EAU CLAIRE — Prescott is now six-for-six in Middle Border Conference events on the year, heading to the Princeton Valley Golf Club in Eau Claire and winning by 18 strokes over second place Altoona-Regis on Monday. Ellsworth also had a solid evening, taking third place and finishing just four strokes out of second.

Prescott landed six golfers in the top nine of the event. Gabbi Matzek won with a score of 38, Lydia Feran in second with 40, Layla Salay tied for third at 41, Jeanne Rohl and Caroline Foy tied for fifth at 42 and Macy Reiter tied for ninth at 44.

“Some grit today. We started out pretty rough actually,” Head Coach Chad Salay said. “It was just good to see them kind of bounce back from a tough start.”

Prescott has four straight state championships and is bringing back the team that won it all last year. The Cardinals did move up to Division I this year though, but Salay has all the confidence they can compete against the largest schools in the state.

“We’re ranked in the top five right now for Division I which is amazing for how small of a community we are versus all these big schools,” Salay said. “Right now we’re just trying to get better every day, trying to get to that state tournament first, and then we’ll see what happens.”

For Ellsworth, the battle for third place in the conference has been back-and-forth, as the Panthers are trading punches with St. Croix Central. Through six events, the teams are still locked up in terms of points.

Senior Aaliyah Huppert led the way for the Panthers in their strong finish in Eau Claire, posting a 42 to land in a tie for fifth place.

The Panthers did exactly what they were looking to do and kept themselves in the position they have worked hard to establish.

“We played really well today for what we want to do and what we want to accomplish,” Head Coach Carson Huppert said. “So, I’m pretty proud of them.”

The Panthers know they will have to lock in for the final stretch to finish in the top three in the conference.

“We just gotta play more consistent golf, get our short game dialed in,” Huppert said. “I think we’re tied right now with Central for third place, which is kind of where we would like to finish in the end.”

With the playoffs being 18 holes rather than nine holes, school starting and the back half of the year fatigue kicking in, both Prescott and Ellsworth are working through the challenges ahead. Salay said there has been a slight dip in production in recent events, but is confident they will return to form shortly.

“Definitely worry a little bit about that, but our girls, they play 18-hole events all summer, so they’re used to that,” Salay said. “I feel like I see [fatigue] more with the school, starting school.”

Huppert said the team has had those conversations, but as long as they are enjoying what they do, the team will not drag.

“Keep things light. The girls are having fun, I’m having fun, so it’s not really stressful,” Huppert said.

For Prescott, what has gotten them four consecutive state championships and another year of strong play is the depth. It does not matter if it is the first or the sixth golfer in Prescott’s lineup, Salay has full confidence in them finishing near the top.

“At one point we had the top four players in the conference,” Salay said. “It’s definitely nice as a coach to not have to worry about one or two golfers really having a good day.”

Salay shouted out Foy, who golfs out of the sixth position on the team, for being a key to the team’s depth with some top five overall finishes of late.