B10 • July 2017
280 Living
CHS’ Edwards pleased with performance at national trials
Junior Matthew Herritt takes a shot during the Alabama High School Athletic ssociation’s Class 5A state golf tournament in May at Robert Trent Jones Grand National Golf Course in Opelika. Photo by Sarah Finnegan.
B y K YLE P A R M LEY
Lions impress at state golf tournament B y K YLE P A R M LEY The Briarwood Christian School boys golf team had a chance to bring home a trophy, but was ultimately denied despite a valiant effort at the state tournament May 15-16. he ions were sitting pretty after the first round of the Class 5A state tournament at the R obert Trent Jones Grand National Golf Course in Opelika, deadlocked with Guntersville in a tie for second, after both teams registered scores of 329 on M onday. But Tuesday was a slightly different story, as Guntersville’s Paul Bruce improved on his performance from the day before and carded a round of 72, e ven par. “Guntersville had one of their guys have a big day today,” Briarwood coach Jim Brown said afterward. “That was really the difference. Overall, we played a little bit better than we did yesterday.” untersville finished with a on uesday and a two-day total of 6 44. Briarwood was two strokes better than Monday’s performance, and the Lions’ 327 wrapped them up at 656.
t. aul was the class of the field, shooting a 603 f or the tournament. rown said that four of riarwood s five golfers had never played a round at the R TJ course prior to this week, meaning they adapted to the new surroundings well and were in the hunt until the end. “It’s a big venue, with a lot of folks and a lot of activity,” Brown said. “Overall, I thought our guys played pretty well.” E ighth-grader Andrew McCary led the ions on the first day with his . unior atthew erritt shot an , with eighth-grader lade c raw coming in at . enior pencer ussell carded an , and freshman ooper levins finished at . c raw and ussell improved on their scores for Tuesday, shooting a 75 a nd 79, respectively. E ven with how young the Lions are, they impressed this season and gained valuable experience for the future. “It’s always big, because they get a feel for what it’s like and see these guys picking up these trophies and it gives them something to shoot for,” Brown said.
Michaella E dwards now has tangible proof that she is considered one of the top basketball players amongst girls of the same age across the country. E dwards, a rising junior at Chelsea High School, was recently one of 133 girls to compete for a spot on the U SA Basketball U 16 national team. She traveled to the U nited States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and took part in the May 25- 29 t rials. From that group, 12 were kept to be part of the team that won gold in the FIBA Americas championship in Argentina June 11. The trials consisted of extensive drills and exposed the players to drills that would likely be used at college and professional levels of basketball. There were also scrimmage opportunities in the latter portion of the trials, and E dwards was pleased with how she stacked up with the competition. “I feel like I did pretty well,” she said. “I’m definitely not far behind them. hose are the best people in my grade in the entire nation, and I would say that I can keep up with them and play with them.” E dwards did not learn of her acceptance until a month prior to leaving, which caused some anxiety. “I was so excited but I got really nervous because I didn’t know I was going to go up there until like a month out,” she said. E ven being behind on the training and conditioning curve compared to some of the other participants, she enjoyed her experience
Chelsea’s Michaella Edwards was invited to the USA Basketball U16 national team trials in Colorado on May 25-29. Photo courtesy of USA Basketball.
— one that has left her with a desire to get back to the same stage next year and with a new goal. “I want to make the team next year,” E dwards said. “I’ve come back and I’ve already started training for it. I want to go back next year and make the team.” Chelsea had one of its best seasons in school history last season, and E dwards hopes that her time playing with the best the country has to offer will only help the Lady Hornets. “I think that me going up there is going to be able to help the team,” she said. “We know the level we need to be at to succeed.”