PAGE C10 • AUGUST 23, 2011
THE POSEY COUNTY NEWS • SERVING THE COUNTY SINCE 1882 • WWW.POSEYCOUNTYNEWS.COM
Young Lady Vikings making quick progress in early season By Dave Pearce The North Posey Lady Vikings did not even field a golf team until a couple of years ago. Last year they won the Pocket Athletic Conference title and advanced an individual out of the sectional to the regional. So how does the school’s first and only girls’ golf coach Kevin Wassmer follow it up? So far this season, the team has played in three Invitationals, winning one and finishing in the upper half of the other two, despite losing two seniors to graduation and having only five girls out for a team. The team has won all but one dual meet. But everyone has to contribute, literally. Without five players, a school cannot field a team. The team won the Mount Vernon Invitational, coming back to beat several teams who had finished above them in the Gibson Southern Invitational just a few days before. Over the weekend, the Lady Vikes were in the hunt up until the last few scores were posted but still finished third out of eight teams at the Vincennes Invitational. “We are doing well so far,” Wassmer said of his team. “We were right in it all the way Saturday. We had a really good chance to win that thing, but we are still getting better.” The team is led by returning top golfers Maggie Camp and Allsion Koester, who play in the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively. “Maggie has been our most consistent scorer and has been medalist at two invitationals so far,” Wassmer said of the Viking junior. “Maggie’s strength is her driving, and she gets it out there pretty good and can usually hit a short iron into the green. She is getting better and better. Allison Koester, who qualified for the regional as an individual last season, is playing the No. 2 spot. “Allison has a pretty good all-around game,” Wassmer said of Koester. “She hits her irons really well and her driver really well. We’ve got to get better on and around the greens with her. If we can do that, she can do as well as she did last year. Allison, by the end of the year, is going to be playing real well.” Holding down the three spot is Taylor Patton. “Taylor has really good ability and has a nice golf swing,” Wassmer said of Patton. “The thing we have to work with is working toward more consistency. She has to quit throwing away shots from inside 30 or 40 yards. And she still needs so work on her short game but Taylor has done a really nice job.” The No. 4 and No. 5 spots are being held down by girls who are experiencing golf for the first time in their lives. Kendall Crowder is playing No. 4 and Shelby Ackerman is at No. 5. “Kendall is brand new to the game and her greatest asset is her golf swing,” Wassmer said. “She has a tremendous golf swing. She is just still new to the game so every situation to her is brand new. She is a sophomore.” “Shelby is improving all the time and her golf swing continues to get better,” Wassmer said of Crowder’s classmate and the team’s No. 5 golfer. “She has never had any offi-
Members of the North Posey golf team are A. Koester, K. Crowder, T. Patton, M. Camp, and S. Ackerman. Photo courtesy of Straub Photography. cial instruction in the game and had never been on the golf the girls hit a lot of balls and then let them see improvement course until this year. I really appreciate her coming out be- when they get on the course,” Wassmer said. “They have to cause we wouldn’t have a golf team without her.” learn how to do those things in game situations.” Although Wassmer is one of the finest golfers in the area, But overall, Wassmer is elated with the team’s perforhe enjoys working with the girls and helping them improve. mance so far and believes the team has a legitimate shot at One of the things he tries hardest to do is to keep the game repeating as conference champs, despite graduating two of simple for the girls. the top players from last season’s team. “You try to make it as simple as you can,” Wassmer said. “And by the end of the year, I think we could have an out“But each individual has their own thing that they have to side shot at making it out of the sectional,” Wassmer said. work on. What I try to do is work on the things that the indi- “There is not one or two teams or one or two golfers who are vidual golfers need to work on.” head and shoulders above everyone else in our sectional this And hit a lot of balls. year. If we play well, we could very well get out as a team or Wassmer said his team probably hits twice as many golf at least some individuals.” balls as any other team in the area. But in the meantime, he just enjoys seeing the girls im“A lot of teams work on their game by playing rounds of prove and watching their faces when they line up properly golf and there is a place for that, but what we try to do is have for a shot and the ball goes where it is supposed to go.
POSEY COUNTY ATHLETICS
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BAIER & BAIER ATTORNEYS AT LAW Mount Vernon Girls Golf Team--Coach Jimmy Key, Kelsey Moye, Kay-Leigh Allbright, Bailey Ash, Kendyl Bourne, Brooke Guinn, and Coach Dave Bell. Not pictured: Emily Searcy and Hayley Salaman. Photo by David Koch
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Lady Wildcats are young but competitive By Steve Joos Three seniors and four sophomores. That’s the roster for this season’s Mount Vernon girls’ golf team. It’s a mixed bag of midclassmen this season, with some very experienced seniors and some fairly raw underclassmen. “The sophomores are really raw and rookies,” coach Dave Bell said. “They’ve been thrown to the wolves and they’ve really done a nice job.” Consistency is very important in golf and the Lady Wildcats are having trouble with that, especially the sophomores, but Bell says the team is working hard and has show a good attitude despite enduing some
very hot weather during preseason practice. “I don’t think we did as much this summer as probably we should have,” Bell said. “Kendyl (Bourne) played probably every day this summer, so she was in good shape leg-wise, but I think (the early part of the season) showed that they weren’t in as good a shape.” Bourne and fellow seniors Kayleigh Albright and Bailey Ash will be the team’s strengths. Albright is playing well in spite of a knee injury that will require postseason surgery, while Ash is showing a great deal of improvement, while Bourne has been the team’s top golfer for the last two seasons. All three have played four years and
are showing plenty of experience and leadership, according to Bell. The baptism by fire (actually, more like a baptism by extreme heat and humidity) that the sophomores have been put through is a major weakness. “(The sophomores) are going out there and they’re going to have to compete whether they’re ready or not,” Bell said. “Kelsey Moye has done a really nice job and then she gets tired, then Haley Salaman goes out, does a really nice job and she gets tired. Our other two sophomores are Brooke Gwinn and Emily Searcy. They’re young and it’s a baptism by fire and there’s nothing we can do about it.” Bell likes the team’s per-
sonality and attitude this season, adding that the team is having fun. The only thing hotter than the weather the Lady Cats have been practicing in will be some of the competition. Perennial Evansville powerhouses Memorial and North will be tough, as will Jasper in the Big Eight. Bell thinks his team can compete, but the lack of experienced players might hurt. Expectations are still high, however. “I think we have a pretty good chance of getting out of the Sectional,” Bell said. “If we don’t do it as a team, we have some individuals who can get out, but I’d like to see us do it as a team.” Bourne has a good chance of making a postseason run as an individual, the coach said, adding that the Lady Cats have a shot at one of the top three spots in the Big Eight (maybe second or third, considering Jasper’s strength). “So far, it’s been enjoyable,” Bell said. “Right now, we’re going to keep plugging along and trying to get better each time out. We’re going to keep trying to get better by the conference meet and postseason.” The Lady Cats have some experience and they some underclassmen who are getting a quick education and they have to compete. Ready or not.