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She was bored. Bored of having nothing to do and not having a sport to play. So in the spring of her freshman year she decided she wanted to play golf, even though she had never even swung a club before.
Since then, junior Emma Evans has gone on to excel and enjoy the sport.
“I was tired of just not having a sport to play and I thought that it would be super fun,” Evans said.
Despite only playing for three years, Evans was the top golfer for the whole team at state.
“She beat everyone on the team,” golf coach Digger Henrie said, “She was my number one golfer.”
Evans works hard during the season and at practices. She also works during the off-season, showing coaches and peers her dedication to the sport.
“It’s hard to get girls to ever really play golf other than during the season, but she goes and plays through the summer with her dad,” Henrie said. “She just shows the other girls that if you want to get better, you have to play outside of practice.”
Evans is someone that the team looks up to due to the kindness and leadership that she shows to everyone, on the team and off. Evans is someone that athletes and coaches would want on their team.
“She is the one that you want to have on your team, because the other girls look up to her, and she holds it together,” Henrie said.
Not only is she a good team leader, but she is also an amazing friend. She is always there for others when they need her.
“She just listens and she’s a good friend. She always picks up whenever I call her to tell her about all my troubles and life,” sophomore Reagan Anderson said.
Evans is also a peer tutor and is always patient with her fellow classmates. She is constantly trying to get them to smile and she loves being there for those who need help.
“She’s a peer tutor and she’s always so kind to the kids, whether it’s giving them a compliment, telling them, oh, she likes their outfit, oh, their hair is cute. She’s just always going to uplift others,” Anderson said.
Not only does Evans do golf, but she is also the current media specialist for the junior class officers, and she is going to be the new student body media specialist. Her connections made through leadership and peer tutoring have helped her to become a better teammate and athlete.
Overall, Evans loves playing golf. She treasures the friendships that she has made playing the sport, and looks forward to her senior season.
“It’s so fun and you’re going to have these friendships forever. These are probably friendships I wouldn’t have made if I didn’t play golf,” Evans said.
There’s only seven innings and less than two hours to determine the winner, and he has won many. With his ability to hit, pitch, and field, senior Peyton Rostron just completed his final year playing NS baseball.
These last two years have been some of the best for the NS baseball team in the past 20 years.
“We went from not winning at all before I got here, to the last two years we’ve had a really good rep here,” Rostron said.
Proud to be part of something bigger, he admitted to quitting basketball to put more time and effort into something he loved more. He has been a boys baseball pitcher for the past four years, playing varsity for two, and he has improved since his freshman year. What started off as a simple, 40 mile per hour lob has increased to an impressive 80 miles per hour; not far off from a professional league throw.
“I used to not be good at it at all, but now I’m okay at it,” Rostron said.
Six year coach Austin Hadley, who also teaches math and physics, has loved having Rostron both on and off of the team in some of his classes. Hadley teaches math 1 and physics at the high school, and has been happy with the enhancements of the team. All students improve as they work hard, and Rostron was no exception.
“Peyton’s just improved each year understanding his role on the team, and then excelling in that role,” Hadley said. “Like when you start out, you play your position, you hit, you field, all of that, and then as he’s caught on, he worked into something, he pitched, and he was really good at that, and he kept working on just pitching, to be where he was someone we could rely on every time we sent him out there.”
Thankful for his help, the team and coaches are going to miss their seniors. Rostron, as his friends and coaches would agree, can be an easy and fun person to talk with.
“The relationship Peyton and I have had is great,” Hadley said. “We can talk about baseball, we can talk about hunting, we can just have a good time together. He’s gonna be missed.”
What’s more, other seniors on the team are glad to have him as a friend and have enjoyed the game with him for four years, like senior and boys baseball varsity player Gage Oldroyd.
“We had a lot of confidence in him, we still do,” Oldroyd said. “He put the ball in spots we were able to get it. He’s amazing; I mean, I love him. He’s really kind, he has a lot of inspiration, and he brings a lot of hype and a lot of positive energy to us.”
