Cougars Finish Fourth at State Championship Tourney, Kitabatake is Runner-up

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director

SOLVANG — College of the Canyons women's golf had its state title aspirations washed away as inclement weather forced the cancellation of the second round of the 2025 3C2A State Championship Tournament at Alisal Ranch River Course on Monday.

The annual two-day, 36-hole tournament started on Sunday, Nov. 16. Players from the nine competing schools were able to finish the opening round despite heavy rain falling throughout the day. However, torrential rains in the area continued, which forced the postponement, and eventual cancellation, of Monday's round.

As a result, the single day, 18-hole scores were used to determine both the team and individual champions.

Orange Coast College won the state championship after a fifth-player card-off was used to break a tie atop the leader board with Reedley College then finishing as the runner-up. Both teams turned in four-player scores of 323 during Sunday's round.

Modesto College (324) was third followed by Canyons (344) in fourth and Mt. San Antonio College (352) in fifth.

Similarly, a card-off was also used to break a tie between the two individual leaders.

COC sophomore Sahya Kitabatake, the defending state champion from a year ago and the current Southern California Regional Champion, shot an even-par round of 72 on Sunday. 

That performance tied Kitabatake with Tessa Hernandez of Reedley College who also carded a 72. However, Hernandez' back-nine score was two shots lower than Kitabatake, which was the determining criteria used to award the individual state championship.

Kitabatake joined Hernandez as a member of the six-player 2025 3C2A All-State Team.

Elsewhere for Canyons, freshman Sofia Allard shot an 85 to finish the event tied for 23rd in the field of 64 players.

Freshman Alex Downing was next for the Cougars with a round of 91, placing her in a tie for 37th. 

Baily Fara Lieberman was the final scoring player for COC with the freshman finishing at 96 to place her in a tie for 48th. Zoe Keigley (133/64th) also competed for the Cougars but had her score dropped from the final team total.

Canyons was playing at the 3C2A State Championship Tournament for the 13th time in program history, having won five team state titles (2001, 2007, 2018, 2019, 2023).

The Cougars were crowned champions of the Western State Conference (WSC) in 2025, the 13th such title in program history. Kitabatake won the individual conference title and was named the WSC Player of the Year for a second straight season.

COC then went on to finish third at the Southern California Regional Championship earlier this month, with Kitabatake taking home the individual regional title.

Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.