‘Always going for it’: West Valley senior Melia Cerenzia hopes to finish golf career with a flourish | 2026 Spring High School Sports Preview

For a high school golfer who owns first-, second- and fourth-place trophies at state, you’d think they had little left to prove at that level. But for West Valley senior Melia Cerenzia, “the sky’s the limit,” she said.

“I think there’s a lot to do with golf and especially school – there’s state, there’s nationals, there’s going to college, all that stuff,” she said. “So I’m excited to see how far I can go.”

After her senior season completes, she’ll go just down the road to Pullman and join the Washington State women’s golf team.

“I’m super excited,” Cerenzia said. “Once I saw Washington State, I knew it was the place I was going to be and the place I wanted to be. It’s the perfect fit – great coaching, great teams, great facilities overall. I just knew I wanted to be there.”

“Her physical ability is amazing. She’s so strong,” West Valley girls golf coach Ty Brown said. “I mean, she is so strong and hits the ball so far, but yet she has that feel around the greens, that soft feel, and she’s just a great short game player too.”

Cerenzia was second at state as a freshman, and won the title her sophomore year on a soggy track at MeadowWood. She carded a par 72 through rain and wind, rallying from a two-shot first-round deficit for a four-shot victory. Her older sister, then senior – now Eastern Washington golfer – Spencer Cerenzia placed seventh, and the Eagles took second as a team for the second straight season.

Last year as a junior, though, she couldn’t overcome a rough start and finished fourth at Tumwater Valley Golf Club.

“I wasn’t very settled in, and I kind of let the nerves get to me,” she said. “It was a really good learning experience. And I took a lot from it – that it is just a game, and you are more than it. So, kind of just learning from that, and moving forward this year, knowing that win or lose I’m still a good player, and I’ll take the memories and learn a lot from losses, almost more than wins.”

“Last year was a rough one, because she had a kind of a rough first round, but then she regrouped, and got it back together,” Brown said. “Her mindset this year seems a lot calmer and just more mature and just ready to take whatever comes along.”

Cerenzia admitted that even as the defending state champion she was nervous and didn’t get into a groove.

“There’s a lot of pressure coming in to it. Right after I won (as a sophomore), I came back to school and they’re like, ‘Oh, two more years to win it.’ So the school is rooting for you, and that’s great, but sometimes it can overwhelm your brain into thinking you need to win, and you end up putting a lot of extra pressure on yourself. While sophomore year, I just went out there and played in the rain.”

It can get lonely out on the golf course.

“You’re just out there with your thoughts, and that can get the best of you – or it can make the most,” Cerenzia said. “So, it’s kind of getting your thought process on the right track. It can make or break you.”

The mental aspect is the part of Cerenzia’s game she still developing.

“That’s where I’m growing and I’ve been diving deeper into it this offseason,” she said. “After that loss, it kind of made me think about how much more potential I have if I can be on the right mindset, the right mental space.”

Cerenzia has always loved the game, and aspired to follow a similar path as her big sister.

“I’ve always wanted to be out there and wanted to get better,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to be like (Spencer), and seeing her do it, it’s made me want to do it more. So having a family to look up to and like guide you through the whole process has been great.”

Cerenzia has been receiving a lot of information about what to expect out of college golf from Spencer.

“It’s a transition. I’ve heard it’s a pretty big jump,” Melia said. “So mentally, and I guess yardage wise, there’s a big change. So by playing her and playing against her every single time she comes home, it’s kind of fun competition to see how I can compare, or just kind of get balanced and ready for more.”

“They were together (in high school) for a couple years, and it was fun having them around together,” Brown said. “And then when Spencer went off to college, and it was Malia’s program, I think she really just kind of clicked and figured it out that, ‘You know, OK, I’m the girl now, and they’re looking up to me.’ And they do. She’s such a good leader. … She’s like an assistant coach, because she just knows everything and they all really look up to her.”

Cerenzia generates a lot of power despite a frame on the smaller side. She says it’s an advantage for her to be “closer to the ground.”

“It helps your short game, which is an area I want to improve on,” she said. “I don’t know what a golfer really looks like. I think it’s just how they are.”

“She is not the tallest person in the world, but she is really strong,” Brown said. “She’s worked really hard in the weight room. She really works on her golf game, but yet her body as well to keep her strength training going.”

A self-described swashbuckler on the course, Cerenzia said her game is “hit and hope half the time.”

“But I’m trying to work on that. I like the distance and I like the risk of golf, but I’ve learned to take less risk sometimes and know when to put the pedal down, and when to lighten up and stop the bleeding.”

“She has the ability just to compartmentalize,” Brown said. “You know, in golf, but most of us think of your bad shot, and it kind of gets you in your head. But she just has this tenacious mental ability just to block that stuff out. She has a bad hole, she does not let it bother her – at least she doesn’t show that it bothers her – and then she just goes on and tees up for the next hole.”

Still, Cerenzia said she’s not one to lay up.

“No, I’m going for it. I’m always going for it.”