A year ago, Brianna Francis and Shelby Hoeft were sophomores who looked up to a large senior class.

This year, they’re more than the leaders. They are the backbone of the Tomah High School girls golf team. Without them, the program would disappear for a year, at least as a varsity sport.

“The roles are switched this year,” Francis said. “We’re the ones demonstrating for the younger players and offering advice.”

Francis and Hoeft have a greater challenge than last year’s nine-girl senior class. This year’s Tomah team has just seven players, four of whom are beginners. The fourth player, returning senior Megan Kennedy-Pierce, suffered an elbow injury two days before the first practice and didn’t start swinging a golf club again until last week.

As a result, Tomah couldn’t field a complete varsity team to start the season. Francis and Hoeft have been competing for individual honors in the Mississippi Valley Conference, but they’ve missed the team aspect.

“The team part is really important,” Hoeft said. “Last season, coach (Tonya) Gnewikow would always tells us, ‘Beat Aquinas, beat La Crosse so we can stay in third. Now that we have Megan (Kennedy-Piece) back, hopefully we can have a strong team again.”

With Kennedy-Pierce back in action, combined with the rapid improvement of beginning freshman Megan McGinnis, the Timberwolves can start posting team scores again. But Gnewikow would enjoy coaching Francis and Hoeft even if the Timberwolves were unable to field a full squad.

“It has been wonderful to have Brianna and Shelby come in as freshmen my first year coaching and stick with the team throughout,” Gnewikow said. “They are knowledgeable about the game of golf and do a nice job of sharing with new teammates.”

Hoeft said she’s just doing what seniors Rhianna Nichols and Brittany Pierce did the year before.

“We all looked up to the seniors a lot,” Hoeft recalled. “They were really helpful and kept us focused.”

Francis said the seniors were always there to offer support.

“Whenever we were down, they were always there to pick us back up,” Francis said. “They were genuine to us. We were like their little babies.”

Francis and Hoeft credit Gnewikow and her assistant coach, Michelle Eswein, for preparing them for their new roles as team leaders.

“It’s a difficult spot for me sometimes, but our coaches are awesome,” Francis said.

Hoeft added: “We wouldn’t be able to do this without our coaches.”

Now that the Timberwolves have a full team, they can pursue both individual and team goals. They still have an outside chance of catching La Crosse Aquinas and avoiding last place in the MVC, which would represent a significant accomplishment considering where things stood on the first day of practice. Tomah’s Hiawatha Golf Club will host the WIAA Regional meet, which will give Tomah’s golfers a home course advantage as they try to reach the sectional at Hayward.

“Our goal is to get more girls our for golf and get more girls to shoot better scores,” Hoeft said. “We’re the leaders now. We’re the role models.”