Fall sports weekly rewind (Oct. 17)

Carolina Forest golf looks to go low

Vil Caroso believes his team is primed to crack the top five this year.

Or perhaps the Panthers girls golf team will just bring home a state championship.

“Our goal at beginning of the year was to be top five in the state. I can foresee it,” Caroso said after his team won the Region VI-AAAA tournament on Tuesday. “We can even win it. We’ve gotten better.”

The Panthers’ best round this season was a nine-hole 156, which would equate to 312 for a full round and 624 for two. Lexington won the state title a year ago at 589 and runner-up Spartanburg shot 616.

Caroso said he believes scores from around the state this year weren’t quite as low during other region meets. Therefore, he believes if his team plays to its true potential it could be in position to challenge for a title.

“You’ve just got to be playing your best golf at the right time,” said Caroso, whose team tied for 10th in the Class AAAA state meet last year.

Before states, though, the Panthers have the Lower State tournament Monday at The Golf Club at Wescott Plantation. Caroso said all five of his players have played the course as they had a practice round there earlier this year.

“They can’t tell me they’ve never seen the course,” Caroso said. “You want to give your players all the tools. Then its’ up to them.

“I want to see us win the Lower State. If they all play their ‘A’ game we can do it.”

A big part of the Panthers’ success has been the leadership of Jamie Karl, the team captain and the squad’s only senior.

“Everybody looks up to Jamie,” Caroso said. “She’s a great leader. In a captain you want someone the other kids look up to. They really look up to her. … She’s got all facets of being a captain. She’s a tremendous leader.”

All the way down to the minor details, he said.

“She’s tells them what they’re wearing and what they’re eating and they listen to her,” Caroso said.

With few strong area teams and a weak region – the Panthers won Tuesday’s tournament by 56 strokes – the Panthers have had to essentially play against themselves as they went 7-0 in the area with most wins by more than 30 strokes.

“You just tell them, ‘Play your game,’ ” Caroso said. “You tell them to try to play slower when you play with girls that are not as good. I’ve been there, so I know that. You’ve got to play your game and try to focus on your score and not worry about slow play. You just play your game and don’t worry about anybody else but your own score.”

At the Lower State and state tournaments, that likely won’t be an issue. That should help the Panthers, whom Caroso said play better against better competition.

“They’ve just gotten better every year with the group I’ve had,” he said.

Aynor golf in prime position

Patrick Wilkinson admits he didn’t see this coming.

But after watching his team win the Region VIII-AA championship on Tuesday at its home course, Black Bear Golf Club, the coach had a bit of an epiphany.

“If we play well we could be competing for a championship,” Wilkinson said as his team prepares to host the Class AA state meet at Black Bear on Monday and Tuesday.

A year after finishing fifth at states, the Blue Jackets have improved their scoring dramatically. Their single-round score of 362 at the region meet – if consistent through two rounds – would equate in two rounds to a score (722) that would be 83 shots lower than what they shot a year ago at states. McBee – which is not quite as strong as it was a year ago, Wilkinson said – won after shooting 681 and Bishop England was runner-up with a 731.

On paper, Aynor should be right in the mix.

“At the start of the season I never would have thought that,” Wilkinson said. “It’s amazing the progress we’ve made. It might be a three- or four-team race this year with us, Bishop England and McBee.”

The drastic improvement is not something you see often in golf, Wilkinson said.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” Wilkinson said. “I used to coach the boys and I’m used to them slowly getting better. … To improve 30or 40 or 50 shots over the course of a year, that’s a lot of dedication to getting better.”

Pinpointing the reason for such improvement is no easy task.

“They’ve just improved,” Wilkinson said simply. “They just came together.”

The Blue Jackets will be paired with Bishop England and McBee as they tee off in the first round at 8:30 a.m. Monday.

“I think it will be really competitive between the three of us when we get going at it on Monday,” Wilkinson said.

Green Sea Floyds finishes strong

The Green Sea Floyds girls cross country team finished the regular season strong with a perfect score.

After taking home a win in a five-team meet Thursday at Latta, Trojans coach Phyllis Elvington is hoping her squad can carry the momentum into the Region VIII-A meet.

And beyond.

“I want us to aim high,” Elvington said. “We finished strong tonight and our goal is to be region champs and finish as high as we can in the Lower State meet and the State meet.”

However, Elvington’s Trojans are dealing with some bumps and bruises along the way.

“We have several with minor injuries right now and that always happens this late in the year,” Elvington said. “But I’m hoping we’re all healthy going into the region meet.”

And Elvington doesn’t think the Trojans have reached their full potential.

“It doesn’t matter who we’re running against, we’re always trying to improve our times. We’re always racing against the clock,” she said. “Last race, eight girls had personal bests and were pumped for lowering their times but – even though the regular season is finished – we’re still not where we want to be.”

The Green Sea Floyds girls team ended the regular season with a 23-11 record, while the Trojans’ boys team – which was outlasted by Marion in the five-team meet Thursday against Latta – finished at 18-17.

“I just want them to enjoy running,” Elvington said. “We’re gonna do our best for the region meet and come into the Lower State [meet] strong.”

Trojans, Wolverines fighting for title

The Trojans and Wolverines have played in some heated rivalry matches.

The teams finished two close ones on Thursday, too.

While Green Sea Floyds fell to East Clarendon in the team’s regularly scheduled match Thursday, the Trojans picked up a win over the Wolverines in the conclusion of a Sept. 10 match that was suspended due to rain.

“We knew going in that the two of us are really tight in the region and it’s still undecided,” Green Sea Floyds coach Tracy Kienast said. “The girls knew that coming in and came out and played really well right off the bat and had a good effort. These are two even teams.”

The scores reflected that. Both matches came down to one set each.

“It was intense,” Kienast said.

The Trojans still have one match to go, and it very well may come down to a tiebreaker between Green Sea Floyds and East Clarendon for the Region VIII-A title.

“We talked about that after the match. We have one left, they have one left. One of us will get it and we just have to take care of our match, not worry about theirs and see how things fall. We need to worry about what we can control.”

This story was originally published October 17, 2015 at 9:51 PM with the headline "Fall sports weekly rewind (Oct. 17)."