Irvine Valley's No. 7 entry of the top 10 athletics stories of the 2013-14 school year is about women's golfer Leleaga Meredith shining performance at the State Championships.
The freshman was second after the first day of the two-day CCCAA State Championships at the Tracy Golf and Country Club last fall. And she finished third overall in the event.
Meredith was named all-Orange Empire Conference, all-region and all-state this past season.
Irvine Valley women's freshman golfer Leleaga Meredith had one of the best ever showings for the Irvine Valley women's golf team at the 2013 CCCAA State Championships, which finished up last November at the Tracy Golf and Country Club.
Meredith ended up third overall with a two-day total of 159.
She shot 76 on the first day and 83 on the second day. Par for the two days was 146.
Low individual score was by Santa Barbara City's Fanny Johannson, who was the only player to shoot both rounds in the 70's to finish with a 151.
Fullerton's Nea Bennett and Meredith tied for second at 159. But Bennett was moved to second and Meredith to third after Bennett won the tie-breaker.
Johannson also led Santa Barbara City to the team title. Irvine Valley won the title in 2013.
Meredith was still named to the all-state team for her efforts. She added to her list of awards on the season, which also included all-Orange Empire Conference and all-Southern California.
Meredith finished a solid fourth overall a week earlier at the two-day regionals with a score of 153. She was just three shots out of second place.
She also finished second in scoring average in the Orange Empire Conference during the season.
"Coming into the season I thought that she had the potential to be a great player for us," IVC Coach Ben Burnett said. "She is very long off the tee and has very good composure. She reminds me a lot of our former (Irvine Valley) two-time player of the year Nicole Rivera."
Meredith is back as a sophomore for the 2014 season to lead the Lasers.
The women's golf team will start its campaign on Aug. 31 at the two-day Desert Classic.
*In leading up to the start of the 2014-15 athletics campaign at Irvine Valley, which starts on Aug. 25 with women's volleyball, the Laser athletic department will countdown the top 10 IVC sports stories from the 2013-14 school year.
The countdown will begin on Thursday, Aug. 7 with the No. 10 story of the year and work its way down to No. 1 on Thursday, Aug. 21.
Some of the top stories in the running for the top 10 include special seasons by the women's soccer, men's tennis, women's volleyball and women's sand volleyball teams along with individual accolades earned by several IVC athletes for hard work both on the playing fields and courts and in the classroom.
