On the evening of April 2, a large contingent of members of the Mount Si Wildcats girls golf team congregated at the home of their head coach Stephen Botulinski for the yearly team dinner.

Botulinski, who is in his fifth season as the Wildcats golf head coach, said one of the reasons why his team currently possesses an overall record of 5-1 is due to its team chemistry.

“I try to host at least one team dinner at my house per year. My wife cooks and the team just loves the macaroni,” Botulinski said. “Our team is big on team bonding. Just last Friday (March 29), they had a bonfire at one of our team captains’ house.”

The Wildcats’ only loss of the 2019 season at this juncture occurred against the Issaquah Eagles on March 28.

“They (Issaquah) are the No. 1 team in the league. It was a close match (212-219). We’re continuing to be pretty consistent and are playing very well. We have a lot of young golfers who are contributing right away. It’s been great,” Botulinski said.

Mount Si has a good mix of senior leaders and talented freshmen on the 2019 roster. The Wildcats team captains are senior Annie Burns and junior Tori Berger.

“We have six seniors but a lot of our varsity lineup is freshmen. It is creating a lot of competition and the team is meshing together really well,” Botulinski said.

Freshman golfers dominating in early season action consist of Kasey Maralack, Erika Groshell, Tate Baker and Paige Lee. Maralack, who will compete in the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals at the Augusta National Club in Augusta, Georgia on April 7, is one of the best golfers in the nation.

“Kasey has been fantastic. She has medaled five out of the first six matches, which means she was the No. 1 player in the meet,” Botulinski said.