MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / May 5, 2000

BATON ROUGE – When Riverside placed third at the Class 2A state golf championships in 1999, the Rebels made it a goal to take home the title the following season.

Mission accomplished.

Riverside overcame a three-hour rain delay during the first round Wednesday and wet grounds Thursday to come away with a 17-stroke victory at the state tournament held at Shenandoah Country Club.

Riverside finished with a team score of 623. Ridgewood was second with a640. St. Frederick was third with a 646 followed by University with a 647 andCatholic-New Iberia with a 649. Riverside led Ridgewood, 308-315, after thefirst round.

The Rebels’ Brett Bergeron captured the individual title with a two-day score of one-over par 145. Ridgewood’s Frankie Briseno defeated Episcopal’sPatrick Hanley and Vermillion Catholic’s Marc Noel on the second playoff hole to place second with a 153. Riverside’s Michael Schoen and University’s JonBurbank tied for fifth with 154s.

Ridgewood’s Danny Briseno and Josh Goldman tied for seventh with 156s while Riverside’s Steve Luminais, Catholic-New Iberia’s Jason Podd and St.

Frederick’s Veronica Yatco tied for ninth with 157s. The top 10 finishersearned all-state honors.

“We set the goal last year that we wanted to win state this year,” Bergeron said.

Bergeron was tied with Frankie Briseno after the first day with a one-over 73. He triple-bogeyed the second hole but came back with four birdies overthe final 16 holes.

Bergeron quickly went ahead Thursday, opening the second round with a birdie on the par 4 first hole after hitting his second shot from 160 yards out to within 10 feet and drilling his putt. Bergeron saved par on the secondhole after hitting his tee shot into the right rough. It would be one of onlyfour fairways he missed on the day. He bogeyed the eighth hole beforeparring the ninth to make the turn at even par.

Bergeron parred the first five holes on the back side before getting a birdie on the par 4 15th, sinking a 10-foot downhill putt. He closed out the roundwith a bogey on 18th, finishing with an even par 72.

“I knew the course was tight so I wanted to keep trying to hit fairways and greens,” Bergeron, who hit 13 greens, said.

Schoen shot a 78 Thursday after an opening-round 76 that helped the Rebels take a seven-shot lead over Ridgewood.

“We’ve been looking forward to it all season,” Schoen said of the championship. “We knew we could do it. (After Wednesday) we knew we hadto keep playing like we had or play better because both Ridgewood and University could go lower.”Luminais had an 80 Thursday after a 77 Wednesday.

“I shanked one on 11 but other than that, I played pretty good,” Luminais said. “(Thursday) we did not want to make big numbers. We knew we had ashot if we just played like we can.”Leisl Hasbrouck, playing her final round with the Rebels, added a 164 after shooting an 82 Thursday.

“These guys have been like a group of brothers,” Hasbrouck, who is moving to California with her family, said. “They were like my best friends. I wish themthe best over the next couple of years. It’s been a wonderful experience forthree years.

“We feel like we are on top of the world. Starting the day off, I wanted toplay my best because it was the last 18 holes I would play for the team.

Walking down the 18th fairway, I wanted to finish strong and make them proud.”Mike Lozano finished with an 84 for a two-day total of 167. Riverside coachElizabeth Torres credited him for keeping it all together.

“Mike Lozano came through for us,” Torres said. “He held it together for us.””It’s wonderful,” Torres said of the championship. “They deserved it. Thetalent they have and how hard they work. We had the best fans in the worldand (Belle Terre head professional and Leisl’s father) Bob Hasbrouck has done so much for the program.”

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