THE MEET: The 43rd Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Girls State Golf Championships will be held Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 13-14, at the University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis. Competition will begin at 8 a.m. on both days. Sunday practice tee time assignments are available on the girls golf homepage of the WIAA website.
STATE MEET STREAMED LIVE: The eighth, ninth and 18th holes of the WIAA State Girls Golf Championships at University Ridge will be streamed live with live commentary on foxsportswisconsin.com.
STATE MEET HIGHLIGHT SHOW: A one-hour highlight show of the event will be aired on FS Wisconsin on Nov. 15 at 6 p.m. Check your local cable listings for the channel number in your area.
THE FORMAT: The competition features a two division format with 12 teams and an additional 18 individual qualifiers competing in Division 1, and six teams and an additional nine individual qualifiers participating in Division 2. Competitors play 36 holes, weather permitting, including 18 holes on each day. The lowest scores from the first day will have the later tee times Tuesday.
TEAMS COMPETING: The schools qualifying for the State meet in Division 1 are Arrowhead, Brookfield Central, Homestead, Kimberly, Middleton, Milton, Mukwonago, Notre Dame, Rice Lake, Tomah, Verona and Whitefish Bay. The team qualifiers in Division 2 are Edgewood, Fox Valley Lutheran, Osceola, Osseo-Fairchild, Spooner and The Prairie School.
HOW THEY QUALIFIED: The Division 1 field consists of the top two teams from each of the six sectionals, and the Division 2 field includes the top two teams from three sectionals. Eighteen individuals in Division 1 and nine individuals in Division 2 qualify as the top three players in each sectional that are not members of a qualifying team.
DIVISION 1 INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS: The 18 individuals who have qualified for the State meet in Division 1 are junior Nina Galang of Brookfield East, junior Megan Growt of De Pere, senior Sabrina Schreck of Divine Savior Holy Angels, junior Lauren Klauck of Eau Claire North, senior Maddy Neumeier of Green Bay Preble, junior Amy Holzer of Hartford Union, senior Courtney Bergum of Holmen, sophomore Lexi Jonas of Hudson, senior Kailey McDade of Janesville Parker, senior Faith Williamson of Kaukauna, seniors Robyn Blanchard and Tatum Jones of Madison Memorial, sophomore Jordann Handy of Oshkosh West, senior Savannah Vega-Schwartz of Pius XI, senior Ashli Stolen of Stoughton, junior Mari Suokko of Union Grove, senior Breanna Bertschinger of Waterford and senior Mikayla Smith of Xavier/Menasha.
DIVISION 2 INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS: The nine individual qualifiers in Division 2 are senior Sheridan McCoy of Aquinas, senior Erica Richardson of Edgerton, sophomore Lori Meyer of Freedom, junior Bailey Schmidt of Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau, junior Rachel Radcliffe of Hayward, senior Megan Westerberg of Prescott, sophomore Sarah Busey of Racine St. Catherine’s, junior Stanley Wang of St. Thomas More and senior Stacy Bracht of Somerset.
LAST YEAR: Arrowhead won its second State team title by capturing the Division 1 championship with a 36-hole score of 638. Verona finished runner-up with 648 strokes. Jessica Reinecke of Verona won the individual championship for the second straight season by shooting a 1-under par 143, four strokes fewer than Anika Hitt of Homestead. Edgewood won the Division 2 team title for the third straight year and for the 12th time in the last 13 seasons with a score of 681. Fox Valley Lutheran placed second 21 strokes behind at 702. Caroline Lake of Edgewood won individual medalist honors by shooting a 141. Abby Dufrane of Marinette and Kayla Priebe of Fox Valley Lutheran were second with scores of 157.
INDIVIDUAL PREVIEW-DIVISION 1: Senior Jessica Reinecke of Verona returns seeking her third consecutive title. She would become just the fourth individual to accomplish the feat. Among the other returning golfers with ambitions of challenging for medalist honors is senior Anika Hitt of Homestead, who placed runner-up to Reinecke last season after placing 13th in 2012. Senior Grace Dunn of Brookfield Central could also challenge for an individual title after placing fourth a year ago, improving on a 25th-place finish her sophomore season. Junior Loren Skibba of Middleton is back seeking to improve on her fifth-place finish last year, and senior Maddy Neumeier of Green Bay Preble attempts to return to title contention after finishing tied for eight last season, which was preceded by a seventh-place finish in 2012. Reinecke’s teammate, junior Bailey Smith, will pursue another top-10 finish after placing 10th last year. Another individual to watch is senior Mikayla Smith of Xavier/Menasha. She moves up a division after placing fourth in Division 2 last year and third in 2012. Among the sectional champions hoping to be in the mix for medalist honors are senior Courtney Bergum of Holmen, senior Kailey McDade of Janesville Parker and junior Clare Matkom of Whitefish Bay.
INDIVIDUAL PREVIEW-DIVISION 2: Senior Caroline Lake of Edgewood is back to defend her title from a year ago. She finished eighth in 2012 and fifth in 2011. Lake’s teammate, senior Tess Hackworthy, should also be in title contention. She defaulted last year after placing 11th in 2012 and seventh in 2011. Top finishers from a year ago hoping to contend for the individual championship include senior Kayla Priebe of Fox Valley Lutheran, who finished tied for runner-up behind Lake last season. The only other returning golfer that placed in the top 10 last year is junior Bailey Schmidt of Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau, placing eighth. Another qualifier that may contend for the top of the leader board is senior Meredith Nelson of Osceola, who claimed medalist honors at her sectional.
THROUGH THE YEARS: In the 42 years of the girls golf championships, Edgewood has won the most team championships with 12, all coming since 2001. The Crusaders won two championships when only one division was offered in 2001-02 and the first seven Division 2 titles from 2003-09. They added their 10th, 11th and 12th crowns the last three years. Madison West and La Crosse Central are tied for the second-most team titles with five. The Regents won the first five championships offered from 1972-76. The Red Raiders won four consecutive State titles from 1990-93 and added their fifth in 1998. Homestead and Appleton West have won four team championships. Osceola has crowned the most individual medalists with eight and Madison Memorial is next in line with six individual champions.
NEED THE QUALIFIERS?: Rosters and qualifiers are available on girls golf home page of the WIAA website at: http://www.wiaawi.org/Sports/GirlsGolf.aspx.
NEED RESULTS?: Results are available on the WIAA website. Select the Tournament Information link on the Girls Golf State Results page to access the GolfStat results link for each division.
FOLLOW STATE MEET ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Receive updates of the State Girls Golf Championships on the WIAA State Tournament Twitter account @wiaawistate with the hashtag #wiaagolf. Also follow daily recaps on Facebook.