The Archbishop Murphy girls golf team made quite a move up in the Cascade Conference standings.
The Wildcats finished fifth out of six teams a year ago. This year Archbishop Murphy is on track to take second place in the league. It turns out the more golf Archbishop Murphy plays, the better the team is faring.
League matches consist of 18 holes rather than the nine from last season. The goal with the increase is to enable the Cascade Conference teams to compete more effectively against teams from the north in the postseason.
“We’ve improved quite a bit from last year,” Archbishop Murphy coach Mike Endsley said.
Berths to the Class 2A state tournament will be on the line at the District 1 tournament, which is scheduled for May 17 at the Snohomish Golf Course. The top 20 from districts move on to state. Eighty players will start out and the field then will be cut to 40 for the second day.
Senior Julie Connelly looks to be the Wildcats’ top prospect. She’s currently in third place among her peers in the league. Connelly advanced to the second day of districts last year.
Junior Melina Sutton also figures to be in the hunt for a state berth.
“She has really come on strong this year,” Endsley said. “She spent a lot of time last summer taking private instruction. She plays a lot outside of school.”
Senior Jordan Nelson and sophomore Shannon Thacker also are having solid seasons.
“We would like to advance four kids to state,” Endsley said. “We’d be happy with two. The four players, if they’re on their game for districts, could advance.”
The most the Wildcats have advanced to state is three.
Archbishop Murphy will graduate two seniors but has plenty of talent ready to step in.
“We’ve got very good freshmen who’ve lettered,” Endsley said. “We’re going to be better next year.”
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