Prescott, Ellsworth and River Falls are all tracking for finishes in the top half of their respective girls golf conferences this season. It is far too early to call, but with the right tweaks and improvements, the teams could be looking at another deep postseason run.

Prescott is 3-0 in Middle Border Conference meets to start the year. The Cardinals are led by senior trio Layla Salay, Macy Reiter and Lily Vesperman. Reiter won the individual crown in Ellsworth, shared it with St. Croix Central’s Brynn Kofal in Hammond and finished second in Osceola. Who won in Osceola, you might ask? Well, it was none other than Salay, taking it by three strokes with a 41. Salay tied for second in Ellsworth and landed third in Hammond. Vesperman started the conference season with a fifth-place finish in Ellsworth, following that with fourth in Hammond and tying for 10th in Osceola.

“That’s been helpful as I coach. I don’t have to worry as much. Those three, I know their scores are going to count,” Prescott Coach Chad Salay said.

Those three have led by example for the rest of the squad that has seen solid results from junior Avery Braun, freshman Claire Salay and junior Sienna Bundich. Coach Salay said knowing those three scores will count, as they are in the team’s top five individual scores at every event, allows him to focus on the fourth through sixth golfers. That said, it also adds pressure, because if one of them does not perform, their score will still likely be tallied in the team’s total.

While there is not massive room for improvement to scores at the top of the lineup, Coach Salay said the lower scores could improve to make Prescott a 10-12 stroke better team, and that is a task he is putting on himself as the season goes along.

“Poise at the upper spots. The seniors have been playing well. Kind of what we expect. Development occurring at the four through six spots. Their scores aren’t necessarily getting any better yet, but they’re definitely hitting shots that are going to benefit them in the future,” Salay said. “They’re learning some things about their game, their distances. Some of them came in and didn’t really know some of their distances on some of their shots.”

Coach Salay said the scores have been solid, but not quite at the level they are hoping for at the end of the year. The multi-time State Champions are as hungry as ever to return to the State stage after missing qualifications a year ago, and it will take all five golfers in the lineup to get there.

“It’s honestly going to take development from those younger girls,” Salay said. “I need to get these girls to that level and that spot.”

Ellsworth has finished fourth of eight in each of the three Middle Border Conference events. The Panthers won the Regional a season ago, which seemingly has given the returnees the confidence and consistency needed to finish in the top half of the conference.

Senior Emma Helgeson is leading the charge, but it has been a team effort with lots of solid scores from sophomore Natalie Kirchner, junior Aubrey Marks, junior Marley Halverson, sophomore Stella Deml and senior McKenna Maurer.

The key for the Panthers will be pushing the limits to try to secure top 10 individual finishes. Helgeson and Halverson both finished in the top 10 in Hammond, which showed with a 203 score, seven strokes better than the 210 posted at the other two conference meets.

River Falls has taken second and third in two Big Rivers Conference meets. The Wildcats are also returning golfers from a Regional title a year ago. Senior Elsie Schmid won by three strokes with a 35 in New Richmond and tied for second, one stroke off the leader, in Chippewa Falls.

Senior Rory Opatz and sophomore Olivia Lick each finished in the top 10 at Chippewa Falls, and Opatz was top 10 previously in New Richmond. The Wildcats have rounded out the lineup with the trio of Maddie Schmidt, Jordyn Senoraske and Lilyana Lansing.

Winning that Regional title has boosted both the confidence and the consistency of the returning golfers, but it has also brought in a new wave of young golfers to the program.

“There’s no question it has. Elsie is playing great as our one. Olivia worked her tail off all summer, and she has really improved a ton. Rory, just through maturity, is playing a much more consistent game,” River Falls Coach Tim LaVold said. “We got 12 new freshmen and sophomores, maybe 13 even, and that has something to do with some of the success. That group has really come in ready to go. They’re really learning and going to make an impact down the road.”

Hudson will be a tough team to pass in the Big Rivers this year, but the Wildcats are trending nicely toward a top three finish or higher when all is said and done.

“Our season is going kind of the way I thought it would. Our top players are really good. We’re working really hard to develop our four, five, six players. We’re going to battle Memorial for second place in the conference,” LaVold said. “We managed to beat Hudson once this year so far, so that was fun.”