The River Falls Wildcats took second place on Thursday at Mill Run Golf Course in Eau Claire, which was their final conference meet of the year.

It was a narrow threshold for their finish as they beat New Richmond by a single stroke. Mahlia McCane took fourth on the day and shot a 37 on the back nine, which included two birdies, and Nathalie Rotsaert made a birdie on the back nine as well to help secure the second place for the River Falls. Unfortunately, Hudson ran away with it on the day, winning by a massive 35 strokes.

In fact, the top five team scores on the day were in the exact order as their overall Big Rivers Conference finishes with Hudson taking first, River Falls taking second before New Richmond, Eau Claire Memorial and Chippewa Falls rounded things out. The Wildcats actually finished head and shoulders above the rest of the competition in the conference, and they had four of their five players earn honors for their performance this season.

McCane and Ellie Krueger each earned all-conference honors taking third and eighth respectively, and Rotsaert and Aili Lassi finished 14^th and 17^th to earn honorable mentions. Having this much top-heavy talent makes winning now a must for this team.

Even though Krueger had never picked up a golf club in her life before 18 months ago and yet unbelievably just won all-conference honors, there has never been a question about what this team’s mission is.

“We just want to go to state. This is definitely the year for the team that we're like, okay, we actually have a chance,” Krueger said. “We have three seniors, a junior and sophomore, and we're all really determined to like, stay together, and just kind of do it together. Only Mahlia went to state last year, and she told everyone that her goal was to bring the team back to Madison.”

The state tournament in Madison is played at University Ridge Golf Course, but for the Wildcats to get there, they first have to get through regionals and sectionals, which happens very quickly. The regional competition takes place this Thursday at Lake Hallie Golf Course in Eau Claire, and it consists of an 18-hole event in which four of the nine teams will advance to the sectional tournament. The top four golfers who are not on teams going to sectionals will still advance and compete individually as McCane did last year.

Coach Tim LaVold said that, as far as preparation goes, the Wildcats are just trying to stay loose before they travel.

“We played at the Clifton Highlands Par 3 course Monday as a little team builder before Regionals, and then it's just relax and enjoy for a few days until it's go time,” LaVold said. “We have a very good chance of advancing to the sectional meet this year. Should be a lot of fun.”

Good luck to the Wildcat golfers in their pursuit of postseason glory.