By: Staff Writer Harshita Gupta
MSJ’s Girls’ Golf team wrapped up their fall season last week, after success against teams from all around the Bay. MSJ is one of two teams in the Mission Valley Athletic League (MVAL) that has a Girls Golf team, and schedules games with teams from other schools like Castro Valley High School, Granada Hills Charter High School, and Dublin High School.
After losing three seniors from their top six this summer, the team was worried about how they would perform in the fall. Captain Senior Renee Yen said, “The majority of the team this year is new players, and I was worried that we wouldn’t be able to make it to the bigger tournaments this year. But when the season started I noticed that we do have talent, and the freshmen have done well.” Three freshmen made the team’s top six: Joanna Liu, Audrey Lin, and Wynne Zheng joined Junior Emily Gosti and Seniors Emily Rotter and Renee Yen as the key players.
Golf Coach Jason Cain sees the potential in this team, adding, “I think we have a lot of really good talent; we’re very competitive all around this year. There’s a lot of competition between the girls too, which is really good because we see them continue to improve week after week after week.”
The team’s biggest success this season came at the Poppy Ridge Tournament on September 15, the first 18-hole tournament of the season. MSJ made 395 strokes and placed third against some of the most competitive teams in the Bay Area, defeated only by DublinHigh School’s 384 strokes, and DoughertyValleyHigh School’s 389. MSJ’s impressive record is a significant improvement over the previous year’s score of 485 strokes. The difficulty of the course attracts the most skilled teams, and presents the competitors with a healthy challenge. MSJ’s performance at the tournament gave them an idea of where they stood and what to expect in future matches.
As a result of their victory at Poppy Ridge, the team was invited to a seven-team invite-only tournament, which was held at the same golf course as North Coast Sections (NCS). Hosted by AmadorValleyHigh School on October 6 at Tilden Park Golf Course, the invitational threw together the strongest teams that are most likely to make it to NorCals, and helped the team understand what to expect. MSJ’s team placed fifth.
The last game of the season was the MVAL match, on October 13 against Moreau Catholic High School. MSJ’s team won the game and ended the season on a positive note. The top six players headed to the post-season NCS Qualifiers on October 27, and hope to progress to NCS, followed by Nor Cal Championship, and finally the State CIF Championship in November.
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