Lexington fall sports enjoy success in 2009
By Bill Mitchell,
Special Writer
LEXINGTON (11/17/09) It wasn't supposed to happen, but it did. Lexington 's girls golf team, with a string of five straight titles behind them, won again.
A thin four stroke margin was all the separated the champions for its consistent contender Dorman, but one was enough to make it six straight for the Wildcats.
"We were very fortunate and happy," said new coach Brandon Smith, "The girls played very consistently under horrible conditions.
"We had played in the rain several times and that was an advantage of us against Dorman and Wren," Smith said. "A lot of people felt Dorman and Wren would beat us. Dorman hosted the event and certainly knew the course better than we did."
The Wildcats got great play from Maureen Dunnagan who claimed medalist honors with a 149 total, three strokes better than Dorman's Morgan Webber. Teams played five players with the lowest four scores counting.
Senior Kathryn Miranda was fifth at 158, Seventh grader Lauren Stephenson finished with a 166 total and Rachel Moore , a junior , closed at 189..
"We needed our other scorers to come through and they did," Smith aid. "We finished the first day with a 10-shot lead and it was just enough to get us over the hump."
Dunnagan has beren a part of all six championship teams, but perhaps this was the most satisfying.
"We felt we were definitely the underdogs," she said. "There were a lot of good teams. We weren't sure we could pull it off, but I'm proud of how we hung in there as a team
On another front, the Wildcats closed out their football season with a 35-22 loss to Summerville, last week, leaving coach Allan Sitterle with a rare losing season at 5-7/ Lexington fielded a very young team that showed improvement through the season and should be a contender in the balanced Region 5-AAAA next season.
With only competitive cheer remaining for Lexington 's fall sports teams, the Wildcats have enjoyed exceptional success. In addition to the girls golf winning the state championship, the boys cross country team brought home coach Bailey Harris' first state title in the sport.
The girls tennis team was rebuilding, but came on strong in the playoffs before losing the state finals to Dorman. Coach Chee Lee's volleyball also finished in the state finals, losing to Dorman in three games. It was the first finals appearance for the Wildcats.
The Lexington boys were second in the state in swimming and the girls of coach Anna Daly, who coachd both teams, were seventh.
Catherine Lempesis guided the Wildcats to ninth in the state girls cross country meet in her first year at Lexington . Her team finished with a 226 total.
Lexington volleyball eyes long playoff run
By Bill Mitchell
Special Writer
LEXINGTON (10/15/09) ? Lexington has wrapped up its second straight Region 5-AAAA volleyball title and this time it carried more with it than just family bragging rights.
This year, the Region 5-AAAA winner has the home court advantage through the Lower State playoffs, just over the horizon.
"We won't have to travel," said Wildcat coach Chee Lee. "Last year, we had to go on the road for consecutive matches and that wore us down a bit."
The veteran Lexington coach has had his team highly ranked most of the year and currently the Wildcats are at no. 2 behind Dorman, the only team to master the Wildcats in regular season play, but Lee believes this team is improved over last year's club.
"Our players were improved after playing club ball in the summer," he said. "We have more experience and more firepower than we did last year."
Tournament play has helped temper the Wildcat's strength. Lexington won the silver division of its own tournament two weeks ago and last week played in the Wando tournament in Charleston.
"We got a chance to see some of the better teams we have not seen," Lee said. "Wando, Summerville and others played in the Charleston tournament."
The Wildcats have a solid team powered by senior setter Laura Grace Swindler and senior outside hitter Kellie Schmidt.
"Laura Grace is a leader," Lee said. "She is capable of motivating our team when it is not easy. When your team is winning, it's easy, but much more difficult when you are not. She can do it."
Swindler's skill is in getting the ball to Schmidt, a player Lee calls "the best hitter in the state."
"We have gotten consistent quality play out of Kellie," Lee said. "She has been steady all season and we go to her a lot."
Defensively, the Wildcats have a number of specialist including Carita Petta, Natalie Hicks, Katie McCullough and a freshman, Alexi Stafford.
"We are working on our passing,: Lee said. "We're decent defensively, but we continuing to work there. We still have a few more days to get better."
Lexington girl's golf will contend in AAAA once again
By Bill Mitchell
Special Writer
Lexington - Today's seniors still had time to run in middle school when another school other than Lexington held the Class AAAA girls golf championship.
The Wildcats will be seeking their sixth consecutive title next month. Some think they are vulnerable because three of the team's five players graduated. Don't bet on it.
New coach Brandon Smith has replaced veteran Bryce Myers and Lexington is not without challengers, but it would be unwise to count the champs out.
"Taking over a program that has won five straight state championships is not easy," Smith said. "Coach Myers left us with a good chance to win again, but the expectations level here is very high. Everybody thinks we should win again."
What does the coach think?
"We've played a lot of tournaments and faced the strong teams, Dorman, Wren, and Wando," he said. "Sometimes, we got the better of them and others we didn't, but I believe we have a good shot at it."
