The morning of the WPIAL boys' golf section championships last week, Rachel Rohanna invited Waynesburg High School's five competitors to breakfast at her family's golf course.

Rohanna cooked pancakes for the fivesome. That was a change, because on golf courses this fall, Rohanna usually cooks the boys.

Rohanna is a junior at Waynesburg who won WPIAL and PIAA girls' titles as a freshman and finished second in the WPIAL last year.

But Rohanna competes against girls only in the postseason. Waynesburg doesn't have a girls' team, so Rohanna plays on the boys' team during the regular season.

She is the No. 1 player on the boys' team this year, has defeated most opponents and had one recent four-match stretch where she shot 7-under-par.

And in boys' matches, she plays from the same tees as the boys.

"I think what she is doing is really special," Waynesburg coach John Garber said.

Quaker Valley's Annie Houghton made big news in the spring of 2006 when she won the WPIAL Class AA boys' tennis championship. Rohanna isn't familiar with Houghton's story, but Rohanna's is similar.

The difference is Rohanna won't go for a WPIAL boys' title. She will play for the girls' crown Wednesday at Allegheny Country Club in Sewickley.

"I really don't think I want to do that," Rohanna said of playing for the boys' crown.

No matter. She is establishing a reputation as one of the best female players in Western Pennsylvania in the past few decades. Beating up on the boys helps prove it.

"We've had a lot of girls play on boys' teams over the years in the WPIAL," said Burgettstown coach Jon Vallina, who also used to be the director of the WPIAL golf committee. "But since I've been involved in the sport over the past 20 years, we haven't had a girl do as well as [Rohanna].

"You get girls who are good, but they can't compete with the top boys. She's good enough to cross over. ... She could turn out to be one of the best ones we've had from here."

Rohanna has won or tied for first in seven of 15 Waynesburg boys' matches. She finished second five other times. Her best score in nine-hole matches was a 4-under 29 on the short, 2,410-yard front nine at Rohanna's, a Waynesburg course owned by Rohanna's uncle, Randy.

Rohanna comes from a family that probably has reunions on a golf course. Besides her uncle, Rohanna's parents, Tom and Debbie, are avid golfers. Rachel's swing coach is her grandfather, Dick Schwartz, a club pro at East Liverpool (Ohio) Country Club who also spent some time on the PGA Tour. Her grandmother, Roseann Schwartz, is the women's coach at Youngstown State.

Rachel's older brother, Tommy, is on the Waynesburg College team and her younger sister, Emily, an eighth-grader, is showing plenty of potential.

Rachel Rohanna wears sunglasses in every competition -- no matter the weather. They are sort of her personal signature. While you can't see her eyes on the course, you have trouble believing your own eyes when she hits off the tee. Her average drive is about 260 yards. And she's 5 feet 2.

If you wonder how Rohanna might do in the WPIAL boys' individual playoffs, consider this: Waynesburg's Zach Schloemer tied for 17th at the WPIAL championships last year and made the cut to advance to the PIAA playoffs. Schloemer has again qualified for this year's WPIAL boys' championship, which will be Tuesday at Latrobe Country Club.

In team matches, Rohanna has scored better than Schloemer. Rohanna's average is 35.1; Schloemer's 35.3.

Rohanna doesn't consider her accomplishments this fall as some great feat for the feminist movement. In fact, she considers herself just one of the guys.

"They're all my friends," Rohanna said of her teammates. "They all treat me really nice. In fact, two of the players [Matt Fox and Taylor Moore] are my best friends."

The WPIAL boys' team playoffs are right around the corner and Waynesburg -- undefeated in section play -- will be involved. Rohanna, though, admits she wonders how she might do if she tried to play in the WPIAL boys' individual tournament. She has her doubts.

"You always see those women pros, like Michelle Wie, who think they can go out there and play with the guys," Rohanna said. "Most don't even make the cut in a tournament. Once you get to the top level against the guys, it's really tough.

"I know a lot of [high school] guys who are really great golfers, so I don't know how I'd do."

Rohanna might have a quandary next year when her younger sister is a Waynesburg freshman. Under WPIAL rules, only one girl from a school that doesn't have a girls' team can enter the league's individual tournament.

"I don't understand that rule. It's kind of upsetting and disappointing," Rachel Rohanna said. "Emily is a great golfer. She could make it to the [PIAA] championships.

"If I go, that's taking an opportunity away from her. If I don't go, and then try for the boys' [championship], that's taking someone's spot from our team. I don't think that's very fair.

"So I don't know what I'm going to do."