School may have just started last week but Battlefield already has one Cedar Run District sports title under its belt.

The BHS golf team captured the regular season district crown this past week, defeating host Broad Run 145 to 159 on Monday afternoon in the last game before the start of the post-season.

Also competing at the 1757 Golf Club in Dulles were Freedom (South Riding) and Patriot, finishing with scores of 161 and 163, respectively.

Battlefield's Khushboo Thiagaraj led all golfers with a one-under 34 through nine holes. Three of her teammates rounded out the top four in scoring with Doc Schulte coming in second with an even-par score of 35. PJ Leonard and Nick Kwon shot three-over 38.

"This is a great (team) of seniors and sophomores. I have three seniors and three sophomores on the team, all shooting consistently in the mid-70s or so," said Battlefield head coach Thomas Metts. "They've been doing great."

Metts has set a high bar for the team this year in that he would like six players on the squad to break the 18-hole school record score of 297 during the post-season.

The Bobcats will have at least two chances to do that. The district post-season championship is set for this Thursday, September 15 at the 1757 Golf Club.

Regardless of the outcome of that match, by winning the regular season title, Battlefield already clinched a spot in the Northwest Regional title match set for Tuesday, October 4 at The Westlake Golf and Country Club in Hardy, located southeast of Roanoke.

If Battlefield can replicate its Monday performance twice, that would give the team an 18-hole score of 290, clearly under the benchmark set by the 2008 team led by individual state champion Andrew Lister.

What has Metts optimistic about this year's team is their desire to win. In essence, the players back up their words with actions.

Team captains Schulte, a senior, and sophomore Thomas Fricke usually practice six days a week at Dominion Valley, according to Metts.

"They did not wait until the first week of August for them to start," he said, instead saying they began training for this season the day after regions last year.

"And that's a commitment I have not seen from anybody before," Metts added.

The Thiagaraj sisters Khushboo and Karishma are among the most elite players in the area, with the senior Karishma already verbally committing to play golf in college for James Madison University.

Like Schulte and Fricke, they tend to hit the links at least six days a week with Leonard and Buzz Ganow doing the same.

The sophomore Ganow has been "playing six months straight," while the junior Kwon even showed off his skills at UCLA this past year.

"As a coach, that helps me a lot," said Metts.

Battlefield did not lose any golfers this past year to Patriot after boundary line adjustments. That is because Battlefield fields its team from three main subdivisions, all in the north part of Haymarket: Dominion Valley, Piedmont and Evergreen Farm.

To make sure players do not get too comfortable by staying at their home courses, he asks them to train at other courses to such as at Regency, Bull Run and Heritage Hunt.

Those who are on the squad take the sport intensely seriously too. Metts recalled the Leonard, for instance, will spend two hours at the driving range after playing 18 holes just to keep working on his game.

He's not the only one with that sort of drive, either.

"It's amazing, I don't know how they get their homework done," said Metts, lauding the fact that his team's cumulative GPA last season registered at about a 3.37.

As a result of the team's work ethic, Metts mentioned that even his players vying for the fifth and sixth spots on the team are good enough to be the top players at other local schools.

"They've been playing really, really (well) since Week 1, which I'm very fortunate" to have as a coach, said Metts. "I do want them to play the best golf in two weeks come regions."

In the mean time, however, the coach emphasized that he wants his team to set a new record through 18 rounds at the district championship meet.

"We don't have to win, we already have the (Number) 1 seed. So our goal for Thursday is to break the school record," he said.