Reporter Sports Editor
With a nice mix of experience and strong freshman, expect another solid season from the Carmel girls golf team in 2017.
The Greyhounds finished fifth at the state meet last year, and have the ingredients to make a return trip this year. Leading the way are three seniors, an All-State junior and seven freshmen ready to start their careers as Greyhounds.
“We look for our seniors and returning players to lead the team,” said third-year Carmel coach Kelly Kluesner. “We have quite a few freshmen that will make a solid impact on the team this year. We are excited for tryouts (Friday and Saturday) and look to build upon the successful summer tournaments the players had.”
Hecht
A top returner is junior Nina Hecht, who finished tied for seventh at state last year and was named to the All-State team. Senior Erin Evans also played on the state team last year, as did junior Libby McGuire.
The two other seniors are Lahiri Chitturi, who played junior varsity last year, and Alex Waples, who went back and forth between varsity and JV. Returning juniors include Lucy Frey, Calli Kohl and Ella Woods, all of whom move up from JV. Sophomore Elizabeth Hedrick played in a couple varsity matches, in addition to mostly JV meets last season. Marney Jones also has JV match experience.
The Greyhounds will play four invitationals in their first four days of the season, first traveling to the Bloomington South Invitational on Monday. Next up is the Hamilton Southeastern Invitational at Stony Creek on Tuesday, where Carmel will see several Hamilton County opponents.
After that, the ‘Hounds head to the Golf Club of Indiana on Wednesday for the Zionsville Invitational, then play the Crooked Stick Invitational on Thursday.
Roster
Seniors: Lahiri Chitturi, Erin Evans, Alex Waples.
Juniors: Lucy Frey, Nina Hecht, Calli Kohl, Libby McGuire, Ella Woods.
Sophomores: Elizabeth Hedrick, Marney Jones, Veronica Teeter, Ainsley Wright.
Freshmen: Grace Ackerman, Julia Heath, Elizabeth Kneifel, Katelyn Kuc, Sydney Longstreth.