Girls Golf: 2011 East Season Recap

Sports Town will review the 2011-12 school year during July. Today we will revisit the golf season.

Penn Trafford had a very solid season competing as a WPIAL Division II team a year ago.

The prospects for a solid postseason could be brighter if the Warriors continue to play as a Division II team in 2012. That's because the PIAA is sanctioning regional and state tournament brackets for Division II teams for the first time. That means WPIAL Division II finalists Central Valley, Penn Trafford and Kiski Area could have the opportunity to compete for a berth in the regional tournament this season with the possibility of a state playoff berth at stake.

Penn Trafford had a solid season a year ago, qualifying for the WPIAL Division II team championship. With 326 strokes in the first round, Penn Trafford was one of three teams to advance to the championship round. But the Warriors fell by four strokes to Central Valley -- 342 to 346 -- in the championship match. Penn Trafford was the only girls team to compete in the postseason of team golf as four of the six qualifying teams in Division I were from Northern Area schools, and the other two were from southern Allegheny County and northern Washington County.

Mia Barchetti and Haley Borkovich have the potential to build on what was a solid season a year ago. As juniors, Barchetti and Borkovich placed second and third, respectively, in the WPIAL Division II individual championships with 18-hole scores of 83 and 86, respectively, at Longue Vue Golf Club.

Both qualified for the Western regional championships at Tom's Run Golf Course.

Barchetti finished ninth overall with a 10-over-par score of 82 to qualify for the PIAA championships in ninth place. Borkovich's season ended at the regional event as she carded a 93. At the state tournament in York, Barchetti finished in 20th place with a 36-hole total of 177 with rounds of 89 and 88.

Penn Trafford has at least one more solid golfer returning in Royce Bachtel. As a sophomore, Bachtel placed 10th in the WPIAL Division II individual tournament with a score of 93.

Among Division I competitors, a Hempfield Area golfer had a fine junior season.

Janista Numpho-Franks shot a round of 83 to place fifth in the WPIAL Division I individual championships, 11 strokes off the pace set by Butler High's Marissa DeCola. No other golfer from an Eastern area school placed among the top 18 in the Division I tournament.

Numpho-Franks saw her season come to a painful finish at the Western regional at Tom's Run where her score of 87 put her in 12th place, one stroke behind Seton-LaSalle's Joey Walz who earned the final qualifying spot for the PIAA state tournament in 11th place.

Walz made the most of her opportunity as she placed seventh at the state championship, earning all-state honors.