Hartland High School Golfers Tee Off Season Today

There is a lot of excitement as the girls golf team kicks off its season today at the Invite at Huron Meadows.

“We should have a good year,” said senior captain Maggie Hogan. “We’ve got a lot of good players and everyone seems committed.”

It’s going to be a busy week for the Eagles, as they’ll follow up today’s tournament, which is hosted by Milford, by going to the Traverse City for a two-day tournament which begins Monday.

“(Today), Monday and Tuesday are going to speak volumes about how we’ll do this year,” Hartland coach Mike Joseph said. “Last year, we tied for first with Brighton in the (KLAA West) Division. We did very, very well. The girls have been working hard all summer. We’re in the toughest division in the KLAA and I believe we can compete very well. Brighton, Grand Blanc and Milford are tough, but I believe we’ll be right in the mix.”

Brighton, which edged Hartland for first in the KLAA Lakes Conference meet last year, will be at the tournament in Traverse City.

“I’m excited to compete,” said junior Claire Seekely. “I’m excited to see how well we do.”

Joining Hogan and Seekely are senior Brooke Kastamo, junior Annie Quinn and sophomores Rachel Byron and Kelsey Erickson.

“We’ve got a pretty young team, although we don’t have any freshmen,” Hogan said. “We just need to keep up our good sportsmanship and keep up a positive attitude.”

Girls Swimming

There are high expectations for the Eagles, who finished 17th in the Division 1 state finals last season.

“This year, we have some big goals,” coach Maria Puranen said. “We’re looking to take the division, possibly the conference, and get back to states. One of our goals is to take one more girl to states each year and we’ve done that since we started in 2005.”

Hartland’s first contest of the season is Aug. 25 at Ann Arbor Skyline.

Junior Avery Evenson placed second in the 200-yard freestyle and fifth in the 100 at states last year.

“I’m looking to go all-state again,” she said. “I’m excited for our relays at states.”

This is the third year Puranen has put her team through dry-land exercises such as hitting the weight room.

“It’s paying off, too,” Puranen said. “Our diving coach, Leigh Bolitho, is a personal trainer. We coordinate our dry-land work so it feeds right into the swimming events.”

Hartland has 33 girls out for the team this year, which will help give them depth for scoring in the bigger meets.

“We’ve got a lot of freshmen that we can mold into great swimmers,” said junior captain Jocelyn Reinert.

A large number of the team members who scored at states last year are returning.

“We’re feeling really confident that we’ll do really good things,” said junior captain Hannah Grosso.

Boys Tennis

It should be a solid overall season for the Eagles, who’ll open the season at home against Lakeland on Monday.

“Eleven of my 16 players are returners,” coach Judy Jagdfeld said. “With such an experienced team, we should be something to reckon with in the (KLAA West) Division this year. We have high hopes of finishing near the top. The outlook is good.”

Not only are 11 players returning to the lineup, but the Eagles have 10 seniors on the squad.

“We hope to win the division,” senior captain Julian Cafmeyer said. “We’re loaded with upperclassmen so I think we can do it. Grand Blanc always has a good team and Brighton is always a rival.”

One thing the team is concerned about is its chances of getting to the state finals. The Eagles missed out by two points last season.

“I’m disappointed because we were moved into the Novi-Northville regional,” Jagdfeld said. “Originally we were in Holt. This is a tougher regional. We’re going to have to dig deep.”

Holt is not hosting a regional this year and will be competing at Saginaw Heritage.

“We’re in a regional with (Detroit) Catholic Central, Northville and Novi,” Cafmeyer said. “They always have good teams. It’s going to be tough, but we can do it if we play our best.”

Catholic Central is the defending state champ and Novi tied for fifth with Troy.

“Hopefully, all of our past experience will help us,” senior captain Ben Johnson said. “We’re going to do our best and focus on the short term right now.”

Editor's note: This is the first in a series of stories over the coming weeks that will preview fall sports at Hartland High School.