Wawasee Golfers On The Right Path
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
The Lady Warriors nearly made the state cut in 2010, finishing fourth at the regional with a 338, while third was 335. Following that near-miss, the Lady Warriors failed to even make it to the regional, placing fourth at the Warsaw Sectional in 2012 and 2013, losing on a fifth-player score in 2012.
This season, the Wawasee team with one senior went through the season with a 17-1 mark, sharing the Northern Lakes Conference championship with NorthWood.
After finishing second at the Warsaw Sectional to NorthWood, the Lady Warriors entered the East Noble Regional at Kendallville’s Cobblestone Golf Course with aspirations of moving out, but it wouldn’t be easy.
Instead of folding under pressure, the team stayed the course, shooting a 341, good enough for third, narrowly beating out East Noble (342), NorthWood (343) and Carroll (345), which finished fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.
Knowing the scores would be tight following nine holes at the regional, Wawasee head coach Steve Coverstone had a dilemma, should he let the girls know where they stood or not?
“Steve didn’t tell us anything,” Wawasee junior Mikala Mawhorter said.
He may not have said anything to the girls, but he did take a poll of their parents.
“I knew there were about four or five (teams) right around 170 at the turn, and Leo was at 162 or something,” Coverstone said prior to Tuesday’s practice at Syracuse’s Maxwelton Golf Club. “They were a little bit ahead of us. So, yeah, I knew it. I’d go to the parents and say, ‘Should I tell your kid where we’re at?’ Some of them would say, ‘Tell them,’ but others said, ‘Nah, just let them play. They’re playing good.’ So, we just kind of let it happen.”
As it happened, the girls made the state cut, even if it was a bit of a secondary goal.
“We’ve been wanting to get out of regionals, but other than that, I think we were just going out to play well and shoot our best,” Wawasee senior Elizabeth Jackson said. “Then, whatever happened, happened.”
The Lady Warriors left for Carmel’s Prairie View Golf Club this morning to get a practice round in, then begin state competition at 9:51 a.m. Friday, when their No. 5 player Kamryn Foy tees off.
“We’re going to enjoy it down there, but we’re going down there to play well,” Coverstone said. “If it were possible, we’d go down there to win. It’s not just going to be a vacation. We want to do well.”
If the team is going to do well, a lot of it will have to do with Jackson and Mawhorter, who have flip-flopped as the squad’s No. 1 player.
Showcasing their balance, each of them shot an 82 in Wawasee’s first-place finish at the NLC Championships, tying for second overall, then both finished with an 83 at the regional.
“It’s nice because we’re always called the ‘dynamic duo’, so we can depend on each other to have a similar score,” Mawhorter said. “Then, we kind of know what the other girls should come in with and help us out. It really helps us be consistent.”
With Jackson and Mawhorter staying relatively close in scores, Wawasee has also received similar scores from junior Kylee Rostochak and sophomore Aubrey Schmeltz, who finished with an 85 and 90 at the regional, respectively.
At the sectional, Rostochak and Schmeltz also each shot an 85, providing overall balance for Coverstone.
“It’s been a team concept for us,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of people shooting 75, but we have four girls that keep (nine-hole scores) under 50.
“Mikala and Elizabeth had really good years,” he added. “Obviously, we’d prefer to go as low as we can, but it’s nice to have the balance where you can have four players that can shoot in the 40s.”
Throughout the season, the Lady Warriors seemed to be playing second fiddle to two-time conference champion NorthWood, but after defeating the Lady Panthers at South Shore Golf Club to earn a share of the NLC crown, Wawasee gained more and more experience in big matches, leading to its performance at the regional.
Wawasee will lose Jackson after two more rounds this weekend, but with so much returning, she feels like the team is in a good position to be even better in 2015.
“Just playing our best was our biggest goal (this year),” Jackson said. “And knowing we have everyone returning but (me) next year, that gives the team that experience for next year too.”
If the goal was to just play their best through the season, the girls seem determined to keep it through the weekend.
“There’s a lot of good teams down there, so we just want to play our best and be happy with it,” Jackson said.
“Just shooting our best score,” Mawhorter said in agreement with her teammate. “I think that’d be a good goal.”
Getting that message straight from their coach, Coverstone admitted that reaching state never really crossed his mind in early August, but now that his team is there, it might as well continue to do the best it can.
“I didn’t think that far ahead – we just wanted to get better,” he said. “To be honest, we try to get better with every match. Where it was going to take us? There was no way to predict that. We feel very fortunate to be going to state. Now we’re going to go down there and try to do our best. I told them that one of our goals is to see if we can beat our season best, which is the 341 from (the regional). If we do that, we’ll be happy.”[[In-content Ad]]
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The Lady Warriors nearly made the state cut in 2010, finishing fourth at the regional with a 338, while third was 335. Following that near-miss, the Lady Warriors failed to even make it to the regional, placing fourth at the Warsaw Sectional in 2012 and 2013, losing on a fifth-player score in 2012.
