KELSO – Senior Megan Saunders, a part of Lady Fishermen golf since it began four years ago, had 14 solid holes and 4 “not-so-good” holes according to Coach Karl Johnson. “That pretty well summed up our efforts as a team,” he related of their District IV results at Three Rivers Course in Kelso Thursday.

The good news is that the Lady Fishermen improved their team score a whopping 63 strokes at District in 2004 over last year, almost 16 strokes better per player, for the 18-hole District Tournament, according to Johnson.

Jennifer Noonan shot a 121 and missed the cut to become the first-ever Ilwaco lady golfer to qualify for state tournament play by 17 strokes. Noonan birdied the par 3 eighth hole during her round of 18 holes.

Sophomore Jenny VanOver, who improved tremendously from last season, shot a respectable 128, and she sank a 50-foot putt on number 15 to also record her first birdie ever in competition. Fellow sophomore Merrissa Janas and Saunders each carded 130 at district to round out Ilwaco’s team score of 509.

Ridgefield ladies shot 395 to win district, and Woodland followed closely with a 399.

Coach Johnson said that if Janas, VanOver, and Brianna Beller, another sophomore golfer, work hard this summer and continue to shave strokes off their game, “We will have the nucleus of a competitive team next season.”

The Lady Fishermen completed match play with a 0-9 record Tuesday by losing a closely-contested match with Woodland in Surfside 224-259. VanOver shot 62, Noonan 64, Saunders 66, and Janas 67 in one of the best played 9-hole rounds this season for Ilwaco.