By Kyle Daubs

With a strong core intact, Charleston figures to look to get back to state. 

Despite losing its only senior, All-Apollo golfer Hannah Harpster, the Charleston High School girls’ golf team brings back four of their top five golfers from last year. 

Senior Taryn Pearson is one of four returning golfers from last year’s Apollo Conference and state qualifying team. Pearson tied with Harpster for fourth at the Apollo Conference match. In the biggest stage of them all, Pearson shed 24 strokes off her previous golf score at Lake of the Woods to tie Harpster. 

Pearson had another solid round at the IHSA Sectional. After a sub-par performance at the Regional, which was CHS’s eighth in a row, Pearson shot 99 at the Sectional to help lead CHS to a tie for second overall. 

Stacey Zerbst enjoyed a successful junior campaign that saw CHS win the Apollo Conference for the first time in five years, capture their eighth straight Regional Championship, and qualify for the state finals had there been a state series. 

Junior Madeline Sanders made great strides towards the end of the season.

With Riley Babbs also in the fold, head coach Todd Keating is hopeful that the team can contend for the Apollo Conference, and more. 

“I’m expecting us to fare well at the conference,” said Keating. “I have not seen all the other teams, but I’m expecting us to score similarly to last year. We lost Hannah Harpster, but we kept the rest of our top scorers as well as added an experienced junior to the team who had not played for us before.”