Oct 11, 2005 By Ed Kolencik 3 min read

Waynesburg Central freshman Rachel Rohanna fired a 4-over par 76 to claim the WPIAL girls individual golf championship at the Club at Nevillewood Monday. Rohanna edged out 30 of the top WPIAL golfers, including defending champion Megan Trachok of Upper St. Clair, who finished in second place with a 79.

“I was just trying to qualify,” Rohanna said. “I just couldn’t believe it. I was in the first group, so I had no idea how the other groups were doing.”

Rohanna found out she won after receiving a phone call from her coach, John Garber.

Laurel Highlands’ sophomore Maria Battaglia shot an 80 to finish in a four-way tie for third place, along with Marisa Glew (Mars), Jackie Harris (Mount Lebanon) and Margaret Pentrack (South Side Academy).

Both Rohanna and Battaglia advance to the PIAA golf championships at the Heritage Hills Golf Course in York, Pa., on Oct. 24-25.

The top eight golfers advance to the state finals.

“I was a little nervous, but felt pretty good,” Battaglia said. “I think I should have saved at least five shots. Hopefully, I’ll be able to learn from my mistakes.”

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Rohanna. She was even par through the first eight holes, but struggled on No. 9, taking a double-bogey and finishing the turn with a 38.

After the turn, Rohanna birdied two of her first three holes to get back to even par.

Things then turned sour for Rohanna on No. 15. She landed her third shot over the green, but soon realized that she hit the wrong ball, and in a true mark of sportsmanship, voiced her mistake and went back to find her original shot. She ended up triple-bogeying the hole after a two-stroke penalty, which put her at 4-over par.

“It was hard to see what ball I was hitting,” said Rohanna. “I was 1-under before that and I wanted to get myself calmed down.”

After a par on No. 17, she birdied the 18th hole for the win.

“I think overall she played real solid,” Garber said. “I thought as a freshman, her finishing out even par showed how good a player she is and how competitive she is.”

Looking forward to the PIAA Championships, Rohanna knows the road ahead won’t be easy.

“It’s going to be a lot of tough competition,” Rohanna said.

Battaglia understands that she will need to improve for a better showing at the states as well.

“I’ve been having little problems with pitching and hitting fairway woods,” Battaglia said. “I will be working extra hard on that and hopefully I will be on top of my game for the states.”

“Maria played very well today,” said LH coach Don Crawford. “She had a very consistent round. On a couple of holes, she hit bad shots. She could have shot a 79 without the bad breaks. I’m proud of what she did. I give the girls who finished No. 1 and No. 2 a lot of credit.”

The boys golf championship will be held today at Sewickley Heights Golf Course, starting at 10 a.m., and feature Geibel Catholic’s James McGrath and Brandon Noonan, as well as Connellsville’s Jon Luckza.

Herald-Standard sports writer Jim Downey contributed to this story.