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Mitchell girls seventh at state

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By RICK HARMON

Tribune correspondent

Published: November 5, 2009

OCALA - Megan VanEtten admitted she got a little emotional following her final putt at the girls Class 2A state golf tournament at the Ocala Golf Club on Wednesday.

As she walked off the 18th green, she realized her four-year career at Mitchell had come to an end.

"I actually got a little teary-eyed, I was thinking, 'Oh no, my last putt of my high school career,'" the senior said. "But there's a future ahead of me."

The Mustangs finished seventh in a field of 16 teams and although every player probably thinks they could have done better, Coach Scott Schmitz was happy with their performance.

"We sat down at the tables (Tuesday) night and just talked," the first-year coach said. "I think there are 243 teams that play Class 2A golf and we finished seventh. That's not bad. I know it's not first and I know it's not second, but it's not bad. It's quite an accomplishment the girls can hang their hat on and be proud."
Megan VanEtten (79-73-152) finished tied for 16th overall while sister Rebecca shot 80-85-165, Victoria Kinney had 88-92-180, Emma Fivecoat turned in 96-86-182 and Kristen Pitts, who was sick the entire tournament, finished with 103-92-195.

"The whole round I was thinking that if I had shot like this (Tuesday) I might be in better shape," Megan said. "My dad kept saying that this was my last round of high school play, just go out there and have fun and that's what I did. I had a better attitude (Wednesday) and more focused. My putting felt better today and that made me happy."

The Mustangs cut seven strokes off their first-day score and finished 343-336-679.

"I think we pretty much accomplished our goal of getting to state finally after four years of trying very hard," said Kinney, who along with Megan and Pitts are seniors. "We had the difficulties of having a new coach, too. So having that got us to work harder and try to get to know each other better. The pressure was on us mostly at regional and after we got first there, the pressure was pulled off us. At state, all we were looking for was to do our best and have fun. I thought we did pretty well for this being the first time we've been here as a team."
Pitts almost pulled out of the tournament Wednesday morning as she couldn't shake a cold and flu symptoms. But it was her last high school tournament and stuck it out - cutting 11 strokes off her Day 1 score.

"(Wednesday) morning I actually was talking to my parents and they said if I was too sick, DQ yourself and just get out of it," Pitts said. "But after I got into it, I kept going. It wasn't as fun as I thought it would be with me being so sick. I really wanted to do a lot better and I didn't really get to have a lot of fun with my teammates because I had to stay in and rest and rest. I prayed every night that I would get better but I got through it. It could have been more fun."

Added Kinney: "When I hit my drive (on No. 18), I realized this would be the last game in high school. Even if we play together after this, it won't be the same."

Although the Mustangs lose three of their top five players, a repeat trip to state is possible.

"We lose Megan, who is just an outstanding golfer, and we lose Victoria, who might be our most-improved player this year, and Kristen," Schmitz said. "We lose three seniors but with Rebecca coming back and Emma Fivecoat and Antonina Argento, who ended up being our sixth player by the end of the year, there's a nucleus of three girls. ... I think girls golf at Mitchell High School is going to be OK."

And Schmitz, who was the football coach at Mitchell until this season, plans to return.

"I plan to do it again next year. I enjoyed it," he said. "As long as (Mitchell athletic director Ian) Mooney doesn't fire me. I had fun with it. I learned a lot from them and they learned a lot from me. It was a cool thing. I don't have (daughters), I have two boys. I've never coached girls so this has been different. I don't see why I'm not going to do it again because I enjoyed it."

Down the road at the boys 2A tournament at The Country Club at Silver Springs Shores, Pasco County's lone male participant, Ridgewood's Austin Padova bounced back from an opening-round 79 with a 76 to finish with a 155, tied for 48th place.

"(The state tournament) is something new," the sophomore said. "I thought the scores would be a lot lower than they actually were. If I play better the next two years, I might be able to do better."

Padova was much happier with his score Wednesday, and attributed it to less waiting around the course.

"We were the first group out and we didn't have to wait," he said. "The front side we played very quickly and I played a lot better. I played (three) strokes better (Wednesday)."

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