The Southland/Grand Meadow golf team has changed conferences, but their expectations for a league title have not wavered.

The SGM boys' golf squad is the two-time defending Southeast Conference champions, but the team is now a member of the Three Rivers Conference South Division. Head coach Wayne Robertson said that wanting to win the new conference crown is not at all outlandish.

"We hope to be right in the mix," he said. "We'll give it our best try. Our expectations are that we'd like to win the conference."

Southland/Grand Meadow was led to consecutive undefeated SEC golf titles by ace Jeff Thalberg -- the school's first ever state qualifier from two years ago. Thalberg has since graduated, passing the torch to two-time All-Conference performer Gary Kiefer.

"He's the one that we'll look to be our leader," Robertson said.

Kiefer was last year's team co-MVP with Thalberg and is this year's senior captain. A strong Section 1, Class A field prevented either from making it to state.

Erik Perthel is the other senior on the squad. A group of underclassmen will make its mark on the varsity roster. Sophomore A.J. Wiste and freshman Eric Kiefer were both All-Conference golfers, and Brady Lorenzen placed eighth in sub-sections as an eighth-grader last year.

Sophomores Lee Kulow and Bryan Peck will also compete for varsity spots, along with classmates Jeremy Bottoma, Brent Bunne and Lucas Smith.

"There's good competition for spots in the top six," Robertson said. "We should have a good nucleus of players, but we're going to miss Jeff Thalberg, he was our mainstay for a lot of years."

Robertson expects the best conference competition to come from Caledonia/Spring Grove, which won the east sub-section team title last year and also moved into the Three Rivers. Rushford-Peterson and Chatfield are also expected to be in the mix.

"I'm kind of cautiously optimistic," Robertson said. "We've got to prove ourselves again this year. We've got some work ahead of us."

SGM girls shorthanded

There are only seven Southland/Grand Meadow girls out for golf, and none of them are seniors. Junior Charlotte Retterath is the only upperclassmen and she was last year's team MVP.

Four other returning letterwinners include all sophomores. Heather Reiten, Rachel Simon, Cathy Schneider and Megan Underdahl all will compete for spots on the varsity roster. Schneider and Underdahl both earned honorable mention All-Conference last season.

Sophomore Dani Haarstad and freshman Jenna Wolterman will also play for a roster position.

"We hope to improve from last year," Robertson said. "We're a little more experienced that we were last year, so we hope to improve and be a little bit more competitive in the conference."

Caledonia/Spring Grove is the defending Section 1 team champion and the runaway favorite for a repeat after returning four of its top six. Fillmore Central may also be a South Division contender.