Council Rock North golf’s Madelein Herr headed to Penn State
UNIVERSITY PARK – The Penn State women’s golf team recently added three players to their already highly talented youth crop, one of which was Council Rock North senior Madelein Herr.
From New Hope, Herr is the reigning District 1 girls golf champion. In October, she rallied from a three-shot deficit to win the PIAA District One Class AAA title, defeating Maddie Sager of Owen J. Roberts in a playoff.
Last May, she and Radnor senior Brynn Walker, the reigning two-time PIAA champ committed at North Carolina, finished as semifinalists at the inaugural U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship on the Pacific Dunes Course at Bandon Dunes, Oregon.
In the quarterfinals, Herr and Walker, a North Carolina commit, outpaced Megan Bolger Stasi from Fort Lauderdale, and Dawn Woodard from Greer, South Carolina. A decorated USGA player with four mid-amateur championships, Stasi has played in four US Opens, one Curtis Cup team and has won seven Pennsylvania State amateur titles.
At the PIAA East Region championships last October, Maddy carded a 4-over par 76, finishing fourth behind Walker (75), Coatesville senior Samantha Staudt (75) and region champ Gabby Kim (74), a junior from Radnor.
While Herr had offers from Michigan, Virginia and Wake Forest where her sister Erica plays golf, team chemistry and her familiarity with several golfers who already play the links for the Nittany Lions swayed her toward Penn State.
“My main concern was the dynamics of the team and the way that the players bonded with the coaches and all the great things they had to say about the coaches,” said Herr.
In two years’ time, Herr is the second female golfer from Bucks County to join the Nittany Lions. The first was Pennsbury High School graduate Jackie Rogowicz (Class of 2015).
From Yardley, Rogowicz was a two-time Suburban One League (SOL), District 1-AAA and Philadelphia Junior PGA champion who captured the top trophy at the PIAA East Region championships as a Pennsbury freshman in 2011.
Last fall, Rogowicz was one of the top three players at Penn State in terms of average round score along with classmate Lauren Waller, of Canonsburg, and sophomore Ariana Coyle Diez, of Dublin, Ireland.
All three were underclassmen who competed in all five tournaments. Already, Rogowicz and Waller – both freshmen this year – have greatly impacted the team in their young career.
What’s more, Herr is good friends with Waller and another current freshman, Cara Basso, of Downingtown.
“It’s pretty comforting to know that you already know two girls on the team,” said Herr. “Right there, I already know half the team and have great chemistry with them.”
“I’ve played many, many rounds of golf with them and they’re all very supportive.”
Last September, Jackie was PSU’s top performer in the team’s victorious Nittany Lion Invitational. She led Penn State to a 6-stroke victory over Delaware in the NLI by finishing second in a 56-player field.
From the success of the young players on the team this year and the new upcoming class, the Nittany Lions have a lot to look forward to. PSU head coach Denise St. Pierre, when talking about the new recruitment class, said “adding them to the roster next season with our strong young class from this past year, the future looks very bright.”
Herr follows her sister Erica (Wake Forest) and her brother Zach (Vanderbilt) into the world of collegiate golf. Both were impactful players for CR North.
“If anything, the fact that Erica went there was a plus because my sister is my best friend. If I could have gone to college with her, that would have been great,” explained Madelein. “I think at the end of the day, it wasn’t so much ‘is my sister or my brother there’ but ‘do I see myself there?’”
“Penn State just had all those girls that I knew on the team and the coaches are so friendly and so nice that it just seemed like that was the place for me.”
Playing golf with people she knows is something that Maddie is used to. After all, she played two years of high school golf at Rock North with Erica and one with Zach.
Zach was a four-time PIAA Medalist and All-State Selection, and a two-time District 1 Champion. In 2010 at Heritage Hills Golf Resort, Zach shot a 1-over-par 72 to finish in seventh place with a two-day total of 144, helping the Indians to the PIAA-AAA championship.
Erica is a two-time individual state champion in 2011 and 2012 and finished runner-up in 2013. At Rock North, Erica claimed a pair of Suburban One League (SOL) titles, two District 1 championships, an East Region trophy and two state titles (2011, ’12).
In 2010 as a freshman at North, Erica contributed to the Indians’ run to the PIAA championship. In 2012, she helped CR North claim a state runner-up trophy. In 2010 and again in 2011, both she and Zach were crowned District 1 individual champions.
In 2012, Zach (145) Erica (140) and Madelein (159) teamed up to help the Indians claim the PIAA-AAA state runner-up trophy.
“High school golf was a fun experience for all three of us,” said Maddie Herr. “It’s a completely different way to play. It was my first time being on a team and having any experience with team dynamics.
“It’s great that we played well but it’s more than that. It’s being on a team and representing your school and going out there and having fun.”
Having a brother and sister who know what it’s like to play at the next level has its advantages, says Madelein
“Both her (Erica) and Zach have given me a lot of tips,” said Maddie. “They say, ‘work hard. Be the first one at practice and the last one to leave.’”
Most of all, Herr’s siblings tell her to enjoy this while it lasts.
“My brother (Zach) is going into his last year and he says, it goes by so fast,” said Madelein. “College is something that is very special and to be on a (college) team is something special, as well.”
Additional 2016 recruits for Penn State include Megan McLean, of Voorhees, and Ashni Dhruva, of New Haven, Connecticut.
McLean, a senior at Voorhees High School in New Jersey, has excelled her entire career as a junior golfer and continued to do so her senior year as she tied for second place in the 2015 Skyland Conference Girls Golf Tournament.
Dhruva, is a senior at Seven Lakes High School and this year has competed in three AJGA tournaments, with her best finish in the Under Armour/Gary Woodland Championship at ninth.
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 2016 COLLEGE COMMITS
Brandon McIlwain, Football, University of South Carolina
Devon Bibbens, Football, Lehigh University
Thomas Hewitt, Football, College of the Holy Cross
Matt Hand, Baseball, Lehigh University
Jared Schram, Baseball, Bloomsburg University
C.J. Kilgarriff, Baseball, Philadelphia University
Tori Hill, Soccer, Syracuse University
Jennica Jonovich, Field Hockey, The Ohio State University
Madison Schlucterer, Swimming, Butler University
Connor McGuigan, Lacrosse, University of Tampa
Nicole Rounsavil, Softball, Colgate University
Madelein Herr, Golf, Penn State University
Compiled by Steve Sherman for PaPrepLive.com and The Advance of Bucks County.
PORTIONS COURTESY PSU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT ONLINE AT GOPSUSPORTS.COM.
