THE MEET: The 42nd Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Girls State Golf Championships will be held Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 14-15, 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.
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, Eau Claire North, Homestead, Janesville Parker, Kimberly, Middleton, Mukwonago, Notre Dame, River Falls, Verona and Whitefish Bay. The team qualifiers in Division 2 are Edgewood, Fox Valley Lutheran, Hayward, Osseo-Fairchild, Spooner and The Prairie School.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: 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.
LAST YEAR: Defending champion Homestead won its fourth team championship in girls golf by winning the Division 1 title with a score of 671. Kettle Moraine finished runner-up with 682 strokes. Jessica Reinecke of Verona won the individual championship by shooting a 36-hole score of 147, three strokes fewer than two-time champion Emily Joers of Waukesha South/North/West. Edgewood won the Division 2 team title for the second straight year and for the 11th time in the last 12 seasons with a score of 674. The Prairie School placed second for the second consecutive season one stroke behind at 675. Casey Danielson of Osceola became only the second girl golfer in WIAA history to win four individual championships, shooting a 139. Edgerton’s Brooke Ferrell finished second by shooting a 153.
DIVISION 1 INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS: The 18 individuals who have qualified for the State meet in Division 1 are sophomore Ellie Bowman of Cedarburg, sophomore Megan Growt of De Pere, junior Maddy Neumeier of Green Bay Preble, senior Meghan Lange of Green Bay Southwest/West, sophomore Chloe Crusan of Hortonville, junior Claire Franken of Madison Memorial, junior Maddie McCue and sophomore CheyAnn Knudsen of Milton, seniors Alex Wheeler and Megan Chelberg of New Richmond, senior Emily Murphy of Nicolet, freshman Reagan Beyer of Oshkosh West, junior Savannah Vega-Schwartz of Pius XI, senior Emily Grunder of Portage, senior Becky Klongland of Stoughton, senior Danielle Ducklow of Tomah, senior Jenna Lake of Wauwatosa East/West and senior Leah Birch of Westosha Central.
INDIVIDUAL PREVIEW-DIVISION 1: Junior Jessica Reinecke of Verona returns to defend her title from a year ago after tying for 14th place in 2011. Among the other returning golfers with ambitions of challenging for medalist honors is senior Becky Klongland of Stoughton, who placed fourth last season after tying for second in 2011. Senior Jessie Staed of Notre Dame and junior Maddy Neumeier of Green Bay Preble could also compete for the individual crown after placing in a three-way tie for seventh in 2012. Senior Danielle Ducklow of Tomah may also contend for the title after placing 12th last year. Other possible contenders for individual medalist honors based on qualifying performances include junior Anika Hitt of Homestead, who fired a 66 in her sectional round and placed tied for 13th last year; junior Maddie McCue of Milton, who tied for 18th last season; sophomore Loren Skibba of Middleton, who tied for 15th in 2012; and junior Grace Dunn of Brookfield Central, who tied for 25th a year ago.
DIVISION 2 INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS: The nine individual qualifiers in Division 2 are sophomore Megan Ammann of Arcadia, senior Whitney DeMoe of Colfax, sophomore Bailey Schmidt of Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau, senior Haley Seifert of Ladysmith, junior Kate Wurflova of Luxemburg-Casco, senior Abby Dufrane of Marinette, senior Erin Culver of McFarland, junior Meredith Nelson of Osceola and junior Mikayla Smith of Xavier.
INDIVIDUAL PREVIEW-DIVISION 2: Someone other than a Danielson will be medalist for the first time since 2004. First, Lindsay Danielson, then sister, Casey Danielson won four straight titles beginning in 2005. Other top finishers from a year ago hoping to contend for the individual championship include senior Sienna Chapman of The Prairie School, who finished third last year after a sixth-place finish in 2010; junior Mikayla Smith of Xavier, who placed fifth last year; juniors Caroline Lake and Tess Hackworthy of Edgewood, who placed tied for eighth and 11th last season, respectively, after finishing fifth and seventh in 2011; and senior Abby Dufrane from Marinette, who tied Lake for eighth place last season. Another qualifier that may contend for the top of the leader board is senior Shania Steen of Osseo-Fairchild based on her sectional performance.
THROUGH THE YEARS: In the 41 years of the girls golf championships, Edgewood has won the most team championships with 11, 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 and 11th crowns in 2011 and 2012. 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.
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.