Led by a pair of first-team Mission League selections in freshmen Josie Baker ‘18 and Karina Guo ‘18, the varsity girls’ golf team managed to improve to a 7-1 regular season record and repeat its 10th place finish from 2013 in the CIF Southern Section Northern Division.
The most intense moment of the season arguably came at the league’s Individual Finals, where the two stars tied for eighth place, the last eligible spot to advance to the Northern Division individual finals. A one-hole playoff was needed to decide the winner, where Baker advanced by shooting par to Guo’s bogey.
“Watching Josie and Karina duel for the last spot was a treat,” Head Coach Marge Chamberlain said. “I have a feeling those two will be going back and forth for many years.”
“The adjustment from middle school to varsity was actually really easy,” Baker said. “I like having competition, so it has made me a better player.”
Two huge wins came in a non-league victory over Oaks Christian, which defeated the Wolverines in 2013 and was ranked second in the L.A. Daily News’ poll before the match, and a triumph against new Mission League opponent Marlborough, which slid the Wolverines into the league’s second place spot that they kept for the remainder of the season.
The team’s lone regular season loss came to eventual league and Northern Division team Champion Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.
“Our team had a great regular season,” Chamberlain said. “Notre Dame was definitely the team to beat, and to take second to them was not a huge disappointment when you consider how young our squad was in comparison.”
Still, the Wolverines weren’t content with their postseason result; they finished 10th in the Northern Division, behind two teams they beat in the regular season in Oaks Christian and Marlborough.
“Our team could have done a lot better, and we just didn’t play our best that day,” Baker said.
“There is definitely a lot of for everyone room to improve,” Guo added.
Losing no players to graduation, the young squad has big plans for 2015.
“We are going to stay together next year, which I am very excited for, since we can further bond and become closer as a team,” Guo said.
Chamberlain concluded: “We will continue to develop a mental approach that is not shaken by a bad shot … we have a real shot at winning the league.”
