Annaliese Fox
New Palestine senior
Fox has been the area’s dominant golfer during her four-year high school career. Along with being a three-time qualifier for the IHSAA Girls Golf State Finals, the New Palestine senior won four Hancock County crowns and four Hoosier Heritage Conference titles. She is also a three-time sectional champion. She plans on continuing her schooling and golfing next fall at IUPUI.
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Caroline Gibson
Greenfield-Central junior
Gibson was one of the big keys to a Greenfield-Central season that saw the Cougars win both Hancock County and New Palestine Sectional titles. Gibson shot a one-over-par 72 to finish third, best of any county golfer, at the Lapel Regional, to earn her first trip to the IHSAA Girls Golf State Finals. She was runner-up to Fox in both the Hoosier Heritage Conference tournament and New Palestine Sectional.
Meredith Johnson
Mt. Vernon sophomore
The top of the lineup for the Marauders was as strong as any in the county, and Johnson was one of the reasons. The sophomore shot an 81 in the Lapel Regional, which was third best of any Hancock County golfer. She placed third in the Hoosier Heritage Conference tournament, tied for third in the Hancock County Meet and picked up a fifth-place finish at the New Palestine Sectional.
Alaina Nugent
Mt. Vernon sophomore
A two-time regional qualifier, Nugent backed up a strong freshman season — where she was runner-up in the county tournament, losing to Fox in a playoff. She finished tied for third in both the Hancock County Meet and New Palestine Sectional. She added a fifth-place finish in the HHC meet. Nugent shared team top honors throughout the season with Johnson.
Tandess O’Neal
Greenfield-Central junior
O’Neal could not have picked a better time to have her career-best round. The junior helped lead the Cougars to a Hancock County Girls Golf Tournament title with a nine-hole round of three-over-par 39. While she ended up losing in a playoff for the individual title to four-time champion Fox, O’Neal paved the way for a decisive win for the Cougars and county bragging rights for the first time since 2011.
Honorable mention: Eastern Hancock — Jocelyn Duncan, Haleigh Cavaletto; Greenfield-Central — Haley Hoagland; New Palestine — Izzy Gray, Megan Diller.
Coach of the Year
Russ Wiley, Greenfield-Central
The long-time Cougars coach brought back some fond memories in 2019. Wiley’s Cougars won their first county and sectional titles since 2011. In what was expected to be a tight race between Mt. Vernon and New Palestine, Greenfield-Central dominated the county tournament, finishing with, at the time, a season-low 175 and 14 strokes better than Mt. Vernon. Along with winning the sectional title, the Cougars shot a 348 at the Lapel Regional, one of the program’s best-ever scores in the regional round of the post season.
