MARSHALL — Juniors Dayton Webskowski and Grace Rokeh both qualified for the state tournament as individuals representing the Marshall girls golf team during their sophomore season. The two now enter the 2025 season as veterans of the team, along with Ali Pederson, as the Tigers loop to take a leap forward in 2025.

“They’re able to really help the other kids. We’ve got a group of freshmen that have come up this year and they’re able to take on that role of telling them what to expect, but then also setting the standard to which we want to see our girls get to,” Marshall head coach Eric Novosad said.

Novosad will be entering his first year as head coach of the Tigers, taking over for Nancy Blanchard after working as an assistant coach for three seasons. Novosad said he learned a lot from Blanchard during their time working together, noting that she really helped the team grow to the point that it’s at. As he takes over, he said he wants to really hone in on the specifics of the game, such as which direction players are missing the fairway, how effectively they’re selecting their clubs and how the players pace out their putts.

Among the changes the team has implemented this season is the players have started to carry two cards during their practice rounds: one that’s a standard scorecard, and one that will track their stats to focus on analyzing what they can get better at.

Early on, the team has looked like a well-motivated group. While Monday’s practice was postponed due to weather, Novosad said his players opted to meet for just over an hour to discuss course strategy instead of taking the option of an off day. With the team’s next road meet scheduled for Redwood Valls on Thursday, the more experienced players advised the newcomers on how to attack certain holes and which hazards to be wary of.

“Their goal this year was to maximize their practice time to the best of their ability, so when they’re out practicing, they want to use the time that’s available to get better,” Novosad said, adding that the ability to maximize that potential topped the girls’ list of short-term goals, while aiming for top third at sections was among the team’s long term goals. “Going to state is a great goal, but we do want to make that next step up so that our scores are getting better, and we feel that if we can get into that top third at sections, that would be a great goal to attain.”

The Tigers placed fourth at last year’s section meet and lost just one senior, all-conference selection Rylee Jacobson. Maddi panka and Isabella Gossen also return as sophomores while Anna Thor joins the team as a sophomore.

“I’ve told the girls, I’m their biggest fan. I just love it when they hit great shots, I feel awful when they hit bad shots, but after our first meet on Saturday, I just saw a lot of girls that had a lot of grit,” Novosad said of the team. “That’s so much fun for me, because when you have girls that are competing and playing hard, it doesn’t matter what the score is at the end. I know they tried their best and I know they were trying to capitalize the best that they could, and that’s the most fun part that I love watching.”