Submitted photo The Cascade Lady Champions pose with their state championship hardware. Team members are (from left) Tatyana Greene, Anna Clanton, Sara Kate Hall and coach Jeremy Bankston. (Submitted photo)
Post File Photos by Chris Siers Tatyana Greene tees off at an earlier match this season. She finished third overall in the individual state standings with a two-day score of 149. (Post File Photo by Chris Siers)
By CHRIS SIERS
csiers@bedfordcountypost.com
SEVIERVILLE — They say golf is a game that can’t be won and only played.
Try telling that to the Cascade Lady Champions.
Last week, the Lady Champions put a cap on what’s been a historic season by winning the first-ever state championship in the Class A state girls golf tournament.
“It’s just hard work. A lot of them ended up focusing on what they needed to do. We kind of hit a wall with Summertown at regionals. After their junior year, I told them what it’s going to take to get past them (Summertown) is a lot of hard work. They have the talent, we just have to put in the work. And they did. The way they performed was just consistent. That’s what we worked on all year was consistency. If we can hit our fairway off the the tee, hit our greens in regulation and one or two putt, instead of three putt, we’re going to be pretty hard to beat,” Lady Champion coach Jeremy Bankston said.
At the state tournament, consistency was the name of the game that landed Cascade in the driver’s seat of the team competition.
Tatyana Greene and Anna Clanton blazed a path through the state competition to both finish in the top five in the overall standings.
Greene finished third overall in the individual standings by shooting a 74 and 75 for a 149, while Clanton was just as consistent, finishing fourth overall with a 76 and 77 for a 153.
As team, C
Anna Clanton overlooks the green at a match at River Bend in August. Clanton finished fourth with a 153 at the state tournament. (Post File Photo by Chris Siers)
ascade turned in a 302, beating second-place Stewart County’s 312.
“It’s just incredible to see our growth and our accomplishments and succeed in one way to make the school and community proud of what we’ve done,” Greene said.
“It’s just pretty cool. I knew we could do it. I thought about, but it didn’t hit me until after,” Clanton said.
Cascade’s Sara Kate Hall also competed in the two-day tournament and finished with a 187.
“We’ve worked so hard. I think that’s more accomplishing than the title itself. It’s proof of what hard work can get you,” Hall added.
For years, Cascade has been competitive by winning four-straight district titles, but struggled to get past Summertown at the regional level to qualify for the state tournament.
To qualify for the state as a team, only the region championship team advances to the state level and having to face a Summertown team that built a dynasty of six-straight state titles was a roadblock the Lady Champs struggled to get past for years.
Once Cascade got past Summertown for the region championship this year, all the pressure was off the team and allo
Sara Kate Hall finished her two-day run in the Class A state tournament with a 187. (Post File Photo by Chris Siers)
wed the Lady Champions to go play in the state tournament and just have fun.
“We just kept running into a wall. They (Summertown) built a dynasty. Just getting past them was a relief. The goal was to get past Summertown as a team and we could just go to state and have fun. It didn’t put any pressure on us because this is the first time we’ve ever been. They worked on consistency and they stayed consistent. That’s what it takes to win a state championship,” Bankston said.
That prowess of being a consistently good team finally paid off and set a precedent for future Lady Champions who pick up a club for the program moving forward.
“They definitely have set a precedent. This is going to be tough to beat. They have four-straight district championships, three regional runners-up, a region championship and now a state championship,” Bankston said.
With the state championship in hand, none of the Lady Champions plan on taking any time off as they continue working on their game, preparing for the next step in their careers.
“I’m still going to be at the golf course working on my game every day,” Greene said.
“I want to go to college, so I’m going to continue working every day. It feels good how much work we put in and it just paid off,” Clanton added.
For Bankston, seeing the growth of the three Lady Champions and their tight-knit camaraderie was special to see blossom into the state championship.
“For the last two years now, Sara Kate has been a part of this run. And for the three of them, it kind of solidifies how much their relationship has grown and how much they want to get better for each other. I saw them push each other and encourage each other every day,” he said.
“They know what they had to do and didn’t have to be told. They just did it. It was amazing to watch those three.”
