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Eldorado Golf Preview: Eagles have strength in numbers

Numbers are good for the Eldorado High School boys and girls' golf team. Now head coaches Chad Alberts and Kelly Mason hope these numbers produce some good scores on the course.

And while there are strength in numbers, the depth that Albers has on the boys side is still very young.

"I have one senior (Lucas Rider) and one junior (Ely Boulds) and the rest are made up of sophomores (Evan Coyle and Braden Unthank) and freshmen (Austin Willis, Kaiden Lloyd, Zachary Stanford and Noah Smith). I really don't know what to expect this year, but we're obviously going to be young and inexperienced."

Coyle did represent the Eagles at last year's IHSA Class 1A Sectional and Albers projects him to be the teams No. 1 player going into the season.

"We'd really like to keep making a move at the conference title. We have gotten better the last couple of years, we moved to the middle last year and it would be nice to be in that top three this year. As a team, being this young, we just want to make strides and by the time they are older, maybe have conquered that mountain."

The thought process and sentiment is shared on the girls' side and first-year head coach Kelly Mason, who is taking over for Greg Goodley.

The team is just three years removed from its second place finish at the IHSA state tournament and senior Keely Tate is the last remaining piece to that team.

"From Day One, Keely has put it out there to them, 'do you guys want to play at state again?' Keely definitely does, it's something she wants to do and you can qualify as an individual, but it's not the same as qualifying as a team and the memories you get to create and keep. From the very first practice, Keely has been on board with that."

Tate lost out on a playoff to advance to last year's sectionals and will be joined by very fellow senior Derian Corn. The lone junior is Ashlyn Sizemore, while the one sophomore is Chloe Hopkins. Emma Wargel, Gracie Harrawood, Hannah Clark and Lacey Hobbs make up the freshmen class.

Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Register, Eldorado Journal & The Gallatin County Democrat. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.