Elizabeth Forward’s Morgan, Shady Side Academy’s Zhang cruise to golf titles

By: Chris Harlan


Wednesday, October 1, 2025 | 9:31 PM

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Elizabeth Forward senior Mya Morgan and Shady Side Academy sophomore Alyssa Zhang both became two-time WPIAL girls golf champions Wednesday with winning rounds at Sewickley Heights Golf Club.

They entered the final round of the 36-hole tournaments with solid leads, and they kept opponents at bay by avoiding any major trouble on a course neither knew well.

Morgan won the Class 3A title by seven shots, and Zhang won 2A by six.

“I’d never played this course,” said Zhang, who skipped a practice round there two days earlier. “I had a math test to study for.”

Still, Zhang celebrated as the WPIAL Class 2A champion for the second year in a row. Morgan, the Class 3A winner in 2023, used last year’s runner-up finish as fuel to win another WPIAL gold medal.

Both said this one felt different.

For Morgan, it was a sense of finality.

“This is the last one,” said Morgan, a Central Michigan recruit who added a 3-over-par 75 to the 3-under 69 she carded last week in the first round at Seven Oaks.

“It was not easy getting here,” she said. “Last year with the upset and second place, it motivated me a little bit (to think), ‘Hey, you’re better than this. Don’t let last year affect you. Use it as fuel.’ ”

For Zhang, the young Shady Side phenom went from chasing down the leader as a freshman to now being chased. She said her putting wasn’t sharp, but she did card two birdies along with eight bogeys.

“Today was really rough,” said Zhang, who finished her two rounds at 7-over par after carding a 6-over 78 in the finals. “Last year was the opposite. The first day I played terribly, and the second day I played well.”

The top seven finishers in Class 3A and the top nine in 2A advanced to the PIAA championship Oct. 20 at Penn State.

In Class 3A, Peters Township sophomore Betty Glyptis placed second at 7-over, and senior teammate Ellie Benson was third at 11-over. Benson won the WPIAL title last year.

Also qualifying for the states were Fox Chapel’s Clara Koteski (17-over), Moon’s Liv Degori (21-over), Pine-Richland’s Siena Smith (22-over) and North Allegheny’s Kayli Dings (23-over). Dings earned the final spot in a playoff against Upper St. Clair’s Olivia Ziegler (23-over), now the alternate for the state championship.

Behind Zhang in Class 2A, Chartiers-Houston sophomore JoJo Jaskulski was second (13-over) and Greensburg Central Catholic junior Kennedy Kelly placed third (22-over). They are joined in the state championship field by Eden Christian’s Pearl Lundgren (24-over), North Catholic’s Riley Kontul (26-over), Greensburg Central Catholic’s Alayna Stawovy (27-over), Quaker Valley’s Makenna Kamnikar (31-over), Neshannock’s Maddie Desanti (37-over) and Ligonier Valley’s Addy Witcoski (41-over).

Central Valley’s Emma Mrkonja (41-over) is the WPIAL alternate in 2A after losing a playoff to Witcoski.

Morgan is the defending PIAA champion in Class 3A, and Zhang placed third at states last year in 2A. But before heading to Penn State, both will compete with their teammates in the WPIAL team championships.

“I am in team mode until then,” Morgan said. “I’m putting my team first. I’ve already won states. I don’t need to win it again. I don’t need to prove anything. I want a team title.”

Neither WPIAL champion was all too familiar with the 5,323-yard course they played Wednesday. Morgan had a practice round there Sunday, but Zhang was seeing the hilly course for the first time.

“The conditions were different (than Sunday),” Morgan said. “The wind was howling today, and it was swirling as well, so you never knew what way it was blowing.”

Morgan carded one birdie and four bogeys in the final round. She used a 340-yard drive to birdie the sixth hole, a 421-yard par 5. Her eagle putt from about 18 feet lipped out, leaving her a tap-in birdie.

Her scrambling skills showed on No. 14 when she hooked a drive that stopped only a few feet from going out of bound on the par 5. She punched out and rallied for a par.

“I had a 6-foot screamer down the hill,” Morgan said. “It went around 360 (degrees) and dropped.”

Zhang bogeyed three of her first six holes but fought back with birdies on Nos. 3 and 6. She drove the green on the third hole — a 264-yard par 4 — and also had an eagle chance on six but settled for one-foot birdie putts.

“I, like, did not make a putt outside of a foot,” said Zhang, maybe with a slight exaggeration. “Combined, I might’ve made 18 feet of putts (in 18 holes).”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Elizabeth Forward, Shady Side Academy