
{"id":6664,"date":"2009-08-14T06:10:57","date_gmt":"2009-08-14T14:10:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=6664"},"modified":"2009-08-21T06:12:37","modified_gmt":"2009-08-21T14:12:37","slug":"in-a-conference-all-their-own","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2009\/08\/14\/in-a-conference-all-their-own\/","title":{"rendered":"In a conference all their own"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Beth Mechum<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Staff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n<p>High school women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s golf in Orange County finally found a home last year where the players could feel comfortable.<br \/>\nBecause East Chapel Hill and Chapel Hill highs were the only women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s golf teams in the PAC-6 conference and Carrboro High and Northwood were the only teams in the Mid-State 2-A, the four schools decided to form their own conference, and this year will be joined by Cardinal Gibbons. That makes women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s golf the only sport where all three high schools in Orange County compete for a conference crown.<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\nAnd Jim Williams, the coach of CHHS, said having those all-conference honors to work for have really motivated his team, plus the structure a conference provides encourages his team to succeed.<\/p>\n<p>Brenda Leeper of CHS agrees that the stability a conference offers positively affects her team.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think that it really helps the girls to have a consistent base of competition from which to measure themselves,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Leeper said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Carrboro High School<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Jaguars have inexperience and youth working against them this year. But Coach Leeper actually sees the small size of the team \u00e2\u20ac\u201c only three players \u00e2\u20ac\u201c as an asset.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The one nice thing about having a smaller team is that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have more time to give them more attention,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Leeper said.<\/p>\n<p>Carrboro\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s team might be solely comprised of golf novices, but that means there is only room for improvement, and Leeper said she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s already seen upward progress in this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s practices, as the girl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s have had a year to acclimate themselves to golf\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ins and outs.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think golf is a tough sport to come into because you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ease into it and play a minute or two, you have to play all the holes and see it all through,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Leeper said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It can be kind of grueling if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not hitting the ball well, and I think they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve learned a lot about themselves through their perseverance in sticking to the game.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Last year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s record: Finished last in the conference.<\/p>\n<p>Who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gone: Julia Holt graduated last year and her leadership will be missed.<\/p>\n<p>Who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s here: Caitlyn Threadgill is the only player from last year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s team who made it to the regionals, and Leeper said<br \/>\nThreadgill has already shown she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ready to go back again this year. <\/p>\n<p>Match of the season: Leeper said she and the girls look forward to each conference match, because it allows them to see how much they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve improved. <\/p>\n<p>Expectations: Leeper said she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s already pleased with the progress she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s seen and all she can say in regards to expectations is that she expects them to keep improving.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Chapel Hill High School<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Jim Williams, last year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s conference coach of the year, said the most memorable moment last year was at the regionals at Whispering Pines Golf Course in Pinehurst, where his players huddled together excitedly waiting to see if the team as a whole could move on to the state championships.<\/p>\n<p>When they learned they had advanced, the girls let out an excited yell, and Williams is hoping a similar version of that experience will occur this year.<\/p>\n<p>The Tigers went on to place 11th in the state championships, but will be missing a vital member of last year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s team, with the graduation of Michelle Ahn.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always had a fairly strong team,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Williams said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 From what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen of them throughout the summer, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been improving, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to be interesting to see how well we can do.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Last year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s record: Won regular season conference title. <\/p>\n<p>Who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gone: Ahn was the superstar of last year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s team. She graduated and is now on the golf team at UNC. CHHS will miss her leadership as well as her skill, as conference golfer of the year.<\/p>\n<p>Who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s here: CHHS has two all-conference members returning in Emma Marlatt and Caroline Jones.<\/p>\n<p>Match of the season: Williams said the conference matches are always important, but the girls look forward to playing Green Hope the most because the school is a golf powerhouse and many of the CHHS golfers have been coached by Green Hope\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Coach Donna Lerner at golf courses in the area.<\/p>\n<p>Expectations: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153My expectations are that we are going to have a team of gals that really likes being together and traveling to matches and going to practices,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Williams said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We are going to do our best to pull our games up, so that we can be as successful as we were last year when we had our superstar with us.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p><strong>East Chapel Hill High<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>East Chapel Hill coach Henry Essey said it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s consistency that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plagued his team in the past, and that consistency is something he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hoping the girls will improve on this season.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153One player, Mackie Kennihan, a junior, was really good last year, and the others around her had their good and bad days,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Essey said.<\/p>\n<p>Mackie Kennihan, the only all-conference player on last year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s team, is back this year, along with four other seniors, so the Wildcats will not be lacking in experience. <\/p>\n<p>Essey said only time will tell how consistent they can be.<\/p>\n<p>Last year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s record: Finished third in the conference.<\/p>\n<p>Who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gone: Essey said there were no critical graduations to speak of.<\/p>\n<p>Who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s here: Kennihan is expected to make it back to the state championships and Elizabeth Peel is due for a breakout year.<\/p>\n<p>Match of the season: Chapel Hill High, for bragging rights over the city.<\/p>\n<p>Expectations: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m hoping to have a competitive, consistent year, and certainly Mackie will be our leader in that,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Essey said.<br \/>\n<strong><br \/>\nSeeking golfers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s golf team at Carrboro High School is in need of members. Anyone interested should contact Brenda Leeper at MBLeeper@aol.com or call 942-4872.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Beth Mechum Staff Writer High school women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s golf in Orange County finally found a home last year where the players could feel comfortable. Because East Chapel Hill and Chapel Hill highs were the only women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s golf teams in the PAC-6 conference and Carrboro High and Northwood were the only teams in the Mid-State 2-A,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-schools","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6664"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6790,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6664\/revisions\/6790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}