After finishing second in the Western Conference and district tournaments last year, the Oak Harbor High School girls golf team returns enough firepower to boost itself into the top spot this time around.

The Wildcats return all five starters, including one of the state’s top golfers, senior Joanna Leete.

Leete, a first-team, all-conference choice, is the reigning league and district medalist and Wesco point champion. She has qualified for state three times, placing ninth last spring. Leete also broke a 45-year Oak Harbor single round record with an 18-hole 70 in 2013 and recorded the school’s second-best average round score of 82.39.

But the talent doesn’t stop there. Fellow seniors Bree Roderos, KC Winfield and Cassidy Gurich are back, as well as sophomore lettermen Resego Mooki and Terra Baird.

Roderos was first-team all-Wesco last year, and Winfield and Gurich picked up honorable mention honors.

The team’s strength, according to coach Andy Wesley, is its experience, noting four of the golfers are entering their fourth year in the program.

Wesley expects his club “to be competitive for the league and district titles.”

He added that it will be a successful season if the team improves throughout the year and all the returnees can qualify for state.

Glacier Peak, Shorecrest and Meadowdale, according to Wesley, should provide the stiffest competition for the league and district crowns.

The Wildcats begin the season by hosting seven other schools in the annual Oak Harbor Shootout at 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 18, at the Whidbey Golf Club.