In a field packed with talented varsity golfers from all over the North Coast Section, it was a Heritage freshman who stood out the most.

The Patriots’ Megan Conder carded a 76, good enough for first place at Monday’s North Coast Section qualifying tournament at the Sunol Golf Club. Conder earned a bid to the North Coast Section tournament, which will be held this upcoming Monday at Lone Tree Golf Course in Antioch.

Conder’s score was five strokes lower than second-place finisher Linda Brown of San Leandro.

“The pressure was on and she really stepped up to the challenge,” Heritage head coach Mark Gates said.

Five of the six Bay Valley Athletic League teams (Pittsburg being the exception) will be represented at Monday’s match. Liberty, which won the BVAL tournament, finished eighth at the NCS qualifier, advancing to the next round. No. 2 golfer Marissa Apodaca posted the best score for the Lions, shooting a 93. Lei Wei, who won the tiebreaker for the individual BVAL title, finished with 95.

“I’m extremely excited for my girls. I think they did an outstanding job this whole season,” said Liberty head coach Josh Ellcessor. “The girls have worked hard in the offseason. It’s nice to finally see a plan come to fruition.”

Ellcessor, who has been at the helm for four seasons, said this year is the first time he can remember the Lions making it all the way to the NCS round.

Freedom was also able to make the cut as a team, finishing 12th overall with a score of 562. The top 13 teams make it to NCS while the top 12 individual golfers earn spots, too. Top golfer Andrea Neilson shot a team-best 94.

“The girls are so excited about being able to go,” said first-year Falcon head coach Krista Plumlee. “The expectations were that they didn’t think they were going to make it. … They were jumping around, hugging each other.”

Antioch’s Kelsey Cast will be the lone Panther at Monday’s match. Her score of 93 earned her a 10th-place finish. “It was exciting,” said Cast. “I didn’t expect it and I felt kind of proud.”

Deer Valley, which won the overall league title, earned an automatic bid to Monday’s tournament and did not need to participate in the qualifying tournament.

Though the BVAL teams will be on familiar ground at the Lone Tree Golf Course, they’ll face stiff competition from the East Bay Athletic League, whose teams finished first (Amador Valley), third (Granada), fourth (Carondelet) and fifth (Monte Vista) in the qualifier.