FORTVILLE — A solo was followed by a duet.
Mt. Vernon wants the whole quintet to be part of the festivities in 2020.
The Marauders girls’ golf team has not qualified for the IHSAA regional since 2015. They have had representation, but not the whole squad.
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Junior Alaina Nugent was the lone Mt. Vernon player to qualify for the regional in 2018. She was joined by teammate Meredith Johnson in 2019.
“Both made it to regional and we want to build on that. The team is looking to get out (of the sectional) this year,” second-year head coach Mike Miner said.
Nugent and Johnson will be two of the best players in both Hancock County and the Hoosier Heritage Conference.
As a freshman, Nugent battled New Palestine four-time county champ Annaliese Fox, forcing a playoff-hole to decide the winner. She placed third in both county and sectional meets as a sophomore and earned a fifth-place finish in the HHC meet.
Johnson’s play in 2019 made her and Nugent a formidable one-two punch. Johnson finished the season strong, scoring the third-lowest round of county golfers at the regional, carding an 81 at the Edgewood Country Club in Anderson.
The only two Hancock County players that finished better were Fox and Greenfield-Central’s Caroline Gibson, who both qualified for the state meet.
Johnson placed third in the conference meet and tied teammate Nugent for third at county. She was fifth at the New Palestine Sectional.
Miner said both Nugent and Johnson have continued to work hard on their games.
“Alaina has played a lot of tournament golf and has been invited to play in events that have had a lot of the top players,” Miner said. “Meredith has played a lot this summer and has had solid play, as well.”
The key now for the Marauders will be continued improvement from the rest of the lineup.
Mackenzie Miner, a junior and daughter of the head coach, and Emily Rollo, the team’s only senior, are back and part of last year’s top-four.
“Mackenzie is poised to be in the mid-40s after being in the upper 40s last year,” coach Miner said. “Emily was a first-year player last year and she’s a good athlete that has got stronger. If her short game is as good as her irons, she could be consistently in the mid-40s.”
Haidyn Cauldwell, a sophomore, and Kailee Monroe, a junior, have varsity experience, too.
“There’s a good nucleus to the team,” coach Miner said. “We’ve got some freshmen that are beginning players. It’s a real good group of kids.”
Two freshmen round out the current roster in Aubrey Trittipo and Kalin Wallpe.
The Marauders jumped right into the regular season. After beginning practice on Friday, the team was scheduled to host Pendleton Heights, an HHC foe, at Arrowhead Golf Course in Greenfield on Tuesday.
Today, the team is scheduled to take on another HHC opponent, Shelbyville, also at Arrowhead, with tee-time set for 5:30 p.m.
To round out an extremely busy opening week, Mt. Vernon will go to the 16-team Center Grove Classic Saturday at Hickory Stick Golf Course in Greenwood.
“We’re definitely going to get our feet wet real quick,” coach Miner said.
