Reagan Roth felt tired and knew she wasn’t playing well on the second day of the Section 9 girls’ golf tournament, but she got her game together and finished fifth with a two-day score of 172 at Apple Greens Golf Club in Highland.

Her fifth-place finish was good enough to qualify her for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships, scheduled for June 3-5 at Edison Club in Section 2.

“I’m pretty excited,” said Roth, a junior at Newburgh Free Academy. “The second day was a little rough, but I’m happy with the way that I played under the conditions that I was feeling. I was tired, and then I wasn’t playing well. So to be able to pull through and shoot well enough to place fifth, I’m happy with that.”

Roth had shot an 83 on the tournament’s first day to finish tied for second with Goshen’s Isabella Ok. Warwick’s Gina Milazzo won the overall championship with a two-day score of 153. Ok maintained her second place standing, but Regan knew she was off the pace from Ok as she was in a trio with her and Milazzo.

She didn’t, however, know how anyone was faring behind her.

“You don’t know where you are, place wise, but for me personally I knew what I was shooting,” Roth said. “But I can’t compare it to other girls in the group. So, you just have to be on your game and just hope when you get back your scores will match.”

She was jumped by Cornwall’s Noemi Krizso and Rondout Valley’s Alexandra Young, who took third and fourth respectively. Roth finished four strokes ahead of sixth-place finisher, Monroe-Woodbury’s Leah Sheerin.

Roth had a better first day, and said she was feeling the aftereffects of the first 18 holes on Wednesday.

“I thought I was going to do better than I ended up doing, but I’m not mad because while I went double (bogey), double (bogey), double (bogey on holes 12-14), I was able to get three straight pars after that, so I was able to turn it around. My mental game was strong, so I was happy with that.”

Roth’s score will get her to her second straight state championship tournament, scheduled for the Edison Club. There will be a practice round on Saturday with the first round scheduled for Sunday and the final round scheduled for Monday.

It will be her second state tournament. She finished tied for 57th at McGregor Links in 2022 with a two-day score of 188. She wants to advance to the two rounds again, and this time hopes to crack the top 20 with rounds in the high 70s or low 80s.

She’s already seen the state tournament, so she knows what to expect when she gets there.

“Now that I know what the tournament was going to be like, I knew the outcome, I know the pressure and I know how to handle my nerves,” Roth said. “That was good, and I guess being that I’ve played in tournaments, it relieves your nerves, and it tells you how to play when you’re in a pressure situation.”