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August 4, 2008

Coaches seek payoff for golf preparation

By Andy Amey

TERRE HAUTE — Psst. There’s a secret to high school girls golf in the Wabash Valley.

Keep this under your hat, but the girls who play the most seem to get better.

Actually, it’s not a secret that’s been kept all that well. Northview’s girls used what they learned in summer play to dominate the fall high school season for several years, and last year some busy summer Braves led Terre Haute South to a sectional championship.

And now the golfers from Terre Haute North and West Vigo are also picking up on the idea, much to the delight of their coaches.

Several South players even played in Terre Haute’s women’s city tournament recently. They weren’t able to beat their coach Cara Stuckey, but Stuckey was pleased with what she saw from her team.

Asked recently what the strengths of her veterans players is, other than their regular summer participation, she answered, “That’s their strength right there.” Other coaches know how she feels.

“I’ve seen [prospective Northview players] on the [Forest Park] course a lot,” echoed coach Josh Trout of Northview when talking about his prospects for this fall.

Abe Nasser of North was happy to point out that a couple of his newcomers were regulars this summer on the state junior tours, and Rick Petty of West Vigo picked up on some new attitude and dedication from his experienced players when he saw them compete in the city junior tournament.

So the caliber of girls high school golf in the Valley seems to be improving, which is fortunate. Survivors of the sectional at Forest Park move on to maybe the state’s most brutal regional at Martinsville’s Foxcliff Golf Club; last year that regional had the state champion (the Artesians, for a 10th time) and its third-place finisher (Columbus North).

Here are some specifics for the four teams in Vigo and Clay counties.

n Northview — The Knights were Western Indiana Conference champions and sectional runners-up last year but will be replacing Mary Beth Tribble, their No. 1 player throughout her high school career.

“It’ll be interesting to see who fills those shoes,” Trout said earlier this week, noting that junior Olivia Oehler was going to be in Northview’s No. 1 spot Monday at the Brebeuf Invitational.

Oehler is one of three veterans back from last year’s postseason lineup for the Knights, the other two being senior Savanah Pursell and junior Mandy Thomlinson.

The next three spots for the opening tournament were to be filled by sophomore Shelby French, junior Allison Trout (she’s the coach’s cousin) and sophomore Hayley Miller. Two other seniors — Ali Rentschler and Allie Melega — have shown considerable improvement and are pushing for spots in the lineup too.

“We have a lot of good athletes,” Trout said, noting that some impressive freshmen are also included on his 13-player roster. “They’ve all worked really hard, they’ve done a lot of conditioning … the potential is there. We’ve just got to put some scores together.”

n Terre Haute North — Nasser’s Patriots were fourth in the sectional last year and the two players who qualified as individuals for the regional, Whitney Crowley and Danielle Rosselli, have graduated. But the coach feels his team will be much better this time around.

Two seniors back from last year’s lineup are Abby Colwell, who figures to be the team leader, and Emily Adams. They could be filling the second and third spots, however, because freshman Rachel Welker — one of those tour players Nasser mentioned — looks like an immediate fit in North’s No. 1 spot.

Juniors Samantha Greasor and Hanna Curley are among four players fighting for the last two spots, but again it’s the younger competitors who have Nasser excited. Sophomore Rachel Helt “is probably the most improved player we have; she played some summer tour events too,” he said. And freshman Jesi Kaperak … well, is named Kaperak.

“She hasn’t played much,” Nasser said of the freshman, whose uncle is local golf legend Ted Kaperak, “but Ted’s been working with her. Her swing and her putting are unreal.”

North’s first competition is Saturday, when the Patriots host a girls invitational for the first time in several years at Hulman Links.

n Terre Haute South — The Braves have added some new tournaments to toughen their veteran players, and opened Monday in the Plainfield Invitational at Oak Tree (site of the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference match, where the Braves were second a year ago).

South actually has two No. 1 players, both juniors. Sloane Engle assumed that role sometime during her freshman season, but was overtaken in last year’s postseason events by Kelsey Fuqua. Fuqua went on to qualify for the state finals as an individual, shooting an 87 on the first day.

Senior Katelynn Gosnell is another South veteran, and the two players who were in the postseason lineup a year ago — senior Alana Whitlock and sophomore Caylee Walburn — are also back. The latter two will have to fight off challenges for playing time from senior Bree Opremchak, another experienced Brave, and sophomore Katie Thomas.

“We hit the ball well,” Stuckey said of her team. “Now it’s a matter of getting our short games better, eliminating some extra shots around the green.

“Hopefully we can repeat as sectional champs,” Stuckey said when asked about season projections. “You never know going into that Martinsville Regional.”

n West Vigo — Lots of things are now in the Viking program, including a home course and a public-service mission. The players — although still young — are not new, however, which Petty is happy to see.

West Vigo, seventh in the sectional and third in the Western Indiana Conference last fall, will play home matches this year at The Landing at Fort Harrison — “I want to thank Jim Jenkins and Scott Riley for making that workable,” Petty emphasized — and will stress breast-cancer awareness with pink ribbons on their shirts. “We’re going to ‘Swing for the Cure,’ ” Petty said.

Seven of the eight Vikings on this year’s team played last year, including the top four players a year ago — juniors Cecilia Gray, Mary Roberts, Brittany Edmondson and Ashley Kennedy.

Two more juniors, Christina Vines and Emilie Roberts (no relation to Mary), and sophomore Emily Wheatfill complete the list of returnees, and freshman Kristina Smith is the team’s newcomer.

“We were 8-5 [in dual matches] last year, a pretty successful season,” Petty said. “We’re hoping for a little better record this time, and maybe go a little farther in the conference meet.

“The girls dedicated themselves a little more in the summer,” he concluded. “Our attitude is starting to be more competitive.”

The Vikings’ first competition is the Aug. 12 South Invitational.

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