If last season was a foundation, this season is a building block for the Aberdeen Roncalli girls’ golf team.

After finishing sixth at last year’s Class A state tournament, the Cavaliers have their sights set just a little higher this season, and they feel they have everything they need to accomplish that mission.

“We have five good girls again this year to where we can compete,” said Cavaliers’ coach Jon Murdy. “We should be able to get a top five, top six finish. All the girls are geared up to play (today) and have some fun and see what happens.”

Roncalli might be short on age on the roster, but the Cavaliers have no want in terms of experience. With nary a senior on the roster – and boasting a podium finish from a season ago – the Cavaliers are not interested in merely showing up for the same chapter.

“They’ve all been there,” Murdy said. “But it’s not rinse-and-repeat, it’s try to get better. Last year we got sixth. This year we’d like to move up and get a little bit better. That’s our goal.”

The Cavaliers will set out on their mission behind Claire Crawford, who is coming off a region win last week. Crawford is joined on the links by Grace Seyer and Mackenzie Wegehaupt alongside Ava Danielson and Morgan Helms. 

“Claire probably has the most experience with state tournaments, and last week winning regions with a playoff,” Murdy said. “But you look at Grace and Mackenzie, they’re always right there. They want to help out and put a low score in for the team. Morgan and Ava are right there too. They don’t want to be the anchor of the group. They want to have their score matter. It’s just a really fun group of girls to be around.”

Murdy said the key for his team is to simply play the game they know.

“We talk more about commitment to the shot,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing we talk about. Sometimes they feel like they’re not hitting correctly or they don’t have the right club or the right yards or something like that, but they usually do. So just trying to get them to commit to that shot.”

Roncalli will have plenty of chances to prove itself over the course of the two-day tournament and knows just how to measure progress when it counts.

“As far as top teams, we’re looking at Sioux Falls Christian, West Central, Vermillion, St. Thomas More, us,” Murdy said. “Those are the teams we’ve got to compare ourselves to. If we’re hanging around them after day one, we like where we’re at.”

The Class A state tournament tees off this morning at the Madison Golf and Country Club in Madison.