Scouting girls golf in the northern Fox Valley

Fox Valley Area Girls Golf At A Glance

2008 sectional team qualifiers: St. Edward, South Elgin co-op, Hampshire

2008 returning state qualifiers: Taylor Ellett (Hampshire), Danielle Coffman (St. Edward)

2008 returning individual sectional qualifiers: Katlyn Anderberg (Huntley), Sarah Mieth (Crystal Lake Central co-op)

2009 bits: Hampshire is the defending Big Northern Conference champion and has to be the favorite to repeat with standout sisters Taylor (junior) and Connie (sophomore) Ellett leading the way. Junior Jessie Van Dorin and senior Tina Tuminaro are also varsity veterans (7 years varsity experience between them). "When you can run Taylor and Connie out there and then have Tina and Jessie with that valuable experience that helps," said Hampshire coach Sue Ellett. "We should be able to win a lot more than we lose." South Elgin (a co-op team with players from Streamwood, South Elgin and Bartlett) has three veteran seniors in Carly Schneider (Streamwood), Alyssa Buelow (South Elgin) and Kaitlyn Boehne (South Elgin). They, along with sophomore Samantha Coyne (Bartlett) were all part of last year's sectional qualifying team. Schneider, who has missed the state cut by 1 stroke in each of the last 2 years, fired a 78 and took second at the recent Conant invitational. "We were fifth at the sectional last year and we've got a lot of girls back. We are looking to take it one step further as a team," said South Elgin coach Tim Prendergast. St. Edward, the area's lone Class A girls school, is also in good shape with state qualifier Coffman, seniors Erin Schneider and Jacie Pursel, along with juniors Brittania Schreurs and Kelsey Richmond all back from the sectional qualifying team. "All of the experience we have is proving to be beneficial," said St. Edward coach Mike Lehman. "We're deep. We have 6 players that can score for us. Our goal is to make it Downstate this year." Huntley, which has a record 19 players in the program (the Red Raiders had 6 last year), is led by returning sectional qualifier Anderberg, who missed qualifying for state by a single stroke last year. Anderberg recently competed in the junior amateur at the Solheim Cup. Her group shot a 67. "Katlyn has worked so hard this summer," said Huntley coach Ann Christiansen. "She's out there every day playing." Anderberg also won the McHenry County Junior Golf Association player of the year honor. Juniors Samantha Whiteman, Roxy Kelly, Lynette Mazur and Holly Dryden, along with sophomores Karli Cervantes, Amada Bierle and freshmen Gabby Young and Danielle Smith give the Red Raiders plenty of depth. Burlington Central will feature seniors Taylor Colby, Jordan Maisto and Sara Kling, along with sophomores Katie Cappas and Alex Burnside. "We're going to be OK," said Central coach Deb Twenhafel. "We've got some solid girls on the team." Jacobs has a record 15 girls (most in coach DJ Venne's tenure) on the team. Senior Maria Tamburrino and juniors Kelsey Woloszyk, Ashley Morales and Morgan Harvey lead the way. "We took third in the conference last year," said Venne. "We would like to win it or do better than last year. We also want to improve at regionals." Dundee-Crown returns senior Katherine Hoelting, along with sophomores Kirstin Kaufold, Carrie Johnson, Marissa Marcheski, Molly Ahern and Sara Tompkins. The Crystal Lake Central co-op team features returning sectional qualifier Sarah Mieth (Crystal Lake South student). Veteran Larkin girls basketball coach Amy Silverman is the new coach of the Elgin/Larkin co-op team.

Postseason: The lone local area postseason site will be a Class AA regional hosted by Prairie Ridge at Prairie Isle.