Almost everyone is back from the Emporia High girls golf team that qualified for the State tournament last season — 18 years after the last time EHS took its girls team to State. Being the team that finally broke that nearly two-decade drought has filled the returning Spartans with both pride and confidence as they get ready for Monday’s early start to the season.
“The fun part is to watch ’em, because that excitement’s coming out, and them saying, ‘Hey, we’re gonna get back there again this year,’” EHS coach Rick Eckert said. “They’re not being arrogant about it — it’s just one of those things that they’re determined to do it. And it’s good to have that kind of mental set coming in, instead of just saying, ‘Well, I hope something good happens.’ They’re expecting it to happen.”
Some big factors are in the Spartans’ favor as they try to make it two trips in a row. For one, they’re bringing back five seniors who got a taste of State last year at Salina. For another, although it hasn’t been finalized yet, there’s a good chance that the Spartans’ Class 5A Regional will be held at Emporia Municipal Golf Course for the second straight year; home-course advantage is always a plus.
“I know that the girls, (it’s) something that they’re looking to do again,” Eckert said. “Because when you’ve got the core of your team back, you’re hoping that you can achieve what you did the previous year, or possibly go further.”
Senior Hannah Watkins is likely to be the Spartans’ No. 1 golfer, replacing the graduated Maryann Bennett. Watkins shot a 102 at State last year at Salina Municipal Golf Course. Rachael Clopton, Makenzie Harder, Melissa Heinitz and Kelsey Burenheide provide the rest of the Spartans’ senior and State experience. Collectively, those five plus Bennett posted EHS’s season-high 416 score at State last year, good for 11th place. Eckert said Harder, Heinitz and Clopton “are all pretty equal. They’re maybe a couple of shots behind Hannah.”
The last spot is slated to go to freshman Amber Mechtley.
“To start out, I’m gonna play Amber in that sixth spot just to get her comfortable and let her get a feel for the way things operate, being a freshman,” Eckert said. “But she really has a good golf swing.”
On Monday, the Spartans will quickly find out where they stand when they become the first EHS team to begin their season. They’ll compete at an 18-hole tournament, hosted by Shawnee Heights, at Lake Shawnee Golf Course in Topeka.
“They’re doing well so far,” Eckert said. “It’s one of those things where we’re kind of knocking the rust off again, get small things tuned up. But the good news is, as they’ve gotten older and they’ve continued to play a little bit more, it gets a little bit easier to fix those things.
“So yeah, we’re progressing pretty well so far. We’ll find out on Monday for sure.”
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