By Meghan Foley
Hometown Weekly Staff
Girls’ golf is one of the newer programs at Needham High, the team completing their sixth regular season last week.
“We started out with fifteen beginner golfers and we’ve grown to having 52 girls try out this year,” explained Head Coach Laura Hasenfus. “This marks our sixth season as a team, and I’ve had the privilege of coaching all six years. … We are a non-cut sport, so every student who tries out is placed on a team. Our varsity team consists of 10–12 players, and our junior varsity includes another 14–16. In addition, we have a practice squad of 26 girls this year. The practice squad is split into two groups and works at Needham Golf Club, where they focus on lessons and developing fundamental skills. This group is especially important, as there is currently no feeder or youth program for girls golf in our area.”
“We’ve evolved to be more competitive in the league, we’ve qualified for the state sectionals the last four years, and each year we’re getting stronger and stronger so that each year we’re building on what we have from the year before.”
At the end of last week, MIAA also posted the final rankings for girls’ lacrosse as well as boys’ and girls’ tennis. The girls’ lacrosse team has taken the 24th seed with a 6–12 record and will have had their first game on Wednesday, May 27th at Lincoln-Sudbury (9th). The winner will play the winner of North Andover (8th) vs. Bridgewater-Raynham Regional (25th). Last year the Rockets were the 15th seed with an 11–6 record and made it to the top 16, where they were knocked out by 2nd-seeded Wellesley, who made it to the semifinals. This year, Wellesley is the 7th seed with a 12–6 record, but if the two meet again it would be in the finals.
The girls’ tennis team earned the 6th seed with an undefeated 15–0 season and will play their first postseason match on Thursday the 28th at 4:15 at home, though their opponent has not been determined at the time this article was written. Last year they were the 9th seed with a 13–4 record but were knocked out in the final 16 by 8th-seeded Winchester, who made it to the semifinals. This year Winchester is the second seed after an undefeated season as well, 19–0. If the Rockets play them again this postseason, it would be in the semifinals.
The boys’ tennis team is at the 7th seed after a 15–3 season and will have played their first match at home on Wednesday the 27th against Natick (26th). The winner of that match will then play the winner of Wellesley (10th) vs. North Andover (23rd). Last year the boys’ tennis team was the 8th seed with a 14–4 regular season record and made it to the final eight where they were knocked out by St. John’s Prep, who was the undefeated 1st seed that went on to win the tournament. St. John’s Prep is the 3rd seed this year and it is possible the Rockets will face them again this year, and it would be in the semifinals, but the Rockets would first have to defeat 1st-seeded Westford Academy in the top eight.
Rockets’ schedules can be accessed online at: arbiterlive.com and power rankings and brackets can be found at miaa.net/game-day/tournament-central.
