Fall sports

Dru Nix planted a seed in a modest field at Gilbert High 3 years ago.

The seed was the site of the first-ever practice for the girls’ golf team.

By 2018, it has sprouted into a girls’ golf program which has quickly grown beyond Nix’s modest expections.

The Lady Indians have ranked as high as 3rd in the SC rankings and just completed a 12-0 regular season. This past Monday, they finished runner-up in the Class 3A Lower State tournament held at Cheraw State Park.

Gilbert finished second to defending state champion Oceanside Collegiate and beat out Bishop England by one stroke for runner-up.

“This is happening a lot faster than I thought,” Nix said during practice at the Ponderosa Country Club in Batesburg-Leesville.

“I really think we’re a year or two ahead of schedule, but we’re here. So let’s embrace it and see what we can do.”

This season the Lady Indians posted victories in tri-matches over Chapin, River Bluff, Cardinal Newman, A.C. Flora, North Augusta and Dutch Fork. They held their own in tournaments against defending state champions Lexington and Oceanside Collegiate at the Blue Jacket Invitational, placing third, and with other Class 5A schools at the Smith Memorial.

Making Gilbert’s run of success noteworthy is the team’s youth. After sophomore Anna Moss, the Lady Indians are mostly freshmen and an 8th grader (Edie Raine Hardee).

“Each year, we’ve added a couple of players that have made us a stronger team,” Nix said. “This year is no exception. Last year, we added Meredith Price and both Moss sisters (Ally and Anna). And then this year, we added Alexis Hodge and Kennedy Gooding. We continue to improve.”

Gooding’s play has taken Gilbert to the next level. In her first season, she has led the Lady Indians with career lows and finished in second place at the prestigious Women’s S.C. Golf Association’s High School Invitational at Cat Island in Beaufort.

Playing on a familiar course and getting pushed by competing against the likes of Lexington’s Issabela Rawl and Invitational winner Emily Dunlap of Mauldin was a confidence boost for Gooding.

“I was definitely nervous at the beginning with a new team,” she said. “After the first tournament, I just felt so comfortable with them and I did very well at our first tournament.”

“That was a top shelf tournament and Kennedy is a top shelf player,” Nix said. “She has set the tone. She’s the example that we needed. We needed that top shelf player to show us how to practice. To show us how shots can be hit. It’s a real joy to have her on the team.”

Kennedy had the third lowest overall score at the Lower State tournament with a personal best even par 71. Teammates Ally Moss (80) and Edie Raine Hardee (101) also had career low scores.

Gray Collegiate’s Jensen Castle had the lowest individual score at 3-under-68. She and sister Jalen will join Gilbert at the Class 3A state tournament taking place Monday and Tuesday at Carolina Springs in Fountain Inn.

Gilbert will look to improve on last year’s 9th place showing. It would be another “fruit” produced from a rapidly developing Gilbert program which is not slowing down.

“She has told me that they started from the very bottom where none of the girls had clubs and that’s really amazing to me that it’s gotten this far,” Gooding said. “We have a pretty stable team this year and I just see a bright feature for all of us.”

Lexington wins Class 5A Lower State Championship

State championship number #13 is within reach for the Lexington High School girls’ golf team.

The Lady Wildcats claimed a third consecutive Class 5A Lower State Championship Monday at the Columbia Country Club in Blythewood.

They shot a team score of +14

(302), beating out St. James (322), Fort Dorchester (322), Chapin, Wando and Carolina Forest, who all tied for 4th place (340) and River Bluff (343) in seventh place.

Molly Hardwick, Isabella Rawl and Karlee Vardes led a 1-2-3 finish for Lexington. Hardwick had the lowest score of 5-under-67, followed by Rawl (1-over-73) and Vardas (2-over-74), who tied for third with Carolina Forest’s Victoria Callahan and Mia Gray.

Lexington, Chapin and River Bluff will compete for the Class 5A title starting Monday at Mid-Carolina Country Club in Prosperity.

VOLLEYBALL

Lexington, Gilbert win region titles

Victories over archrivals propelled the Lexington and Gilbert volleyball teams to region championships.

The Lady Wildcats defeated River Bluff in four sets (25-21, 21-25, 25-15, 25-16) to repeat as Region 5-5A champion. Senior Maggie Salley led the team with 11 kills and 3 blocks and Rae Stackley and Phoebe Perkins had 6 kills and 4 blocks total together.

The Lady Wildcats, who also won their 30th game of the season, will remain at home throughout the Lower State playoffs starting Oct. 25, setting up a potential state semifinal rematch with Wando at Wildcat Gymnasium.

“If we get there, which I hope we do, Wando has to come to us and I think we’ve got a chance of taking it this year,” head coach Eric Shick said. “That’s our goal.”

Gilbert had a busy stretch of games after wins over Pelion and Edisto clinched the Region 5-3A title. The Lady Indians took part in a quad match this past Saturday where it defeated Grey Collegiate (25-23, 16-25, 15-6), North Central (25-20, 17-25, 16-14) and Lugoff Elgin (25-21, 34-32).