In a year where St. Cloud dominated Osceola County boys and girls golf, it should come as no surprise the Bulldogs’ Karolyna Adams is the Osceola News-Gazette Girls Golfer of the Year, and Espn Pool earned the boys’ honor.
Both St. Cloud teams qualified for the Class 3A state championship. The Lady Bulldogs placed fourth in their regional tournament and became the first Osceola County golf team (boys or girls) to qualify for four consecutive state tournaments. Playing in the toughest region in the state, the boys finished fifth but earned an at-large spot to states.
There, the boys finished seventh overall in Class 3A, and the girls where 10th for their second consecutive top-10 state tourney finish.
Adams, a junior, won her second Orange Belt Conference Championship in three seasons, shooting a 77 for a come-frombehind victory over teammate Abigail Murphy. She posted St. Cloud’s second best score at districts (78) and the top score at regionals (74). She was 56th at states, shooting 83-80-163. Murphy, a freshman, was St. Cloud’s top finisher at the state tournament -- shooting 81-71152 for 32nd place.
“I really thought the season went pretty well, I was a lot more consistent than I was during my sophomore season,” Adams said. “There’s always room for improvement and I know that, but overall it was a good season and what made it special was that we got back to states again.”
Although she plays year round on the junior amateur tours, Adams said high school golf remains a special for her.
“In junior golf, it’s you against everyone else. There’s no concept of team work and encouraging others. At high school events, you are still an individual doing the best you can, but you are also supporting your teammates. We have such a great situation at St. Cloud. We’re a tight-knit group and we support each other. It’s a nice change from junior tournament golf.”
Any one of St. Cloud’s top four boys earned Player of the Year consideration. Pool, the Bulldogs’ only senior, won the OBC Championship with a blistering four-under 68 at Royal St. Cloud. He shot the second lowest St. Cloud score in districts and was 65th in the state championship.
“It would be really tough to differentiate among our top four guys,” first year St. Cloud coach Jeremy Velazquez said. “It seems like every match or tournament, someone different would step up and take medalist honors. These guys pushed each other all season.”
Pool, who signed Wednesday to play college golf at Division II Palm Beach Atlantic this fall, says it was that competition within his own team that led to both his and the team’s success.
“It was a different type of competition than a match, but we had a friendly battle every day at practice and during meets,” the senior who will be playing next fall at Florida Atlantic said. “In the long run that made us all better.”
The county championship was special to Pool he said, especially after losing in a playoff as a junior.
“I came into the high school season with two goals, winning the OBC Championship and helping get our team to the state championship,” he said. “At OBC’s I got off to a good start and really hit only one bad shot all day. We were able to get to states and then the whole team played really well there so it was a great way to finish for my high school career.”
Both St. Cloud teams should field strong teams for next season. In addition to Adams, All-County selections Abigail Murphy, Maddie Burda and Olivia Siegel all return to the Lady Bulldogs squad; while Ethan Parrish, Arnold Pouncy, and Dominick Velazquez return for the boys team.
Players of the Year: Karolyna Adams, Espn Pool, St. Cloud
All-County Girls: St. Cloud— Maddie Burda, Nadia Burda, Abby Murphy, Olivia Siegel; Harmony—Melanie Chaparady, Alyssa Kane, Aryana Persaud.
All-County Boys: St. Cloud—Ethan Parrish, Arnold Pouncy, Dominick Velazquez; Harmony—Mason Collier, Cesar Gandia, Connor Holt; Tohopekaliga—Marcel Moran.
