Coming off last season's first-place finish in the final season of the Lehigh Valley Conference (LVC) Golf Championships, Freedom's Helen Hsu had high goals once again in the new Eastern Pennsylvania Conference (EPC)

Hsu didn't place a ton of emphasis on capturing gold once again; her focus, meanwhile, was simply on shooting a solid round that would put her in contention amongst the leaders.

She didn't shoot just a solid round, but a personal best on the course during last week's EPC Golf Championships produced a similar result from a year ago. Hsu shot a 79 to capture first place in last Tuesday's tournament at Woodstone Country Club.

"I just wanted to put up a good score," Hsu said. "A good score to me would have been an 81 or below. If I shot underneath that, I don't think I would've cared what placement I came in with. It just happened that I got first. I was pretty happy with that.

"It's not the fact that I won that is special. It's the fact that I can play well under stressful situations. That's what I'm the most happiest about."

Hsu's previous best at Woodstone in competition was an 84. A week before competition, she shot an 82 in a practice round.

What was the reason for the significant improvement? Hsu put together a consistent round on the putting greens that resulted in 11 pars for the senior. It was a similar performance to last season's league tournament as well.

"I made a lot of putts at the tournament that I normally wouldn't," Hsu said. "I think that's focus, confidence and a little bit of luck.

"I won it last year, [and] I want to say almost for the same reason. Last year I hit less greens on regulation, but I made a lot of putts that I normally don't make. At Woodstone, I feel like putting is the most important thing because you can get on the green and still four-putt if you're not careful."

In all, Hsu hit 12 greens on regulation, 11 pars and seven bogeys. She was two-over par in the front nine holes.

When it comes to district competition, Hsu has put together a solid career at that level, too. She won the tournament two years ago, and came in second place last year behind Emmaus' Kelsey Patterson.

With the district field as competitive as ever, Hsu understands it will be anyone's day when the girls tee off next Monday. Her goal for districts is the same as leagues. She has her eyes set on another solid, consistent round that will result in a top-three finish and a spot in regionals.

"I just want to play well," Hsu said. "It would be nice to win, but I really want to make the top three. Hopefully I won't be cutting it close, [and] hopefully I can just play well and know at the end that I should be ok."

Fritzinger came in second place for the girls with a round of 82, while Kelsey Patterson shot an 83 for third place.