Freshman golfer represents PVHS at 3A State Championship — PHOTOS

BOULDER CITY — Pahrump Valley High School’s girls golf represented the valley during the NIAA Class 3A girls golf state championships held at the Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City this week.

Held over a chilly, wind-driven two days on Monday and Tuesday, freshman Raegan Saldana took the challenging last course of the year on with poise.

“Overall, this season was an amazing experience. I enjoyed everything it brought our way. Coaching high school girls golf has been a dream of mine for many years, and it was everything I hoped it would be,” girls golf head coach Sierra McKillips said. “I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to coach two awesome players and to work alongside a great assistant coach.”

Starting at 9:50 a.m both days, the Class 3A division teed off with the girls shooting in groups of four.

With a bit of a shake to start, the teams had to wait nearly 30 minutes for the public to play through before the girls could hit the course, causing massive backup throughout the tournament.

Fortunately for the 3A participants, they were able to complete all 18 holes, as the Class 5A championship was suspended on Tuesday due to impeding darkness.

On day one of the championship event, Saldana finished 18 with +41 over par with a final score of 113.

Day two saw a slightly different outcome as Saldana finished another 18 with +50 with a final score of 122.

Overall, Saldana placed 30th out of 32 participants in her inaugural championship tournament.

“Some of my favorite memories from playing my first year of high school with coach McKillips were when we made signs in ASL that nobody else understood as an inside joke, our Top Golf and Disneyland trips and when we did the glow golf fundraiser,” Saldana said.

Trojan senior Tiffany Sartin did not participate in this year’s state tournament but was a crucial part of the two-player team this year.

“Tiffany made huge strides in her on-course play, and I’m so excited for her as she moves toward her college goals. Raegan exceeded every goal she set and even made it to the state championship as a freshman,” McKillips said.

With a much lighter team this season than in years prior, the ladies got to take advantage of the one-on-one coaching opportunities.

“After coaching middle school golf for five years — often with over 25 players at practice — coaching just two girls this season made things easier. It allowed both myself and coach Danielle to focus more individually on each player, rather than running whole-team drills or routines. We even had the opportunity to play multiple rounds of golf alongside them and provide on-course lessons.”

Boulder City High School’s Emmerson Hinds won her third straight 3A individual state title, winning by 17 strokes.

End of the year fun

As promised by coach McKillips before the season started, the girls were able to take a trip to the happiest place on earth to celebrate their hard work this year.

“To wrap up our season, we took a trip to California where we met up with another high school girls golf team for a fun round at Green River Golf Course. The next day, we spent the entire day at Disneyland. The girls — and both of us coaches — had a blast celebrating the season,” McKillips said. “It was a wonderful way to reward their effort and dedication. I would love to see more girls show interest in joining our team.”

When asked about the troubles of recruiting ladies to the program during the fall, McKillips pointed to the issue of lying in the overlap of other major seasonal sports.

“I know a lot of 3A schools don’t have a middle school program, I think the only reason they don’t move the girls to a different seasonal time would be the issue of tee time overlaps,” McKillips said. “I think that we would have a much larger team if that was the case.”

Contact Jacob Powers at jpowers@pvtimes.com. Follow @jaypowers__ on X.