For freshman golfer Tanisha Downer, a fresh start in high school means a chance to excel in sports on a bigger stage, as she quickly became the top golfer as soon as making herself at home at Perry.
“She’s playing as the number one golfer right now, and doing it as a freshman is very rare and a real challenge,” said girls golf coach Andy Sebold. “Her willingness to step up and do it, and succeed at it, is very impressive.”
The separation of her thoughts verses performance can be seen in the consistent low scores provided from her at the end of almost every match, being at the top of the team in her first year in the high school level.
Being such a young player with talent comes with many tests, but Downer doesn’t see any of it when she is around her team.
“I feel pretty much the same. I don’t really think of myself as that good,” said Downer as one of the youngest golfers on the team. The team, mostly made up of underclassmen, except for junior Makenzie Koon and senior Haley Youmans, leaves a lot of room for younger players like her to step up learn to lead.
“They’re all beast people,” said Downer.
One of Downer’s favorite qualities about the team is how the team continuously challenges each other with competitive games during practices.
“We do all kinds of little games with putting and chipping,” said Downer.
When competing in putting, the young women play a game called “FALCON,” where there are two teams of four, and when you put the ball in, you earn a letter of the word falcon. The game ends when one team completes six putts, spelling out the word. As for chipping competitions, the team stands from either 60 feet to 70 feet away from a pole with a flag. The person that hits the ball closest to the pole wins.
However, continuing growth it can’t always be fun and games. Downer spends a lot of time on the sport, leveling out at nine hours a week. Since seventh grade, Downer has devoted tremendous time to her sport, even getting a separate coach to better her swing.
The determination shown by her in connection to the sport can be hard to find in freshman athletes, especially, when taking on a leadership role within the golf team.
In order to strategize before a match and get in the mindset, Downer starts the day off with a prayer and continues with her warm up swings and stretching. Although she doesn’t accredit her success to the tradition, she doesn’t start a match without it.
With such success as a freshman, Downer still isn’t sure if she wants to pursue the sport the collegiate level, though she will continue to participate throughout the remainder of her high school career.
“I’m just not sure.” Said Downer. “It seems far away, and I’m not even sure what I want to do.”