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Gunn sophomore Anna Zhou improved upon her runner-up finish from last year and captured individual honors at the girls' Central Coast Section Golf Championships on Tuesday at Rancho Canada (East Course) in Carmel Valley.

Zhou fired a 4-under-par 68 to help the first-year Titans finish second in the team race with 403 strokes and qualify for next week's NorCal Championships. Zhou's round incluced a stretch of two birdies and an eagle -- on the 439-yard par-5 16th -- in her final seven holes.

The 68 was Zhou's best 18-hole score. Her previous best was 69. Zhou shot 70 to finish tied for second at the 2011 CCS finals.

Gunn junior Jayshree Sarathy shot 74 and freshman teammate Tiffany Yang added a 79. Lianna McFarlane-Connelly shot 89 and Somina Lee carded a season-best 93 to round out the Titans' historic effort. Gunn was the only public school to finish among the top five teams.

"Our team score of 403 was good enough to win the CCS team competition in any other year (but this one)," said Gunn coach Chris Redfield."

Gunn now advances to the CIF NorCal Girls Golf Championships on Monday at Brookside Country Club in Stockton.

Valley Christian won the team title with a 402 score. Presentation was third with the same score (419) as St. Ignatius, but won a two-hole playoff (21-19) to earn the third berth for NorCals. Castilleja missed out on advancing by taking fifth (437).

Chloe Sales and Nicole Mitchell led Castilleja with identical 83s with senior Taylor Wilkerson (84), Danielle Mitchell (92) and Caroline Debs (95) rounded out the Gators' scoring.

Menlo-Atherton's Xin Fang shot a 5-over 77 but did not qualify for NorCals, nor did Menlo School's Jessie Rong (79) and Caroline Broderick (87) or Pinewood's Allison Beers (89).

— Palo Alto Online Sports

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