Girls golf has been expanding in District 2 in recent seasons.
The number of top players are growing for a sport that has added team competition to the occasional individual tournament.
Here is a list of Six Players To Watch going into the start of the season:
Gianna Cafarella, Scranton Prep junior
The fifth-place finisher in the District 2 Class 3A individual tournament led the Classics to the district team title. Cafarella’s 88 in the team final was the best on either team by five strokes and led Scranton Prep to a five-stroke victory over Hazleton Area in the championship match.
Elizabeth Franchetti, Abington Heights senior
Franchetti finished third this summer in the Anthracite Golf Association’s Lawler Junior Tour’s Tournament of Champions, placing behind District 2’s two returning high school state medalists. She was sixth in the District 2 Class 3A individual tournament in 2020.
Kyleen McCance, Hanover Area senior
A state qualifier in 2019 as a sophomore by finishing fourth in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 2A East Regional, McCance just missed a return trip last season. McCance lost out on a potential District 2 Class 2A title repeat by one stroke, then lost in a playoff for the district’s second spot in the state tournament. She is coming off a summer that included a second-place finish in the American Junior Golf Association tournament in Export, Pa. and a fourth-place finish in a qualifier at the Penn State White Course that advanced McCance for the Sir Nick Faldo Tournament in September. McCance enters the season already in discussions with two National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and one Division II golf programs.
Gwen Powell, North Pocono sophomore
The District 2 Class 3A champion as a freshman in 2020, Powell followed that up with a fifth-place medal in the PIAA Class 3A state tournament. During the summer, Powell repeated as winner of the Lawler Tour Tournament of Champions, facing many of the other top girls players in the area. Powell has already spent years competing on the Philadelphia PGA Junior Tour, winning multiple titles, and was second in this year’s Pennsylvania Spring Junior Open, a Hurricane Junior Golf Tour event.
Chloe Sipe, Elk Lake senior
One of the driving forces behind making Elk Lake an immediate contender on the state level when the program was launched, Sipe finished sixth in the state in Class 2A individually and led the Lady Warriors to third as a team. Sipe broke par for the first time in competition during last year’s Lackawanna League qualifier for the district tournament, shooting a 71 at Elkview Country Club, then followed it up by winning the district championship. Sipe was ninth in the state as a sophomore. Sipe will be trying to lead Elk Lake to a fourth straight district team title and fourth straight finish in the top six teams in the state.
Ciera Toomey, Dunmore junior
One of the nation’s top women’s basketball recruits is also one of the state’s top girls golfers. Toomey finished fourth in the state in Class 2A last season after winning a playoff to grab District 2’s second spot there. She finished second to Powell in the Lawler Tour Tournament of Champions this summer.
