By Rick Cassano

FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP – There was a sense of satisfaction and a little bit of joy within Harrison High School’s girls golf team Tuesday, even as the season came to an end.

The Wildcats capped off an extremely successful campaign by finishing seventh among 15 squads in Division I sectional play at Walden Ponds Golf Club in the final prep appearance for Harrison seniors Sophia Viltro, Jillian Magalski and Sophia Merrill.

“In a word, I’d say I’m ecstatic,” said Wildcats coach Richard Newsom, completing his first season at the helm. “I couldn’t be happier. There’s been PRs quite frequently over the second half of the season, and being around these girls has been very enjoyable. I’m very proud of everything they’ve accomplished.”

Newsom said he started helping with the program when the current seniors were freshmen, and he got a little emotional thinking about their departure.

“It will be difficult having a team without them,” Newsom said. “But we’ve got a lot to look forward to as a program. We’ve got a good group coming back. Only one eighth-grader that I know of is going to play, but beyond that, we’ve got a lot of kids in the pipeline in the fifth, sixth and seventh grades. We’re going to keep building.”

Junior Ava Farmer paced Harrison in the sectional with a 44-41—85 on the par-72 Walden Ponds course. The top four teams and four individuals not on qualifying squads earned spots in the district tournament, and Farmer finished 3 strokes behind the last individual qualifier.

Following Farmer for the Wildcats were Viltro (47-41—88), Merrill (46-46—92), Magalski (47-49—96) and freshman Elaina Wyke (60-56—116). Harrison’s 361 team total equaled the program’s previous best sectional showing.

Newsom said the Wildcats struggled out of the gate, but finished strong.

“I think there was a little bit of nerves,” Newsom said. “A lot of them have first tee-box jitters. They seemed to get past that, then it popped up on holes 2 through 6.

“Each of them needs something different and they’re mature enough to ask for that help, so we talked through some things. A lot of times it’s not even golf related, just something to get them in a different frame of mind. They really came on strong late on the front nine and then had outstanding back nines.”

Farmer’s 85 was a personal-best effort and the all-time top score for a Harrison girl in the sectional. She shot a 90 last year and missed districts by 2 shots.

“I would say the front nine I didn’t have very much confidence,” Farmer said. “I didn’t add up my score early, which was good. I thought I was playing bad because I only had two pars. But on the back nine, I fixed it.

“It was kind of cold in the morning, but the back nine got extremely hot and the greens dried out, so the greens were way faster than they were when we first started playing. It took a while to adjust to that.”

She said the season as a whole was a big success in her mind.

“We were all determined to do pretty well and we have a pretty hard-working group, so it’s easy to do well when you have good people,” Farmer said. “I love this team a lot. These girls are my best friends and it’s definitely sad because most of them are graduating. I’m going to miss them a lot, but we’ll remember that we did some pretty good things.”

Viltro is Harrison’s all-time leader in birdies and had one Tuesday. She had never broken 90 before the final round of her Wildcat career.

“I was just for the most part in my own head on the front nine,” Viltro said. “I was really nervous, and a couple shots off the tee weren’t good. I just wasn’t making good contact in general. Certain holes were crushing me. I was really focusing on the back so I could make a good comeback, and I was able to do that.”

Viltro said she considered trying to play golf at the next level, but she wants to attend a big school and said her game is suited for the small-college level. At this point, she’s is planning to major in business at Cincinnati or Ohio State.

“I’m OK at golf, but I’m not the best,” Viltro said. “All the schools I would be able to play for are just too tiny. I want to go to a bigger school.”

She said she’ll always remember this season and this group of girls.

“I really love all the girls on the team. I’m going to miss them a lot,” Viltro said. “I’m happy that we got to play together as much as we did this year. I’m sad that it’s over, but happy that I got to do it.”

Wyke and Magalski both took up the sport of golf this summer and made big strides throughout the season.

Magalski posted her personal-best score in the sectional with a consistent performance.

“I can live with that,” Magalski said. “At the beginning my putting was really good. I two-putted about every single hole. Then my approach shots were starting to get better by the second half of the round, and that helped me a lot.”

Magalski said she’s proud of how far she’s come in a short period of time as a golfer.

“My boyfriend was playing and I’d go to the range with him, and my grandpa plays golf and my dad played when he was younger,” Magalski said. “My grandpa mentioned it and my parents were like, ‘OK, you’re going to play.’ We talked about it, then two days later, I was practicing for the golf team.

“I just kept getting better the more I played. It was nice having coach’s help with learning good mechanics and how to hit the ball and where to hit the ball … basically I was learning golf IQ.”

Magalski said she plans to stay active with golf. She said her only Harrison season was special.

“I love these girls,” Magalski said. “They’re so fun. They made my first year playing very enjoyable.”

Wyke is a serious gymnast, but started taking some golf lessons this summer and soon found herself going out for the golf team.

“A lot of my family plays and I wanted to try, so my dad got me a 9-iron and I just started taking lessons at local course near me and it just went from there,” Wyke said.

She wasn’t thrilled with her score Tuesday, even though it was the second-best effort of her young career. Wyke said she was 10 strokes better during a round at Walden Ponds last Sunday.

“I felt like I was out of my groove on the front nine. I kind of let my overthinking get me,” she said. “But I feel like I brought it back on the back nine. I just left the front nine behind me and finished strong.

“I’d say the season was really fun, and I love the girls. Once I kind of saw my potential, I got really hard on myself, so I’m trying to learn to be nicer to myself.”

Merrill just missed her personal 18-hole record and said she was happy with her round.

“I felt good. I had a lot of pars,” Merrill said. “My driver was probably working the best.”

She said she wasn’t sad about the season ending because it was a great experience. Merrill started playing golf when she was very young and wants the game to remain a part of her life.

“My dad golfs. I started before he started golfing and got him into it,” Merrill said. “I will keep playing the game for fun.”

Sycamore (316), Lakota East (316), Walnut Hills (326) and Anderson (346) were the district-qualifying teams in Harrison’s sectional (there were two sectionals at Walden Ponds on Tuesday). Heading to district as individuals will be St. Ursula’s Brooke Roettker (37-38—75), Oak Hills’ Lexi Holzbacher (38-39—77) and Dixie Brogan (42-39—81), and Milford’s Ellie Fight (43-39—82).