Magnificat became the first Division 1 Northeast Ohio school in well over a decade to win the State Championship after coming out of nowhere to down perennial powers Dublin Jerome and New Albany. The Blue Streaks will lose Cammy Reed, who was the face of their program, but Blue Streak fans have nothing to fear, because now it will be younger sister Calli Reed’s turn to continue on the family tradition of dominance. The sophomore will join players from each grade level to put together a top tier lineup. Senior Kristina Chill, junior Kayla Knaze, and her younger sister freshman Korinne Knaze will be a formidable lineup as they look to repeat the glory from 2024. Magnificat may be close to a lock to head back to the State Tournament, but they will still have stiff competition to win their own conference. Walsh Jesuit has worked to build a dominant lineup of their own. Sophomore Sarah Vojtko exceeded all expectations as a freshman and has quickly become one of the best players around. Junior Yumi Kohara has proven to be a steady player and seniors Colleen Stadler and Gianna Rodenhauser bring a ton of experience to the table. Magnificat and Walsh Jesuit both also have several players outside of their top four who can step up when needed and not miss a beat. Sophomore Kellen Gleason and senior Gwen Slabaugh will fill that role for Magnificat while sophomore Vivian Eich will be a strong contributor for the Warriors. After making a run to the State Tournament, the St. Joseph Academy Jaguars will be looking to take a repeat trip in 2025. They will have to do it with Gianna Reginelli, one of the greatest to don the purple and gold. Stepping into the Jaguar driver’s seat will be senior Emerson Glending, who has the potential to be a star this season. It will be the post Dixon Hill era in Shaker Heights as Hathaway Brown will turn to some young up and coming players to compete. Sophomore Saijal Jawa came out of nowhere in her rookie season last year and established herself as the future for the Blazers. In Akron, 2025 was a bit of a disappointment for the St. Vincent-St. Mary Irish, not because of performance but because of numbers. St. V was not able to enter into any team events, although Caitrin Coyle and Rylee Hoover, both of who will be seniors this year, gained valuable experience. The Irish are expecting a complete roster this season and will immediately be one of the better independent teams in Northeast Ohio. Gilmour Academy will be another team to watch as their numbers have continued to grow. They will have the needed depth to perform, but they will need some players to step up and lead the team on the scoreboard. Our Lady of the Elms is a growing program that is becoming more competitive each year and Archbishop Hoban will look to get some energy from juniors Lily Taylor and Nicole Krohn, who both look to have impactful seasons. Ursuline might not be contending beyond the District Tournament, but they will be building their young, talented roster for the future. The Bristol Panthers have become very relevant recently, and junior Anistyn Williams will look to take over the number one spot from graduate Addison Williams. Laurel will once again be relying on senior Elizabeth Weingart as the look to add some depth in 2025. Finally, keep an eye on the Cardinal Huskies, who will be in their first year as a program under coach Mike Topalian, who will be coaching both the boys and girls teams.
Impact Players
Brooklyn Berkowitz (JR) Our Lady of the Elms
Kristina Chill (SR) Magnificat
Tabitha Christman (SR) Firestone
Allison Clark (JR) Pymatuning Valley
Charley Collins (SR) Lake Center Christian
McCamey Compan (JR) Pymatuning Valley
Caitrin Coyle (SR) St. Vincent-St. Mary
Vivian Eich (SO) Walsh Jesuit
Autumn Fulks (JR) Chippewa
Tess Gibel (SR) St. Joseph Academy
Kayden Gillin (SR) Bristol
Kellen Gleason (SO) Magnificat
Emerson Glending (SR) St. Joseph Academy
Rylee Hoover (SR) St. Vincent-St. Mary
Saijal Jawa (SO) Hathaway Brown
Kayla Knaze (JR) Magnificat
Yumi Kohara (JR) Walsh Jesuit
Nicole Krohn (JR) Hoban
Kylie Luke (SR) Pymatuning Valley
Ellen Mingus (SR) St. Joseph Academy
Becca Padgett (SR) Our Lady of the Elms
Gianna Palumbo (JR) Lowellville
Calli Reed (SO) Magnificat
Bella Rosko (JR) Gilmour
Colleen Stadler (SR) Walsh Jesuit
Vera Swartz (JR) St. Joseph Academy
Lily Taylor (JR) Hoban
Sarah Vojtko (SO) Walsh Jesuit
Elizabeth Weingart (SR) Laurel
Maria Wilon (SR) Ursuline
Anistyn Williams (JR) Bristol
Freshmen to Watch
Hadley Bashiem (Gilmour)
Vivian Cleveland (Gilmour)
Callie Dennison (Gilmour)
Zara Fritz (Gilmour)
Clare Kenny (Gilmour)
Korinne Knaze (Magnificat)
Emily Krammes (Hoban)
Clara Miller (Ursuline)
Sophia Scianna (Ursuline)
Cecilia Voelker (Hathaway Brown)
Head Coach- Mike McBennett
Last Year’s Results- DNS at Fox Den Sectional
Head Coach- James Vecchio
Last Year’s Results- 5th at Punderson Sectional
Head Coach- Mike Topalian
Last Year’s Results- DNS at Punderson Sectional
Coach’s Comments- This is Cardinal’s first ever girls team! Cambrya played Boys JV last year and the others are all brand new to golf. All of the players are young so we are excited to have them as the cornerstone to build on for the next few years.
