Feb. 25--Expect the St. Francis High golf team to spend another season jockeying for a top-four spot in the ultra-competitive Mission League, one that's additionally held its own in recently in the CIF Southern Section Central Team Divisional.
St. Francis finished fourth in league last season behind Loyola, Harvard-Westlake and Crespi. At the team divisional at Lakewood Country Club, St. Francis took a respectable fourth, trailing Loyola, Palos Verdes and Harvard-Westlake.
A strong finish to last season has led to high hopes this season for St. Francis and coach Kyle Ostrom, the reigning All-Area Boys' Coach of the Year.
"The one thing you know going in is that the Mission League will always be right up there with the top leagues," said Ostrom, who begins his fourth season. "We started off slow last season and came on strong toward the end to make the playoffs.
"We want to start strong and we are excited because we have quite a few returners who are willing to take that next step. They've been prepared to put in the work and they are confident."
The Golden Knights appear to have solidified their lineup. It will include seniors Tommy Altmayer, Eric Lin and Blake Bowen and juniors Stian Lintvedt and Aidan Tracey. Lindvedt enjoyed a spectacular campaign in 2015, finishing tied for second in the league's individual tournament and placing 29th at the CIF Southern Section Individual Tournament en route to securing All-Area accolades.
"I think you'll see some big things from Stian," Ostrom said. "He had a great run throughout league and got experience competing in the playoffs."
Crescenta Valley also qualified for the playoffs last season. The Falcons took second in the Pacific League behind Arcadia and 10th in the Northern Team Divisional.
The Falcons will look to take flight under coach Mark Samford, who served as interim coach last season.
Crescenta Valley lost Cody Renfro to graduation after he won the league's individual championship. Still, the Falcons aren't bereft of talent.
Crescenta Valley will have seniors AJ Roa and Tanner Schilling and juniors David Holeman and Trey Ballard leading the charge.
"The expectations will be high in terms of battling for league and qualifying for the playoffs," Samford said. "We have some guys who have improved in their overall game and we have some others who have potential.
"They have been putting in the work at practice. It's pretty much about just being able to put things together once the matches begin."
Flintridge Prep might also have a bright future under veteran coach Bob Loughrie, who will begin his 30th season.
The Rebels finished third in the Prep League last season and didn't qualify for the playoffs. However, Flintridge Prep saw Jordan Sacks, now a senior, turn in a superb season, as he won the league's individual championship and tied for 34th at the CIF Individual Tournament.
"He's already much better compared to last year," Loughrie said. "He's got an excellent short game and he learned a lot from the experience of playing at CIF.
"Right now, we have five or six good golfers. It's kind of like an old regime working with the new regime in that we have some people who have been with the program for a long time and we have some upcoming players with a lot of potential. It could be one of the strongest teams I've ever had."
Joining Sacks will be juniors Justin Yu and Brendan Barton and freshmen Ben Sacks, Ian Park and Kailyn Chiu.
At Glendale, the Nitros will have just six players. Glendale will have senior Russell Caletena back after he finished second in the Pacific League individual finals and tied for 26th at CIF Southern Section Individual Tournament to pick up an All-Area nod.
Filling out the lineup for the Nitros will be seniors Arman Aloyan and Leif Amussen and sophomores Elise Alaan and Miguel Domingo.
"We'll be a little bit down in terms of numbers," Glendale Coach Anthony Mohr said. "We had some people who moved away.
"We still have Russell, who we hope can win league. He's gotten a lot better in that he's much more accurate and longer with his swing."