Dorman has been the runner-up the last two years and the Cavaliers will have the tournament in their backyard in Spartanburg.
"It isn't their home course, but they certainly will have played it a lot more than any other team in the tournament," Smith said.
Lexington goes after the title again with two veterans, seniors Maureen Dunnagan and Kathryn Miranda. The teammates played each other for the SCGA Girls Match Play championship this summer.
"Maureen won that event and played on all five of our championship teams," Smith said. "Kathryn played on three of those teams. Both are good leaders and the other girls have followed their lead."
The next three places in the Wildcat lineup don't have a large amount of tournament experience. Seventh grader Lauren Stephenson is the No. 3 player and junior Rachel Moore is No. 4. The fifth spot is still up for grabs among four or five girls.
"Lauren is very consistent," Smith said. "Her low score is 75 and her high score is 85. That's extremely good for a seventh-grader. I'm glad she will be around for five more years.
"Rachel was on the team last year, but didn't see much tournament play," Smith said. "She has never played in the state meet although she has been on the team for two years.
The struggle for No. 5 might go on until the state meet opens.
"I really don't who I would start if I had to play tomorrow," Smith said. "The competition is very strong."
Lexington cross county teams competitive with state's best
BY BILL MITCHELL
Special Writer
LEXINGTON ? It has been a glorious September for Lexington?s cross country teams, a county championship in girls and boys, respectable showing in the mammoth Coaches Classic and then a first and second in the Get To Know You Meet for the eight Region 5-AAAA teams.
A great way to begin the stretch run toward the October region meets, state qualifying and then the state meet. Coaches Bailey Harris for the boys and Catherine Lempesis for the girls have teams that will be rated high in the state event.
Harris has perhaps the deepest team ever to wear the blue and gold. It wrestled the Lexington County title from four-time champion Chapin, finished fifth in the International Division of the Coaches Classic and won the Get To Know You meet.
?We have the largest team we?ve ever had,? said Harris. ?We also have a lot of good kids who did their summer running.
?We have 23 runners who have run 20 minutes or under,? he added. ?I think we have a chance to be really good. We have 10 or 12 guys trying to claim seven spots. That keeps them pushing in practice.?
Leading the charge of the Wildcats are two seniors, Drew Harris, who won the Lexington County meet in record time, and Will Belue, who made the all-county team for a record fifth time.
?These two have been with us a long time,? Harris said. ?I don?t have to worry about them going all out every day. They set the standard for the others who also pick up the pace.?
Harris won the County meet, but Belue was the highest Lexington finisher at 16th in the Coaches Classic?s most competitive division . He posted a 16:50 . Harris was 29th in 17:12 . All of its seven runners finished in the top 100.
The team?s 175 points netted fifth place, but was only nine points out of third.
Behind Harris and Belue, the lineup remains very fluid.
Colby Coulter, a sophomore, beat both leading seniors to finish second in the Get To Know You event. Jay Lloyd, a junior, Tony Morales, an eighth-grader, Alex Haulbrook, a sophomore, Erik Wendt, a freshman, Ryan Stoudamire,a junior, and Zach deMoya and Terry Holthausen, both seniors, are in the mix.
?These guys are going back and forth and work hard in practice,? Harris said. ?They compete strongly during practice, but they pull for each in the meets.?
The arrival of Lempesis to coach the Wildcat girls has transformed the team into a dangerous, though very young, team.
Lempesis who has coached 16 state champions in track and field and cross country at Spring Valley and Ridge View, took over the Lexington program this after coaching at Dutch Fork last year.
The Wildcats bested her former team for the County championship and then lost by three points to the Silver Foxes in the GetTo Know You meet. Lexington finished eighth in the international division of the Coaches Classic.
The big job coming to Lexington was mental and Lempesis has made big strides in that department.
?We had to get the girls to believe they could be competitive,? Lempesis said. ?I noticed last year when I was coaching against them last year that they had a lot of potential.
?They have to learn to be more competitive by believing in themselves and working out harder,? she said. ?It?s really getting to understand the pace and what it takes to be really good.?
Lempesis encourages her runners to run as close together as they can. The lower the pack?s times, the higher the finish.
?We did a good job of packing in,? Lempesis said. ?We just need to get faster, but I was very pleased with the first place at the Lexington County meet. We beat Dutch Fork and Irmo and they are both very good teams.?
Again, the Wildcats function on pushing each other. As rule general rule seventh-grader Haylee Love runs at the front of her teammates, but junior Beka Rush was the top Wildcat finisher at the Coaches Classic. Her time was 21:04 .
Meri Heneage, a freshman, Katlin Killman, a seventh-grader, Rochelle Kellis, a freshman, Val Feliciano, a freshman and Anna Kay Talmage, the only senior in the top group are most consistent runners at this point..
?We have a number of seventh graders and freshman who are coming up really strong,? she said. ??We?re working hard and the work ethic is strong here. That?s a plus and the girls are working well together.
?We still have a tremendous amount of work to do.?
