Madeline Cohen Co-Editor-in-Chief A few weeks ago, the girls’ golf team got up on stage during gathering and made an announcement that left the theater in resounding laughter. The team needed a girl, any girl, to join so that they might have a chance to play at the state level, no experience or particular talent required. Leaving gathering, the murmurs of girls considering the offer flooded the stairwells and hallways, but quickly quieted down. And after that, as for what ended up happening with the team, we didn’t hear much else.    In a school as competitive as Latin, you’d expect people to take the bait. A guaranteed state qualification is a hot commodity, and putting that on a list of accomplishments or a college application without having to endure the months of training made the open spot seem like it would be in high demand. And there isn’t an absence of female golfers at Latin, many having played outside of school even if not on the team. But surprisingly, the team had no luck. The three girls, junior Britta Stoeckel and seniors Olivia Stoeckel and Meredith Montgomery, were forced to participate individually in the subsequent competitions. Had they played as a team, their three scores alone would have easily qualified them for the state competition, but playing individually, it was significantly more difficult to advance. Latin girls’ golf typically plays against bigger schools and tougher competition, and the state-qualifying games were no exception. Individually, the girls still had impressive results. At regionals, Meredith and Olivia shot scores around 80 and placed in the top 10 individually, qualifying them both to move onto sectionals. Unfortunately, the girls were unable to advance to the state level because of the difficult competition. “The teams have an easier time, and I think we would’ve had a good shot going down state, but Meredith and I still had a fun time playing in the series with girls in the same situation as us,” said Olivia Stoeckel. Olivia and Meredith’s opponents at the regional and sectional levels were particularly skilled since, without a full team of their own, the girls were used to practicing and playing against boys’ teams. Latin’s three girl golfers have had to do the same. Girls and boys, varsity and junior varsity all play and practice together. The boys’ team is significantly larger than the girls with a particularly large number of juniors. The boys finished this year with a series of their own impressive accomplishments: juniors Steven Schwartz and Eric Andreesen and senior Danny Degraff were all-conference athletes, and Danny hit a hole-in-one during one match. Senior Luke Chandra played individually at the 2A state tournament, earning 25th place. Overall, the girls’ team this year was “full of teammates joking around, having fun, and playing hard. I’m glad that my last season was my favorite,” said Olivia. “I hope that there’s still a future of girls’ golf at Latin even with Meredith and I gone because it’s a lot of fun and worth the commitment.” With multiple open spots next year, hopefully people will finally take the girls up on their offer to join the team.]]>