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Thursday, March 29, 2001
T-M teams take different paths to success
Under coach Stevens’ guidance, Warriors squads targeting district titles
By Lee Goddard
Caller-Times
There is an assortment of differences between the boys and girls golf teams at Tuloso-Midway High School.
   The boys have a deep team with 15 players, while the girls barely have enough to field a four-person squad. The boys are a veteran group, experienced at the high school level, as opposed to the girls, who don't sport a senior on their regular roster.
   But among the differences there is one striking similarity: by Tuesday, both could be district champions.
   In coach Robert (J-Bird) Stevens' 11-year association with the T-M golf program, this could be the first time the Warriors pull off a double, with both the boys and girls claiming district titles in the same season. The Warriors will attempt the double at the District 31-4A tournament in Alice on Monday and Tuesday.
   "That would be tremendous," said Stevens, who has been the head coach for the past four years after spending seven years as an assistant. "I'd be overwhelmed. We've been working at it for a long time. I've got high hopes for them, high expectations."
   The boys team has the tougher road to matching those expectations, though Stevens has an established top four of seniors James Moretich, Stephen Klock and Andre Simnacher and sophomore James Mayo. The team is so deep that a qualifying round is held before tournaments with the winner claiming the fifth spot, that often going to senior Justin Walker or junior Anthony DeLeon.
   While the boys team hasn't been as dominant as the girls, they have still managed to finish ahead of everybody in their district at least once.
   But the current success is linked to the past.
   When Stevens was an assistant at T-M, he also worked as the junior high's head coach - where he coached Moretich, Klock and Simnacher. After they won the city title in eighth grade, Stevens took over as head coach at the high school, and has now coached his three frontline seniors for six consecutive years.
   Stevens has gotten so close to the team - not just his seniors - that he holds cookouts, goes hunting with his players and holds family get-togethers.
   More importantly for the program, he has a core group on the course to influence younger golfers such as Mayo.
   "When we were freshmen, we didn't have a whole lot to look up to," Klock said. "We were already the varsity team. There were four freshmen on varsity and just one senior, and he didn't really care that much. There wasn't really anyone pushing us like we push James Mayo or some of the other guys. We clowned around and played the best we could. But there wasn't anyone really pushing us to get better."
   Even the way they approach the game has changed.
   "I practice more with a purpose than I used to," Moretich said. "I try to have more fun and not take it too seriously. Practicing every day, I'm not as nervous as I was as a freshman."
   Nerves aren't a problem for the girls, but playing partners are. While they have been consistently able to play only four golfers - teams usually play five, with the lowest score discounted - the team has finished either first or second in all their tournaments.
   Leading the team is freshman Sydney Lee, who has claimed the top spot on the squad, while juniors Angela Vela and Shelley Martinets and sophomore Lindsey Dixon have all played strongly to make T-M more than just a one-player team.
   "We're a four-person team out there," Vela said. "Everyone else has seven people. They get to drop a score. We don't. There is pressure."
   But the team has done well with the pressure. The only schools to have beaten T-M in tournament play this year have been Carroll and Gregory-Portland. And the team may finally get a fifth as Kaley Smith, who has been participating in other sports, is scheduled to play for the first time since October.
   She could be part of the double. Moretich said it's just a matter of the entire boys team playing to their capabilities at one time. Lee said the girls need to widen their margin of victory.
   Which makes for one more difference between both teams. The boys are somewhat reserved, while the girls are a little brash, talking up the sport as a game that shouldn't be considered guys-only.
   And talking a little smack about how they can beat guys on a regular basis.
   "The boys are much more subdued," Stevens said. "The girls are a little more vocal and outgoing - at least some, I should say. But, of course, they've had more success than the boys."
   Come Tuesday, that could change.

Staff writer Lee Goddard can be reached at 886-3613 or by e-mail at goddardl@caller.com

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