Madison Beaman

SYRACUSE — Wawasee’s Madison Beaman has steadily climbed the ladder as a member of Wawasee’s golf team.

An outsider looking in during her freshman campaign led to a supporting role as a sophomore, which gave way to a breakout season as a junior. Now, Beaman enters her senior campaign as a leader and an ideal role model for a young team.

“I’ve been trying my best to pass along past experiences to our younger players,” Beaman stated. “What they should do, and what they can do in certain situations. I try to share my stories with them, in practice and they play with us, in hopes that they just keep getting better.”

Beaman and Aubrey Schmeltz are the only two seniors and returning players with varsity experience on a Wawasee team that won the sectional in 2015. They are also the only two remaining players from Wawasee’s run to the state finals in 2014. While Wawasee’s team success has been well documented in recent seasons, Beaman’s story has flown under the radar.

Her contributing efforts gave her a window during the trip to state during her sophomore year and her potential could definitely be seen. But Beaman was not looking to settle on simply showing potential.

“I played a lot of tournaments the past two years in the summer with Aubrey,” Beaman shared, “that really helped to gain good experience out on the course.”

That extra work paid off. After starting last season as the No. 5, Beaman quickly turned heads as she maintained the team’s best average through most of the first half of the season. The rest of the team caught up to Beaman’s efforts, helping to lift the tam to a sectional title.

Then a junior, Beaman was a huge part of her team’s sectional title as she shot an 84. Schmeltz also shot an 84 on that memorable day for Wawasee, and now both have embraced taking the reigns this season for a team that has plenty of new faces.

Junior Kabrea Rosotchak has excelled in other sports and is giving golf a go for the first in her athletic career to add a degree of depth to the roster while sophomores Lesley Tayagua and Zoe White hope to bring the success they had on JV to the varsity roster. Freshmen Jadison Rostochak and Valerie Haessig are unproven but provide plenty of optimism.

“We’ve got a lot of unproven players right now,” stated Wawasee head coach Steve Coverstone. “Kabrea just started playing but I think she’ll be good for us in the long run. Lesley and Zoe have to get more reps in, but they showed potential for us during their freshman seasons. Then we have Jadison and Valerie. I really think they will be good golfers for us. They have plenty of work to do but I like the team we have, we’re just awfully young right now. But the work our seniors are doing has been a big help so far.”

The challenge of playing with such a young team has led to most people overlooking Wawasee entering the season, but that’s put a chip on Beaman’s shoulder and she’s never been one to back down from a challenge.

“I think this is a big challenge for Aubrey and I as the seniors of this team,” Beaman stated. “We’ve been there before and now it’s our job to get this team prepared for the challenges that the season will have and I think it’s going to be a good ride. We’re not the team that everyone is looking out for this year, but I’m excited for this season and the opportunity we have.”

Wawasee has its first home match on August 13 with the Wawasee Invitational.