Head Coach- Jason Egli
Last Year’s Results- DNS at The Pines Sectional
Head Coach- Justin Persinger
Last Year’s Results- 13th at Fox Den Sectional
Head Coach- John Malloy
Last Year’s Results- 12th at Punderson Sectional, 4-8
Coach’s Comments- The enthusiasm to play girls golf is at a high with over 25 girls planning on playing. I am excited to help these young ladies pursue their own goals while playing this wonderful sport.
Head Coach- Ronald Jones
Last Year’s Results- 3rd at Old Avalon Sectional, 6th at Brookledge District
Head Coach- Katie Camp and Matt Monter
Last Year’s Results- DNS at The Elms Sectional
Coach’s Comments- We have four varsity players returning and about 12 new players the roster for tryouts. We are excited to see the growth in the team and create some bench strength for coming years. All of the returning players have been putting in the work in the offseason with lifting and practice. Lily Taylor has been successful in several NOPGA events, and has continued to lower her scores, she will be one to watch out for this season.
Head Coach- Randy Yoder
Last Year’s Results- 11th at The Pines Sectional, 4-7 (overall), 2-2 (Portage Trail Conference)
Coach’s Comments- We’ll have a good mix of experience and youth at LCCS this season with five returning varsity players and five newcomers to the team. This will be Charley Collins’ third season leading the team as our number one and she’ll have some experience behind her as Josefina Freeman and Hailee Gingerich look to build on strong finishes from last year in our two and three spots. Intra-squad battles between the returning letter-winners and newcomers will fill out the rest of our varsity roster. Without a conference we’ll be looking to gain experience as the season progresses and be playing our best golf at the end of September – for the Stark County Championships and OHSAA tournament.
Head Coach- Marti Hardy
Last Year’s Results- 14th at Punderson Sectional
Coach’s Comments- Laurel is looking forward to a good year in golf; we only have 4 returning Varsity players, but will be watching the 9th graders and sophomores to compete for the last two spots. There’s potential to improve on last season and we are proud to represent Laurel’s golf team. Go Gators!
Head Coach- Daniel Dougherty
Last Year’s Results- 15th at Pine Lakes Sectional
Head Coach- Danny Gallagher
Last Year’s Results- 1st at Big Met Sectional, 1st at Brookledge District, D1 State Champions
Coach’s Comments- We are excited to bring back some experience from our State Championship Team. We will also add some talented younger players to our program. We are in hopes to make another deep run this season.
Head Coach- Jeff Compan
Last Year’s Results- 4th at Pine Lakes Sectional, 10th at Good Park District
Head Coach- Kellie Padgett
Last Year’s Results- 7th at The Pines Sectional
Head Coach- Maureen Adler
Last Year’s Results- 2nd at Big Met Sectional, 5th at Brookledge District, Gianna Reginelli ‘25 came in 4th as individual at States
Coach’s Comments- We are looking forward to a great season for Saint Joseph Academy. We missed States by 3 strokes last year. We have 4 of the 5 golfers returning who remember that very clearly. 3 solid senior golfers and 3 talented juniors make for an exciting season to come. Emerson Glending has been shooting in the 70s and Tess Gibel and Ellen Mingus are right behind her in the low 80s
Head Coach- Dirk Hartman
Last Year’s Results- DNS at The Pines Sectional
Head Coach- Michael Murphy
Last Year’s Results- 7th at Pine Lakes Sectional
Head Coach- Bill Reilly
Last Year’s Results- 2nd at Fox Den Sectional, 2nd at Brookledge District, 10th at State Tournament
Coach’s Comments- Walsh Jesuit has had a proud history with many successes. Though success in recent past 5-6 years has been gauged by the number of top 5 finishes in tournaments with a couple of wins dropped in each year. The 2024 team has brought back that ‘Measure of Success’ this year to whether we make it to the State Tournament each year or not. AND WITH THESE 2 FRESHMEN, SOPHOMORES, and 2 JUNIORS, we Certainly DID !!!! Only the 2nd time in 5 years did we qualifying through the sectional event. Junior Co-Captains Colleen Stadler and Gianna Rodenhauser did a very nice job of communicating, organizing, and transporting their young teammates. The Lady Warriors were moved out of the conference championship, won 2023 by a massive of 89 strokes. They proceeded to win 3 invites (Kent, Medina, Summit Co.) and also had runner-up in four events (Canfield invitational, Canterbury invitational, Districts and Sectionals) (3) 3rds. (1) 4th and (1) 5th 12 of 14 Top4 !! Freshman Sarah Vojtko quickly rose to becoming one of the top 10 players in N.Ohio with a scoring average 76.3 and low scores of 70 (Medina) and 71 (Districts). Individually, Yumi Kohara had a career low 72 in Sectionals, Vivian Eich a 78 at Summit County, Sarah had 9 hole Record 32. The team tied the all-time scoring record at Fox Meadow winning with a 309, and Sectionals breaking the record with 307.
Sarah Vojtko: where do we start? Best start ever for a freshman, surpassing LPGA Star Kathleen Ekey, with an average 76.3 and low scores of 70 (Medina) & 71 (districts) and a 9 hole scoring record 32. She was runner up Districts with 71, top 20 at State, multiple times named Player of the week, All-District Team, Plain Dealer All Stars Honorable Mention, Beacon Journal All Stars Team. She is such a strong influence on teammates with actions pushing them to reach past current success to strive for more much more
Ohio High School Golf 