St. Joseph/s girls golf team broke through in a league tournament for the first time this year Thursday.

Santa Ynez solidified its hold on first place while Lompoc/s Julia Heath posted another medalist round.

Maranda Gaspar led the Knights to victory in the tourney St. Joseph hosted at Rancho Maria Golf Club Thursday. She had a breakthrough round of 36 over the nine holes as the Knights had a winning score of 246.

Gaspar/s formula for her best round ever at Rancho Maria was simple. &#8220I putted better today,C the junior said. &#8220And I only missed one fairway.C

St. Joseph junior Erika Maldonado said, &#8220It was a lot of hard work, but we pulled through as a team today.C Maldonado shot a 51. Marlee Mier shot the Knights/ second-best score, 44. Melissa Mier shot a 54 and Nancy Bentivegna rounded out the Knights/ scoring with a 61.

Lompoc/s Julia Heath was the medalist with a one-under 35. However the Braves, who are in second place in the league standings, lost by a point to Santa Ynez. The Pirates finished second to St. Joseph with a 248 Thursday. Lompoc shot a 249.

Santa Ynez leads Lompoc by three points with only the Los Padres League Finals remaining before the CIF Northern Division individual and team tournaments. Third-place St. Joseph trails Santa Ynez by seven points and Lompoc by four.

The top two LPL teams and individuals qualify automatically for the CIF Northern Division Tournament. The third-place LPL team must meet a qualifying standard. The league finals are at 12:30 p.m. Monday at Cypress Ridge. Nipomo will host.

Morro Bay finished fourth at 271 Thursday. Santa Maria was fifth at 315. Nipomo and Cabrillo did not have enough golfers to score.

Erin Gnekow led Santa Ynez with a 46. Kelley George, Cabrillo/s only golfer, came in at 48. McKenna Corriea led Morro Bay with a 50, and Jessica Rudnick paced Santa Maria with a 52. Corie Nightingale led Nipomo with a 52.

Heath, a senior, shot her second-best tournament round this season. She shot a 34 at the Morro Bay Tournament.

&#8220I think this was my best round,C at Rancho Maria, she said afterward Thursday.

&#8220My driver was really good today. I/m really happy. I had been struggling the last few tournaments.C

Besides her good driving, &#8220I made some important putts,C Julia Heath said. &#8220This can be a tough course because if it/s not your home course, you have to get used to all the tricks of it.C

St. Joseph coach Dottie Lyons was pleased with her team/s scores up and down the line.

&#8220If there was a surprise, it was Nancy,C said Lyons. &#8220She/s a sophomore, and this was only her third tournament. Before the season started, she didn/t know what an iron was, what a wood was. She knows now.C

Once again, Santa Ynez/s balance boosted the Pirates. Erin Gnekow led with a 46. Kayla Schaefer was listed as the Pirates/ sixth golfer, but she had the third-best score on the team with 47. None of the Pirates shot above 53.

&#8220All year, no one could tell which of our scores would be thrown out,C said Wendy Phillips who co-coaches Santa Ynez along with Jane Lindberg.

As it turned out Thursday, none of the scores were tossed out. The top five scores count toward team scoring, and Breanna Janicek and Kayla Jennings tied for fifth on the Pirates team at 53. Teammate Lindsey Drewes shot a 52.

&#8220This has been a fun team to play on,C said Gnekow, a senior. &#8220We haven/t had any problems with anyone.C

Julia Heath and her twin sister Justine are front-runners for the league/s top individual award. Justine was not at all happy with her round of 41.

&#8220It was really bad 7 pretty much all of it gave me a hard time,C she said.

Lompoc/s Marianna Aceves posted a 57, Citlali Rodriquez shot a 57 and Lindsey Pedego fired a 59 rounded out the Braves/ scoring.