East Union’s nine-year run as Valley Oak League champion in girls golf may be in jeopardy.
Co-head coaches Dennis Wells and Brian Goulart are working with a revamped lineup that will have to make do without four-year star Brooke Riley, now at Northwestern. She graduated as the best female golfer to ever come out of Manteca. As a junior, she placed third in the CIF State Championships.
Also gone are veterans Brittany Conjin and Rebecca Leonard.
“She brought the team up to a different level,” Wells said of Riley. “They had to rise up to her and she gave us some good leadership.”
It’s not the first time the Lancers have had to recover from key graduation losses, and their near-decade long dominance in the VOL is proof of their ability to bounce back as strong as ever and compete once again as Sac-Joaquin Section divisional contenders. They were able to succeed without a player of Riley’s caliber in the past, but Wells has always had a core group of solid returners.
“We don’t have that,” Wells said. “We do have four returners but about five freshmen and sophomores who have never picked up a club in their life. We’re kind of back to where we were 13 years ago — starting over.”
Third-year junior Natalie Cowan brings the most experience to the Lancers, and she was an all-league performer last year. She’s joined by fellow junior Kendra Campbell, and Wells has high hopes for the tandem.
“(Cowan) played well for us last year and we expect her and Kendra to be our best players,” Wells said. “If we can get them going I think we can be respectable this year.”
Wells said Oakdale is the team to beat, and with the Lancers rebuilding that could open the door for Sierra to contend.
The Timberwolves have qualified for three straight SJS divisional tournaments and are primed to return with Legacy Barnes, Bryanna Gavino and Kaitlynn Looney leading the way. Coach Jack Thomson is looking to develop another trio to back his top three.
“Depth will be critical for us,” Thomson said. “We were good last year but we didn’t have a five. Our fifth scorer usually struggled. If we can find three other decent scorers we’ll be fine.”
Like East Union, Sierra will have to move on without its top player in McKenna Doyle.
“Besides Brooke she was one of the best players in the league, the bar was just a little bit different for Brooke,” Thomson said. “Even when we played them last year, if you took Brooke out of the equation it was a pretty good match.
“Brooke was just a difference maker, she was that good and she worked at it. She spent more time out here than everybody.
Manteca looks to improve under second-year coach Andrea Hiatt. Kylee Eberle, Haighley Kissee and Sierra Martinez are the Buffaloes’ top returners, and first-year junior Taylor Reed is showing promise.