RHS Lady Hawk Golf Team earns first State title!!!

10/2/03

Congratulations to Taylor Cooper (individual state champ!), Stacy Lynch and Laura Turner who earned the first state championship for Rossview High! Other team members include Tamara Teeter and Olivia Smith. Following is a copy of the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle's coverage of the event (reprinted with permission and thanks to the LC!!!):

Rossview claims title

Clarksville fails to make move; Cooper, Brannen win individual titles

By CHRIS AUSTIN

The Leaf-Chronicle

Robert Smith/The Leaf-Chronicle

Rossview's Taylor Cooper watches the final putt of her high school career drop in on the 18th hole in the second round of the TSSAA Golf Tournament at the Bear Trace Golf Course in Crossville Wednesday. Cooper's two-day total of 150 earned her an individual state championship, in addition to helping Rossview with the team title.

CROSSVILLE -- Rossview won and made history, while Clarksville High came up a little short and still made history in the final day of the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association Golf Tournament at the Bear Trace Golf Course.

Rossview, led by state medalist Taylor Cooper, won the girls AAA state tournament by 15 shots over runner-up Knoxville Bearden, 321 to 336.

Cooper shot 73-77 for a 6-over 150 total, seven shots better than second-place finisher Kayla Stewart from Cookeville High (76-81--157).

Clarksville's bid to repeat as state champion came up three shots short, as the Wildcats shot 610 to finish second to Science Hill.

Clarksville junior James Brannen came away with the boys medalist honors, as he fired a final-round 3-under 69 to finish with a two-day total of 141, including chipping from off the green on the 18th hole to seal his championship.

For Rossview, the championship was the culmination of years of steady improvement.

"It's a dream come true," Rossview coach Sandra Black said. "It's been four hard years working toward it (a championship). I'm so proud of them holding it together with all the wind and cold this morning."

I was surprised at the margin," Cooper said. "Yesterday it was one stroke and we were down. I was surprised that we won by as much as we did, but we're definitely excited about winning the championship."

Cooper was also the only female to post scores in the 70s in both rounds.

"It's a pretty good finish," Cooper said. "All the work the past few weeks paid off. I didn't play all that good on my front nine today, but experience helped today. Laura (Turner) and I have been here the past four years (at state) and that helps out with nerves and everything else."

"It will sink in more later," Black said. "But part of my thoughts were, as Taylor was coming down the last few holes, I cried with every shot. I wasn't thinking state championship, I was thinking this is Taylor's last high school match. When she sunk that last putt I just thought, 'That's her last putt in high school and won the tournament,' then the tears really came."

"We've been together all four years at two different high schools," said Black, who was with Cooper at Clarksville High four years ago. "Every year we knew what it would take and every year we improved. This is a dream come true, but it was also a goal from the ninth grade on. We wanted to perform the best we could, and hopefully it would be enough, and it was enough today."

The team and individual state championships are the first for Rossview in its three-year history.

"I really though it would come down to three or four strokes," Black said.

Rounding out Rossview's scores were Staci Lynch (87-84--171) and Laura Turner (95-101--196).

"For this being her first year (at state) she (Lynch) played pretty well," Cooper said. "Today she helped us out a lot." ....

Originally published Thursday, October 2, 2003