ANDOVER TOWNSHIP — Sammie Dolce has been giving her Morris Tech golf teammates the same advice all year: “Have fun and take your time.”
The Devils followed their captain’s words to perfection at the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference Girls Golf Championships on Wednesday.
Dolce shot a 1-over 35 on the Valleyview nine at Farmstead Golf & Country Club to earn her third straight NJAC title. Morris Tech totaled a season-best 200 strokes, two more than Chatham and four up on Morristown Beard.
“It was a great way to send me off,” said Dolce, a senior from Florham Park who has signed a National Letter of Intent with Bowling Green.
“I’m really happy I did it again, and to do it with my team.”
The NJAC, which includes most Morris and Sussex county schools plus Hackettstown and North Warren, began sponsoring girls golf in 2018 at the request of Villa Walsh athletic director Jen Fleury. At the time, there was one division with nine teams.
Jefferson, West Morris, Mendham, Park Regional — a Hanover Park-Whippany Park co-op — and Sparta launched freestanding girls golf teams this spring.
Fourteen of the NJAC’s 15 girls teams participated on Wednesday, all with four players apiece. There were 84 girls with averages over 60 to qualify this spring, up from 78 last spring.
Morris Tech is a two-time NJAC division champion. Wednesday’s victory also gave the Devils – Dolce, junior Caroline Chin, sophomore Jessica Imhauser and freshman Priya Gandhi – a measure of revenge against Chatham, which had won the Morris County Tournament title a month ago.
Dolce is also a three-time MCT champ. The Devils, who fueled up with pre-match bagels, planned to celebrate with ice cream on the way back to school.
The 10 NJAC medalists came from nine different schools, with Morristown Beard the only double honoree.
MCT girls golf:Chatham girls win Morris County golf title, Morris Tech’s Sammie Dolce is individual champ
Slow, steady growth of girls golf
There are 110 girls-only golf teams in New Jersey, about a quarter of NJSIAA member schools. That’s almost double the 59 teams reported in the 2002-03 school year, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. Al Stumpf, the NJSIAA assistant director in charge of golf, thinks the older statistics likely include schools that have girls playing alongside boys on a single team.
Despite some official labels, there are no truly boys-only golf teams at New Jersey’s coed schools. Three girls played with the boys — using the same tees — in the individual NJSIAA Championships on May 15.
By contrast, there are 293 boys-only or coed golf teams at NJSIAA-member schools. That, too, is a significant increase from the 187 in 2002-03.
The number of female New Jersey high school golfers more than tripled in that period, even as the boys stayed relatively stable.
“It’s really really great,” said Chin, a Whippany resident. “As the season has gone on, we’ve improved a lot. We still know we’ve got each other’s backs, and we’re not going to be mad at each other.”
Team and individual scores
Morris Tech 200: Sammie Dolce 35, Caroline Chin 50, Priya Gandhi 54, Jess Imhauser 61; Chatham 202: Remi Levato 48, Kayla Murray 55, Callie Ferguson 47, Eva Morrison 52; Morristown Beard 204: Brooke Sandler 44, Sloane Fiverson 45, Samantha Yagoda 55, Samantha Brown 60; Mendham 214: Juliette Hyde 49, Annika Miocevich 46, Raleigh Ball 55, Amanda Lia 64; Sparta 221: Caroline Mastandrea 53, Alex Kettle 54, Erin Takach 60, Courtney Askin 64; Montville 224: Mara Bilenski 51, Grace Volpe 57, Ridhee Maddula 58, Bailey Stepien 58; Pequannock 225: Paige Giermanski 48, Amanda McHugh 60, Veronica Damico 60, Jenna Angelillo 57; Mountain Lakes 228: Manasvi Shah 54, Mira Marino 59, Olivia Manchand 49, Rebecca Hirschfeld 66; West Morris 234: Elizabeth Cummings 57, Sammie Mancuso 56, Sania Madane 58, Kayla Vecchione 63; Mount Olive 237: Rachel Watkins 54, Jenna Alessandrini 66, Emerson Baisley 59, Elizabeth Donovan 58; Kittatinny 239: Malena Johnson 47, Josie Nuzzo 59, Brenna Philson 65, Julia Cucciara 68; Jefferson 244: Alexa Smeilus 57, Samantha Cocca 65, Katie Blair 58, Erin Nimbley 64; Villa Walsh 250: Madison Molinaro 67, Brigid McGlone 58, Holly Smitreski 60, Nora Dam 65; Pope John 252: Katie Rysdeck 67, Lauren Cordero 66, Emma Maslowski 56, Cecilia Day 63
Kinnelon: Olivia Lee 68
Madison: Emma Peifly 44, Sophia Fee 51, Lily Fee
Morris Catholic: Mary Korab 41, Kylie Miralles 56
Morris Knolls: Kendyl Croft 53, Annie Costache 54, Sara Signoretto 64
Morristown: Maya Burton 43, Avery Tahan 61, Lindsey Mathiasmeier 61
Park Regional: Jolie Casale 48, Kaylee Wohlgemuth 50, Ashley Peterson 67
Parsippany: Samantha Egger 51, Anya Patel 56
Parsippany Hills: Amberlin Lee 51
Newton: Sabrina Sharafi 51, Yoshi Grasso 58, Olivia Costello 66
Vernon: Uriah Sacdalan 56, Natalia Arroyo 59
Randolph: Anna Stock 52, Jeannie Shore 53
Roxbury: Bella McHugh 52
Individual medalists
Sammie Dolce (Morris Tech) 35; Mary Korab (Morris Catholic) 41; Maya Burton (Morristown) 43; Emma Peifly (Madison) 44; Brooke Sandler (Morristown Beard) 44; Sloane Fiverson (Morristown Beard) 45; Annika Miocevich (Mendham) 46; Malena Johnson (Kittatinny) 47; Callie Ferguson (Chatham) 47; Paige Giermanski (Pequannock) 48.
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