TOP STORIES OF 2016

By TJ MAXWELL

 

Cove Leader-Press

 

In today’s edition of the Copperas Cove Leader-Press, we take a look back at some of the top sports stories of 2016. We look at everything from national championshipsips to all-state selections.

 

COVE’S ELLE FOX RECALLS MASTERS’ EXPERIENCE

 

Some athletes go their entire careers without fulfilling their dreams of playing on the biggest stages of their respective sports.

 

Even fewer get the chance to be called champions on that stage.

 

Copperas Cove seventh-grader Elle Fox can now say both at age 12.

 

The superstar golfer cemented her legacy as a legitimate threat to dominate the Texas junior golf circuit and University Interscholastic League with her Drive, Chip and Putt National chipping title and overall runner-up finish held at the revered Augusta National Golf Club in April.

 

Fox scored 25 points out of a possible 30 to finish just six inches and one point short of the National Drive, Chip and Putt title.

 

“This was the best experience I have ever had in my life,” said Fox. “I wanted to win but second by six inches is okay.”

 

Fox shot a combined distance of 4-feet, 1-inch to claim the chipping title by nine inches over chipping runner up and overall champion Kayla Sam of Anaheim Hills, Ca.

 

She parked it 2’, 5” from the hole on her first try and snuggled it up to the hole on her second shot with a 1’, 8” distance away.

 

“The biggest highlight of the competition part of the Drive, Chip and Putt was the chipping because I got it close,” said Fox. “I was the second-best of all 80 players and I was really excited for that.”

 

In the final discipline to determine the champions with just two points separating Fox and Sam, Fox put the pressure on with a putt that was tracking straight for the hole but stopped just short at 1’, 3”. Fox opened the door for Sam when her second shot drifted left to the 3’, 1” mark.

 

With Sam’s first putt finishing 5’, 2” from the cup, she would have to park her second shot within six inches to overtake Fox and take home the championship. She holed it to steal the crown away from the Cove standout.

 

“If I would have just put my 15-footer a little closer,” she said. “Or, if I would have made that first 30-footer, I would have won the whole thing.”

 

Fox’s 4’, 4” combined total gave her a third-place finish in the event and second-place overall finish. .

 

Fox showed nerves of steel as she bounced back from an out of bounds shot on her first drive to place one 184 yards out to take fourth in the driving event.

 

“I had some nerves going into the drive because I didn’t know what to do with that,” she said. “After I hit my first ball I was like, ‘I got this. I can do this.’ I was a little nervous but not too overly nervous.”

 

Fox’s parents Keri and Cody were the nervous ones, especially in the putting portion with their daughter clinging to the lead.

 

“It was awesome and very nerve-wracking,” said Elle’s mother, Keri Fox. “She didn’t know the other girl had to make it within six inches but we did. It was pretty intense for few minutes because she putted first, then Kayla did. That was pretty crazy.”

 

Watching their daughter compete on the 18th green at Augusta for the national title was awe-inspiring and humbling.

 

BECHTOLD NAMED TO TSWA ALL-STATE TEAM

 

Copperas Cove standout Tim Bechtold has been impressive in his four years on the Copperas Cove Baseball varsity squad.

 

The senior was recognized for those efforts with a selection to the Collin Street Bakery/Texas Sports Writers Association’s Class 6A All-State Baseball Second Team as an outfielder.