FREMONT – Wednesday’s sectional tournament brought about the close of the Lady Giant 2018 season.
Shelby Level
Alana Smith
But, in a sense, it also marked the beginning of the 2019 season as well.
While Ross’ lady golfers made tangible strides this season compared to last, Wednesday served as a first-hand glimpse of what steps have yet to be taken by the program and highlighted what the Lady Giants have to work on before next season tees off.
“They all kind of saw what they need to do to change for next year,” coach Nicole Kulasa said. “I think they’re willing to do over the summer and into next season.
“Throughout this year, I’ve seen a lot of growth and I’m so proud of how far they’ve come,” she added. “But it’s remembering the fact most of them are brand new golfers and it doesn’t happen overnight. It takes practice. I’m hoping, as this season ends, and we reflect on the season, that some of the things we practiced over the season, we practice over the summer outside of our one-day-a-week practice. From the way they’re talking, it sounds like that’s what going to happen. I think they saw what they need to do to get out of sectionals and I’m hoping that’s what they will do.”
Junior Shelby Level turned in Ross’ lowest score of the day, shooting a 107. Freshman Alana Smith followed with a 119 and junior Sarah Widman shot a 130. Senior Jasannah Sabiers who, along with Emily Morris, joined the team as a first-year player, was a frequent top-four scorer for the Lady Giants and rounded out Ross’ scoring Wednesday with a 132.
“Jasannah is one of those kids that just wants to get better and she asks questions, and she wants to improve, and she’ll do whatever it takes to improve,” Kulasa said. “She always wanted to stay late at practice and she wanted to practice on Fridays before the football games. I think that she really helped the dynamic of our team. She was new this year but she’s a born leader.”
Kulasa said the sectional tournament, with its stricter enforcement of penalties and no stroke limit, made for a rocky round at times, but she liked how her team dealt with the adversity.
“We had some high scores, yeah, but they really did play it one hole at a time,” she said. “They accepted the high score and moved on the next hole.”
That next-hole mentality, along with an offseason dedicated to honing their skill, Kulasa believes, will be key for the Lady Giants to take the next step as a program.
“I think next year will be our year,” she said. “We’re still a relatively new program compared to some of the other schools we compete against. With the schools we play that are relatively new programs, we’re right there with them, but I want to compete at a higher level and that’s where I’m hoping to take the program.”