Girls golf
Decatur Gators
Coach: Rick Dennison (12th year)
Last year’s record: 1-7 (seventh in SPSL North)
Strong returners: Jr. Stacey Blunt; Soph. Samantha Zeeb; Soph. Chanel Carlson
Top newcomers: Fr. Amanda Beyke; Soph. Salina Shugarts
Team weakness: The squad only includes five golfers
Fun facts: Blunt finished second in the 2008 Pacific Northwest Golf Association Tournament and Beyke finished as the 2007 14-year-old state champion.
Coach’s quote: “Solid practice days and good preparation for our matches will reward this team all season” — Dennison
Thomas Jefferson Raiders
Coach: Jim von Doehren
Last year’s record: 8-0 (SPSL North champs)
Strong returners: Sr. Jayme Carbon; Sr. Shayla Doherty; Sr. Agnes Shin.
Top newcomers: Fr. Sarah Yu; Soph. Stephanie Reagle
Team strength: Depth in lineup
Team weakness: Lack of experience
Coach’s quote: “Our goal is to improve each week and take each match and learn from it and play our best at the SPSL league championship” — van Doehren
Federal Way Eagles
Coach: Mike Minahan
Last year’s record: 4-4 (fifth in SPSL North)
Strong returners: None listed
Top newcomers: None listed
Beamer Titans
Coach: Justin Mentink
Last year’s record: 3-5 (fifth in SPSL South)
Strong returners: Sr. Jenai Om
Top newcomers: Sr. Shana Lee
Team strengths: Spirt and academics
Team weakness: Golf experience
Coach’s quote: “Great group of girls who have a blast whether things are going their way or not. A pleasure to coach” — Mentink.
Boys golf
Thomas Jefferson Raiders
Coach: Dave Hunter
Last year’s record: 6-2 (second in SPSL North)
Strong returners: Sr. Charles Lee, Jr. Keenan Darrow, Sr. Erik Jarvey, Sr. Sean Carroll, Sr. Quinn Hildebrandt, Jr. Brent Brown
Top newcomers: Jr. Corbin White, Jr. Jeff Brigham, Soph. Tyler Mullen, Jr. Brian Moe
Team strengths: Experience. “We’ve been together for four years and should compete for a championship,” — Hunter.
Team weakness: “Must play well in big matches. Compete strong under pressure,” — Hunter.
Coach’s quote: “We have an experienced team that should do well this year. We could be the best team since I’ve been the coach,” — Hunter.
Todd Beamer Titans
Coach: Jim Nilsen (4th year)
Last year’s record: 4-4 (fifth in SPSL South)
Strong returners: Jr. Broc Johnson, Sr. Tyler Collins, Jr. Michael Manolides, Sr. Jung Shim, Jr. Quinn Milligan, Jr. Campbell Flewelling, Jr. Connor Lamoureux.
Top newcomers: Jr. Jamison Mills, Jr. Dominik Migala, Jr. Justin Yi.
Team strength: Experience. “We basically return our top-six from last year’s team,” — Nilsen
Team weakness: “Maybe this will take care of itself over the next month, but at this time, I wis we had a little more depth,” — Nilsen.
Coach’s quote: “It’s a very tough and competitive division. I think we have a team that has the ability to play with anyone. But to do that, we are going to have to be consistant and play to our potential every time out,” — Nilsen.
Decatur Gators
Coach: Kevin Olson (11th year)
Last year’s record: 2-6 (sixth in SPSL North)
Strong returners: Sr. Matt Parker, Sr. Taylor Roberts, Jr. Gavin Cuddie, Jr. Mikael Pitzer, Sr. Ryan Kim.
Key returners: Sr. Anthony Massey, Soph. Jacob Foy, Jr. Garrett Shepard.
Team strength: “We have a wealth of good golfers,” — Olson
Team weakness: “We don’t have the elite-level golfers needed to finish at the top of a division loaded with strong teams,” — Olson.
General prediction: “In probably the toughest golf division in the SPSL 4A, we will struggle to win matches despite being a formidable opponent. Curtis, Jefferson, Beamer and Auburn Riverside are all really strong golf teams this year, each have returning players who played at state last spring,” — Olson.
Federal Way Eagles
Coach: Tim McManemy
Last year’s record: 0-8 (seventh in SPSL North)
Strong returnes: None listed
Key newcomers: None listed
