Alexandria’s Lady Cubs Seal Deal

Alexandria’s girls complete four-year journey of growth to end White Plains’ title run in County Tournament, Sechrest wins medalist honors 

By Al Muskewitz

When she thinks about the journey, Alexandria senior Lauren Sechrest is so thankful she said yes to coach Craig Kiker’s plea to give the golf team a try.

It was four years ago when Sechrest and her Lady Cubs teammates literally picked up a golf club for the first time. Today, she is the champion girls golfer of the county high school scene and her team is the county champion.

Sechrest posted a relaxed 8-over-par 81 Saturday at Pine Hill Country Club to complete a wire-to-wire run as girls medalist in the Calhoun County Tournament and led her team to its first tournament win of any kind together.

The Lady Cubs ended the White Plains’ six-year stranglehold on the girls county title, posting a final-round 244 for a 499 total. They beat the runner-up Lady Wildcats by 17 shots.

“It’s crazy when I sit down and actually think about that happening,” Sechrest said. “Coach (Brenard) Howard told us four years ago don’t worry about what other people are shooting, if y’all keep at it, if y’all keep practicing, if y’all keep hitting, y’all are going to get up to their level and y’all have a chance if you stay at it.

“We didn’t believe him because we were shaking it left and right. But he was ‘just be patient.’ It”s amazing. I could get emotional thinking about what an amazing opportunity because I think about what my life would be like if I never said yes to Coach Kiker when he was begging anyone to play.

“Think of all these amazing things that have happened in the past three years. Like all this improvement in a sport I’d never even heard of, never even played before. I’m so thankful the Lord gave me this opportunity.”

You want to talk about improvement. The first hole she ever played in the county tournament, she can’t remember the exact score but said it was “probably 7, 8 or 9 or something like that.” The last hole she played in her final county tournament Saturday she went out with a par.

Sechrest’s 81 gave her a two-day 159 and was seven shots better than runner-up Abby Gattis of White Plains, last year’s medalist. She had one birdie in the round — on No. 9, in front the whole clubhouse crowd.

“It wasn’t as great as yesterday (a 78), but I knew it would be really difficult to do that good again,” she said. “I was tense the whole time, but I just wanted to take it easy.

“I just played my own game, tried not to worry about anyone else and just focus on my game, what I was doing. Not think about scores, just play, because with the pressure on I just wanted to relax and enjoy my day. And it was a great day.”

She wasn’t the only one of the Lady Cubs to do better than the day before. They counted an 80 from third-place finisher Emma Ray and an 83 from Emilee Brown, who broke her driver the day before the tournament. Both were seven shots better than their first-round score.

The 244 was a third best girls team round in the tournament since 2016 and the fifth best since the Lady Cubs last won the county in 2015.

White Plains posted a better team score Saturday that its opening round, too, but Alexandria’s round was still 10 shots better.

“They played like I thought they could play today,” Kiker said. “I couldn’t be prouder of them.

“A lot of credit goes to Coach Howard. He’s worked with them since they started, so it’s just a testament to the teacher he is and the hard work that they’ve done.”  [*** read more]

Calhoun County Tournament