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Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina and women’s golf head coach Anne Marie Covar have added three for the 2026-27 season. Newcomers Julie Mathea Busch Braathen (Askim, Norway), Julia Capellini (Apex, N.C.), Kelsey Haverluck (Westfield, Ind.), and Marissa Scaletta (Belton, S.C.) will all join the Catamount women’s golf roster next fall.
 
Julie Mathea Busch Braathen
Askim, Norway (Askim Videregående Skole)
Prior to Western Carolina: Over the past year, recorded six Top 10 individual finishes, including five on the Srixon Tour  … Posted 21 total rounds in the 70s including a low round of 68, carding a scoring average of 78.80 according to the European Golf Rankings … Represented the Askim Golf Club for three-straight years at the Norwegian Golf Championship, finishing 13th in the Aug. 2025 national ladies event with rounds of 78-78-78-79 = 313 … Won the junior girls and A class women club championship at Askim GC and was also won the youth Nationals in 2021.
 
Julia Capellini
Apex, N.C. (Apex HS)
Prior to Western Carolina: Claimed first-team all-conference accolades as a prep senior at Apex High … Two-time, second-team All-State selection as a sophomore in 2023 and a junior in 2024, tied for 12th in 4-A … Finished tied for sixth at the 29th North Carolina Junior Girls’ Championship with a three-round score of 222 … Fired a 1-under par 71 in the second round with six of her eight birdies in the event … Competed on the Peggy Kirk Bell Girls Golf Tour (PKBGT) … Finished 12th at the PKBGT Tarheel Girls Classic in October, 2024.
 
Kelsey Haverluck
Westfield, Ind. (Westfield HS)
Prior to Western Carolina: Named to the 2025 Indiana High School Golf Coaches Association All-State team, helping guide Westfield High to a third-place finish in the state finals … Collected her team’s Player of the Year award … Boasts a 4.0 GPA as a prep … Dating back to 2020 as a junior golfer, recorded 18 combined Top 10 individual finishes … Tallied five podium finishes, including individual medalist honors at the Crawfordsville Country Club in the summer of 2021 … Finished in a second-place tie in back-to-back seasons at the Hoosier Junior Championship in 2023 and 2024.
 
Marissa Scaletta
Belton, S.C. (T.L. Hanna HS)
Prior to Western Carolina: Two-time all-state selection and six-time all-region honoree … Named the All-Upstate Girls Golfer of the Year in November 2025 and was crowned the South Carolina Junior Golf Association (SCJGA) Beth Daniels Girls Player of the Year  …  In the December 2025, listed as the No. 1 ranked player in the state of South Carolina … Selected to the North/South All-Star event by the SCJGA … Posted a runner-up finish at the 17th annual Beth Daniel Junior Azalea … Won individual medalist honors with a 1-under par 147 at the Hackler Course in Conway, S.C., in leading T.L. Hanna High to back-to-back 5-A Girls Golf Division II state championships … Holds the Hanna High school record with a 5-under par round of 67 carded at Hilton Head … Also tied the Stony Point CC 18-hole scoring record at 68 that included a 4-under par back nine … Won the 2025 Rocket Tour Players Championship at the Mirror Lake Golf Club … Competed in the PGA High School Golf National Invitational in Pinehurst.
 
Western Carolina women’s golf closed the 2025 fall semester with a pair of Top 10 team finishes, including a sixth-place showing at the Terrier Intercollegiate at the Country Club of Spartanburg and an eighth-place finish at the Edisto Island Invitational. Sophomore transfer Elsa Maren Steinarsdôttir paced the Catamount scoring five through the fall at 76.92 through 13 rounds, recording the best individual finish with a sixth-place tie to close the fall schedule. Steinarsdôttir is followed by two-sport standout senior Sadler Miller (77.08) and senior transfer EC Niebauer (77.54).
 
The Catamounts return to the course for the first of five spring tournaments in late February 2026, playing on the Great Waters Course at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Ga., Feb. 20-22. The event is hosted by SoCon foe, Mercer.
 
Keep track of everything related to Catamount women’s golf and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountWGolf).