FLASHBACK

2007 conference champions:

No. Badger - Portage.

So. Badger - Madison Edgewood.

Big Eight - Madison Memorial.

Capitol - Watertown Luther Prep.

Little Ten - Oconomowoc.

South Central - Wisconsin Dells.

Southern Lakes - Elkhorn.

SWAL - Cuba City.

SWC - Platteville.

Trailways - Williams Bay.

Best area WIAA tournament showings:

Division 1: Middleton finished second at the state meet, 5 strokes behind champion Hartland Arrowhead while Madison West was fourth, Janesville Craig ninth and Madison La Follette 13th.

Division 2: McFarland finished fourth and Platteville sixth at the state meet.

Division 3: Darlington finished seventh at the state meet.

FAST FORWARD

WSJ PRESEASON ALL-AREA

First team

Mike Hesselman, sr., Edgerton; Max Hosking, jr., Madison La Follette; Logan Kranz, sr., McFarland; Tim McCormick, jr., Madison Memorial; Andrew Steinhofer, sr., Madison La Follette.

Second team

 Mike Battista, sr., Madison West; Matt Gorman, jr., Waunakee; Jade Royston, jr., Wisconsin Dells; Cody Strang, jr., Madison Edgewood; Lee Swan, jr., Portage.

Third team

 Jason An, sr., Madison Memorial; Ellie Arkin, sr., Reedsburg; Nick Luebke, sr., Middleton; Quinn Moe, so., Madison Memorial; Tommy Schoewe, sr., Sun Prairie.

Honorable mention

 Kyle Braska, so., Waunakee; Zach Buechel, sr., McFarland; Andrew Cobb, sr., Sun Prairie; TJ Kaminski, so., Baraboo; Patrick Flint, sr., Reedsburg; Jessica Gerry, sr., Madison Abundant Life; Teegan Jacobson, sr., Milton; Alex Johnson, jr., New Glarus; Bryan Johnson, sr., Randolph; Randy Lewis, jr., Verona; Mike Macke, sr., McFarland; Clayton Nass, sr., Lake Mills; Dan Ozga, so., Edgerton; Gary Petit, sr., Monroe; Andrew Quam, sr,. Platteville; Charlie Roherty, sr., Janesville Craig; Hunter Saloff, jr., Lakeside Lutheran; Kody Schmidt, sr., Jefferson; Jesse Udelhofen, sr., Platteville; Josh Udelhofen, so., Platteville; Gregory Wagner, sr., Cambridge; Eric Wolfe, so., Cuba City.

BIG QUESTIONS

Can McFarland take the next step? After finishing seventh at the 2007 WIAA Division 2 state meet, McFarland moved up three spots and finished fourth last year at University Ridge. And seniors Mike Macke, Logan Kranz and Zach Buechel and junior TJ Klement probably don't need to be told what will happen if they make a similar climb this year at the state meet.

Will this be Madison Memorial's year? In the last year, three Madison Memorial boys teams (baseball, basketball and swimming) have come painfully close to winning state titles and two others (golf and cross country) have missed state berths by small margins. It doesn't appear the Spartans golfers intend to let that happen this year after shooting a 316 in their season-opener Monday at the Icebreaker Invitational with an 11-stroke victory over Sun Prairie despite not having senior Jason An, who is serving a suspension, in the lineup.

What's she doing here? That would be Reedsburg senior Ellie Arkin, who will play college golf at the University of Wisconsin next season. She plays on the boys team at Reedsburg because the school does not have girls golf team. It's the same reason that Jessie Gerry and Kristina Krogstad are playing varsity golf on the boys team at Madison Abundant Life. And did you see what they did the other day? Gerry shot 42 and Krogstad 47 on the Trevino Course at Geneva National Golf Club in Lake Geneva and the Challengers finished second to Williams Bay.

Anyone for hoops? After playing 18 holes with them in the lineup, we'd like our chances of winning a few basketball games with the fivesome of Wisconsin Dells' Jade Royston, Randolph's Bryan Johnson, Monroe's Mitch McArdle, Cambridge's Shane Leadholm and Baraboo's Jordan Taylor. And, hey, we'll take Abundant Life's Gerry, too, because we'll need a high-octane scorer coming off the bench to spell Royston and Johnson.

Anyone for hockey? Someone better make sure and check that Reedsburg's Arkin and Madison Edgewood's Cody Strang - the Wisconsin State Journal girls and boys area hockey players of the year - remembered to take that other stick out of their golf bags. Ditto for Nick Porchetta, who also was Strang's teammate on the Crusaders' WIAA state runner-up team.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

May 2: Beloit Invitational (Krueger Municipal GC).

May 3: Sauk Prairie Invitational (Lake Wisconsin CC, Prairie du Sac); Ashenfelter Invitational (Riverside GC, Janesville).

May 7-8: Metro Invitational (University Ridge GC).

May 12: South Central Conference meet (Trapper's Turn GC, Wisconsin Dells); SWAL meet (House on the Rock Resort, Spring Green).

May 13: SWAL meet (House on the Rock Resort, Spring Green); SWC meet (Reedsburg CC).

May 14: Badger Conference meet (House on the Rock Resort, Spring Green); Capitol Conference meet (Oaks GC, Cottage Grove); Little Ten Conference meet (Fire Ridge GC, Grafton); Rock Valley Conference meet (Krueger-Haskell GC); Trailways Conference meet (Mascoutin CC, Berlin).

May 15: Big Eight Conference meet (Evansville GC); Southern Lakes Conference meet (Abbey Springs GC, Fontana).

May 19-21: WIAA regionals.

May 27-28: WIAA sectionals.

June 2-3: WIAA state meet at University Ridge Golf Course.