second, Marylou Starr third, Olivia Campos with fourth place, and Jamie Burke taking sixth place.
“The girls deserve everything good that comes their way,” said Coach Guerrero. “These girls are experienced and dedicated golfers; they work hard and show unbelievable respect for one another.”
This is John Guerrero’s fifth year of coaching MCC women’s golf, and his first year of coaching men’s golf. “We have all built amazing relationships together; we have fun and work very hard at the same time.”
Guerrero does all of his own recruiting and three of his girls are on, or will be, going to school on presidential scholarships. This includes 21-year-old Olivia Campos, who will be attending Illinois University next year on a scholarship. Campos is the captain of the team and has been golfing for Mesa for two years. “I just enjoy being part of a team,” said Campos. “When we are out here, no matter what happened, we just have fun.”
Falkenberg traveled a long way to be a part of this team. She was a Dobson high foreign exchange student from Sweden and has been on the team for one year. “I love golfing and being out here with all the girls,” said Falkenberg, though she will not be part of the team much longer because she eventually plans on retuning home.
According to the coach, the team has done amazing this year and won every event. “The girls are hard on themselves, and even though they do so well, they still feel they can do better at times. We make sure they keep a positive attitude at all times, they are pretty good about it they constantly encourage each other,” said Guerrero.
MCC’s next event will be The Scottsdale invitational at Star fire Golf Club. The girls mostly travel around the Phoenix area, but will be heading to Daytona Beach, Fla., for the NJCAA in May.