"My coaches keep telling me it was really good; it's what they expected out of me considering the conditions and the weather being like it is," she said. "It's just mainly more practice rounds for the future, and it just keeps adding on and adding on. Because I know by the time we're seniors, we're going to be amazing, so it's just rounds that go towards the future."
The Boyle girls finished 11th out of 19 teams with a score of 414, while Mercer was 14th with a score of 435. Franklin County won the team title with a 340, while Sayre finished second at 353. Emily Haas of West Jessamine shot 76 and repeated as medlaist, and West Jessamine's Grace Rose (84), Henry Clay senior Pilar Morgan (85) and Lafayette sophomore Kelli Crawford (87) also earned indiviudal state berths.
Mercer was led by juniors Ally Perrin at 101 and Lauren Yates at 108. Both will both be back next season, as will their three sophomore teammates, and Perrin said she could take a lot from the experience, both good and bad.
"Every time I take a shot I try to learn something from it, make a mental note of what I need to change," she said. "It's definitely fun, definitely good practice. My main goal for 18-hole tournaments is 80, but anywhere 80 to 90 is fine with me.
"I'd say the conditions and just nerves, every time a girl hears about region its the biggest thing, so you're kind of nervous. It's a mental thing. But we'll get a lot of practice between now and then so hopefully, we'll be a lot better."
Yates agreed.
"We drive pretty well, but we need to work on our short game. And if we can all just hold together, play as a team, we'll be fine," she said. "Just being in the regional, it's pressure, but you've got to learn how to handle it.
"When you hit a bad shot, you just can't let it get you down."
Mental toughness
Mercer coach Terry Dailey said playing in the wind and cold Tuesday will pay off.
"It's a good experience for the difficult conditions today," he said. "I hope what they get out of this is they've got to get mentally tough, and when there's tough conditions, things don't always go exactly the way you hope they will, and you've just got to stay with it. Keep plugging away and hope something good happens down the road."
Boyle freshman Jessica Shannon said the cold helped her "get a feel for the circumstances."
"I was nervous at first, and after a while, I realized it was just like any other 18-hole match and calmed down," said Shannon, who shot a 107.
There was also a sixth Rebel on hand, as injured Alexis Draut, who suffered a broken leg in a Sept. 13 on the same course, was riding in the back of a golf cart, wrapped in a blanket.
"It put a smile on my face and it got me through," Pingleton said.
Even if Draut hadn't been there, the Boyle players were wearing bracelets that read "Alex Strong" on them to remind them of their injured teammate.
"We got these bracelets whenever Alex fell to remind us to be as strong as she was when she got hurt," Pingleton said. "Because she was really strong and that helps us and reminds us that she's with us and we need to try to do the best we could."
