ROCHELLE — Head coach Glen Mehrings will be looking to his returning upperclassmen for leadership and maturity on the course when the Rochelle Hub varsity golf team tees off the 2021 season with a nonconference triangular meet at Dixon and Freeport on Tuesday, Aug. 17. Rochelle opened the season with its first practice at Fairways Golf Course on Tuesday.

The Hubs will be without four-time state qualifier Megan Thiravong, whose illustrious career at Rochelle Township High School concluded this past fall. Rochelle still boasts plenty of talent, however, with juniors Griffin Ohlinger and Damen Harrington each returning as the top two players in the varsity lineup. Senior Rowan Williams and junior Wade Smith are two more upperclassmen who could step up when the Hubs take to the course this fall.

“We have five returning players, but our numbers are pretty low,” Mehrings said. “I’ve seen Griffin and Damen a lot this summer and they’ve probably played the most. I’m looking forward to seeing those two guys leading our varsity team. They’ve gotten much stronger physically and they’ve grown a lot mentally. Rowan’s been practicing a lot and he’s made improvements since his freshman year. Wade’s hitting the ball longer off the tee box.”

Rochelle finished 6-6 during the 2020 season with Interstate 8 Conference victories over Plano and Sandwich. The Hubs will shoot for a higher standing in the conference and the regionals after taking seventh in the conference and eighth in the IHSA 2A Sterling Regional last year. Sophomore Cale Workman and freshman Jacob Ost are two underclassmen Mehrings said have been practicing hard this summer and could become key players for the Hubs in the future.

“It’s tough being a freshman or sophomore on varsity, but I think that experience will help Griffin and Damen as they prepare for their junior seasons,” Mehrings said. “We’ve talked about minimizing mistakes and having more control over their shots… Our kids are seeing that they sometimes have to manufacture scores and that sometimes, it’s not how, it’s how many. We want to take those eights down to sixes and we want to shave as many strokes as we can.”