This season, the Wawasee team with one senior went through the season with a 17-1 mark, sharing the Northern Lakes Conference championship with NorthWood.
After finishing second at the Warsaw Sectional to NorthWood, the Lady Warriors entered the East Noble Regional at Kendallville’s Cobblestone Golf Course with aspirations of moving out, but it wouldn’t be easy.
Instead of folding under pressure, the team stayed the course, shooting a 341, good enough for third, narrowly beating out East Noble (342), NorthWood (343) and Carroll (345), which finished fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.
Knowing the scores would be tight following nine holes at the regional, Wawasee head coach Steve Coverstone had a dilemma, should he let the girls know where they stood or not?
“Steve didn’t tell us anything,” Wawasee junior Mikala Mawhorter said.
He may not have said anything to the girls, but he did take a poll of their parents.
“I knew there were about four or five (teams) right around 170 at the turn, and Leo was at 162 or something,” Coverstone said prior to Tuesday’s practice at Syracuse’s Maxwelton Golf Club. “They were a little bit ahead of us. So, yeah, I knew it. I’d go to the parents and say, ‘Should I tell your kid where we’re at?’ Some of them would say, ‘Tell them,’ but others said, ‘Nah, just let them play. They’re playing good.’ So, we just kind of let it happen.”
As it happened, the girls made the state cut, even if it was a bit of a secondary goal.
“We’ve been wanting to get out of regionals, but other than that, I think we were just going out to play well and shoot our best,” Wawasee senior Elizabeth Jackson said. “Then, whatever happened, happened.”
The Lady Warriors left for Carmel’s Prairie View Golf Club this morning to get a practice round in, then begin state competition at 9:51 a.m. Friday, when their No. 5 player Kamryn Foy tees off.
“We’re going to enjoy it down there, but we’re going down there to play well,” Coverstone said. “If it were possible, we’d go down there to win. It’s not just going to be a vacation. We want to do well.”
If the team is going to do well, a lot of it will have to do with Jackson and Mawhorter, who have flip-flopped as the squad’s No. 1 player.
Showcasing their balance, each of them shot an 82 in Wawasee’s first-place finish at the NLC Championships, tying for second overall, then both finished with an 83 at the regional.
“It’s nice because we’re always called the ‘dynamic duo’, so we can depend on each other to have a similar score,” Mawhorter said. “Then, we kind of know what the other girls should come in with and help us out. It really helps us be consistent.”
With Jackson and Mawhorter staying relatively close in scores, Wawasee has also received similar scores from junior Kylee Rostochak and sophomore Aubrey Schmeltz, who finished with an 85 and 90 at the regional, respectively.
At the sectional, Rostochak and Schmeltz also each shot an 85, providing overall balance for Coverstone.
“It’s been a team concept for us,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of people shooting 75, but we have four girls that keep (nine-hole scores) under 50.
“Mikala and Elizabeth had really good years,” he added. “Obviously, we’d prefer to go as low as we can, but it’s nice to have the balance where you can have four players that can shoot in the 40s.”
Throughout the season, the Lady Warriors seemed to be playing second fiddle to two-time conference champion NorthWood, but after defeating the Lady Panthers at South Shore Golf Club to earn a share of the NLC crown, Wawasee gained more and more experience in big matches, leading to its performance at the regional.
Wawasee will lose Jackson after two more rounds this weekend, but with so much returning, she feels like the team is in a good position to be even better in 2015.
“Just playing our best was our biggest goal (this year),” Jackson said. “And knowing we have everyone returning but (me) next year, that gives the team that experience for next year too.”
If the goal was to just play their best through the season, the girls seem determined to keep it through the weekend.
“There’s a lot of good teams down there, so we just want to play our best and be happy with it,” Jackson said.
“Just shooting our best score,” Mawhorter said in agreement with her teammate. “I think that’d be a good goal.”
Getting that message straight from their coach, Coverstone admitted that reaching state never really crossed his mind in early August, but now that his team is there, it might as well continue to do the best it can.
“I didn’t think that far ahead – we just wanted to get better,” he said. “To be honest, we try to get better with every match. Where it was going to take us? There was no way to predict that. We feel very fortunate to be going to state. Now we’re going to go down there and try to do our best. I told them that one of our goals is to see if we can beat our season best, which is the 341 from (the regional). If we do that, we’ll be happy.”[[In-content Ad]]
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