Lady Tiger golfers show championship form

Three out of five. Not too shabby, if you ask me. That's exactly what the Nevada Lady Tigers golf team has done in tournament play thus far this year.

It's a widely known fact that up until this year, the Lady Tigers hadn't won a tournament at all in four years since they won the district championship in 2005, so three tournaments in a single year has certainly started to turn a lot of heads. I'll admit that I didn't really follow golf before I came here to the Daily Mail, but watching all this is making it pretty hard not to gain some interest.

With players topping their season and even lifelong best scores with such frequency, it's almost hard to keep up. The kind of talent that I've seen this year from this group of girls is really quite astonishing.

In my discussions with head coach Brian Leonard prior to the season and as the year has worn on, he's told me on numerous occasions that this is one of the best groups that he's had and they've got potential to do a lot of great things. Well, it seems to me that they're pretty thoroughly proving him right.

Never in the history of the Nevada High School girls' golf program have the Lady Tigers brought home more than one tournament title in a season, but three this year make it increasingly difficult to argue the idea that this might be the best team that has ever come through the Nevada High School golf program. I know that I haven't been here long enough to really be able to speak on that subject, but it seems pretty obvious from my view.

This year's girls have had their share of struggles to overcome after losing former teammate Emily DeBrine in a car accident last November, thus making their accomplishments even more astounding to me. Brian told me that his teams always come together into a pretty tightly-knit group, so I can imagine that there was a pretty substantial hole that needed to be filled after that accident.

I find it very interesting and downright astonishing how this group of girls has not only been able to keep that negative experience from having negative impacts on their performance or desire to play, but seems to have channeled the emotion surrounding it into a positive desire to win. That was the goal right from the start and something that all of them as a team have stressed throughout the year and it seems to be paying off in a big way.

Several players have stepped up and performed very well this year, making it very difficult -- if not impossible -- to really point to one standout player as the best on the team. That's an entirely different scenario from last year when Lakyn Mansfield nearly ran away with that distinction all season long, eventually going on to become the only state qualifier Nevada had.

Mariah Jones, Melea Galimberto, Emmaly Ellis and Morgan Turner are all among those who could make a case for best or most improved player, as they all continue to set season-best scores with amazing frequency and have maintained that high level of play throughout the year. Freshman Ashley Shumaker has left her own mark as well, continuously improving and making her name known at nearly every event the Lady Tigers have participated in.

I was pretty impressed with the attitudes and desire to perform that this team showed right from the beginning of the year, but I keep getting even more impressed with what I've seen as the year goes on. That kind of desire is a rare commodity in any sport at the high school level as teenagers tend to want to coast through everything as much as possible to make life easier, but I think it's great to see.

The ultimate goal is to go on to finish out the year in the same way they've performed thus far and win the district tournament, thus qualifying the whole team for state. I was unsure as I think probably most everyone was of how realistic a goal that lofty would be at the beginning of the year, but the more I see, the more I think that goal may not be out of reach at all.

Good luck, ladies.