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of an overnight sensation.There have been whispers since that year, in fact, about a young group of golfers that could help make the Lady Loboes one of the best in Texas.
They'll get their first shot today and Friday in the UIL Class 3A Girls State Golf Championships at Roy Kizer Golf Course in Austin.
"We're all just really determined and we have been since our freshman year," Monahans junior Victoria Moore said. "It's really nice to know that everybody's just staying out and practicing and trying their hardest. That's what got us where we are now."
Monahans has had a handful of teams reach the state tournament over the last decade, but this very well could be the best - and it still has plenty of upside.
Moore, Allison Parks and Jordan Jernigan all are juniors while Shelbye Hill and Courtney Rutledge are sophomores, so this shouldn't be a one-and-done type of experience.
"Without all the hard work that everybody has put it, we wouldn't have reached this far," Hill said. "It's a dream, but we still have to go out there and play our game. I think we're prepared. I think it's going to be a fun competition and it's going to sink in once we get there that we belong."
The Lady Loboes showed that by finishing a solid second at the Region I-3A Championships in Monahans.
They finished just nine shots behind defending Class 3A state champion Andrews and almost matched the Lady Mustangs during the second round, shooting just three shots behind.
Andrews still will be a prohibitive favorite since it returns four players from last year's championship squad, but Monahans has been closing the gap all season.
"They're the defending state champs and all year we've looked up to them," Monahans coach Becky Hix said. "We know they have experience and that will help them, but we have played this golf course a couple of times and that makes me feel a little more comfortable. There's some years we go down there and none of the kids have ever played it."
Experience on the course might help make up for the fact none of the players have played in the state tournament.
Plus, the Lady Loboes have the satisfaction of knowing they cleared the final hurdles this season to qualify and play with the best in their sport.
"The improvement everybody's shown throughout the season, it's really crazy," Jernigan said. "We all started in the 80s and everything and to see all our scores dropping down and everything has been great. We just have to go out there and play our game and have fun, because when you have fun, it's the easiest thing in the world."
Monahans apparently had plenty of fun while qualifying for the state tournament, and showed at the same time that it could be a serious challenger in Austin.
Each of the team's players shot rounds of 82 or better at the regional tournament -- Hill fired a 71, Jernigan and Moore both shot 78, Rutledge had an 80 and Parks had an 82 -- to display a balance that could come in handy when the pressure is at its greatest.
"Everywhere I go, even people I don't know say congratulations to me and it feels really good that the community is caring about it and all of us," Parks said. "We have pretty much our whole game together and now we have to keep pushing."