Gerry Police may have the easiest job in the WPIAL this season.
After all, the Greensburg Central Catholic girls golf team won the 2020 WPIAL Class 2A title by a whopping 99 strokes and will bring back four of the team’s five starters this season.
“I think we look pretty strong,” Police said. “Our No. 1, 2 and 3 are great players, and we have our No. 5 back from last year and she’ll be our No. 4, so she’s experienced. My anticipated top five played a lot of tournament golf this summer, and they worked really hard.”
Greensburg Central Catholic’s top three of senior twins Meghan and Ella Zambruno and sophomore Izabela Aigner finished second, third and fifth, respectively, in the WPIAL individual finals at Allegheny Country Club last year. All three also finished in the top 11 in the PIAA championships at Heritage Hills Resort in York.
“We have great things to look forward to,” Police said. “With those two [Zambrano twins] and Izabela, she’s played great this summer and I know, with that top three, I’d put them up against any team in the state.”
Considering the Centurions recent history, he may get to do just that.
Greensburg Central Catholic not only almost won the team title by triple digits, it was the finishing touch on the school’s Class 2A record sixth consecutive championship. The classification has only been around for nine seasons.
Upper St. Clair holds the WPIAL girls record with an even dozen from 1994-2005.
And considering the top three are returning, along with senior starter Olivia Kana, Greensburg Central Catholic will indeed be formidable once again.
In fact, the only team in the classification that gave Greensburg Central Catholic any difficulty was North East as the District 10 champion knocked off the Centurions and kept them from repeating by a six-stroke margin to capture the state crown.
That loss is also foremost in the minds of the Greensburg Central Catholic squad as it ramps up for a run at WPIAL title No. 7.
“I hope so,” Police said. “I’d like to go back down to York and face the Grape Pickers again.”
Still, it’s going to be nice for Police not to have to stress over major lineup changes. At least not until next year.
“I guess my No. 5 spot is the only one that’s up for grabs,” Police said. “But having that top four pretty much set and, 1, 2 and 3, they can all play 1, 2 or 3.”
While Greensburg Central Catholic may have the inside track on the team title, the individual championship is very much up for grabs.
Eva Bulger is the two-time reigning champion, but the Quaker Valley junior was pushed both times by the Zambrunos. Ella finished second and Meghan third in 2019, while Meghan was second and Ella third with Aigner fifth last year.
Geibel junior Claire Konieczny, who finished sixth in the WPIAL last year, is the only other state qualifier returning.
Class 3A
Mike Lacey is stepping into a pretty nice situation in replacing Kevin Lawrence as the Peters Township girls golf coach.
Not only is he taking over a program that won its first WPIAL Class 3A team title last year, the cupboard is anything but bare as he’ll have solid starters in seniors Allison Poon and Delaney Kern.
“I guess it’s a lot of pressure, but I don’t know,” Lacey said. “I’ve been around the program the last five years as the junior varsity coach, so I know the girls, I have some of them in class, but I don’t know if there’s pressure on me ... the pressure is that they want to do well and meet their expectations.”
Both Kern and Poon had a tough time walking off the course at Oakmont Country Club last year after the individual finals. Kern lost in a four-way playoff for two spots in the PIAA finals and Poon was one shot out of the playoff.
If they want to finish in the top five and move on to Heritage Hills this year — the PIAA Western regional qualifier at Tom’s Run is no more — then they will have to make some inroads as four of the five are returning this year, led by the defending champion, Mt. Lebanon senior Lindsey Powanda.
Repeating as team champions will also be a challenge for the Indians.
South Fayette, which finished second last year 12 strokes behind Peters Township, returns its entire starting lineup led by senior and WPIAL runner-up Caroline McConnell. Fox Chapel, which came in fifth and was 19 shots away from the Indians, also has all of its starters back led by WPIAL third-place finisher senior Nina Busch.
First Published: August 19, 2021, 9:30 a.m.
