The Mount St. Mary Academy golf team has had a productive and eventful summer following its dramatic second-day charge that landed the Belles top honors in 6A by just two strokes.
Since then, players report having worked harder on all aspects of their game and in the weight room, strengthening team bonds to boot.
“Winning state last year really gave us a confidence boost,” said junior Ana Bella Gutierrez, who attends Christ the King Church in Little Rock. “It made us go into this season much more assertive and sure of ourselves, knowing that we can win. The girls are more comfortable around each other and becoming more of a family, trusting in each other.”
The team has had to adjust to more than having a target on its back as state champs, welcoming a new head coach, Laura Freville, who replaces Cody Griffin. A longtime golfer herself, Freville has never coached a squad at any level but said she was immediately comfortable in the role, having watched her daughter, Chloe, and other members of the team grow up through junior golf.
“Oh, I just love being with the girls,’ she said. “That was honestly the hardest part because most of the girls are friends of Chloe’s, so we’re always together, and I’m like, oh my gosh, I’m a coach now. I have to back off and be a coach and not a mom.”
Whatever the connection, it’s working, as the team has looked strong in early tournaments this season. The team topped the field at the Bill Agler High School Invitational in style Sept. 9-10, with Chloe Freville, York and Gutierrez finishing in order, respectively, atop the leaderboard.
York, Gutierrez and Chloe Freville will be looked to for leadership this year, and all three said they were up to the task, having sharpened various parts of their game in the off-season. York said that in addition to playing regularly over the summer, she spent more time in the weight room to improve her lengths off the tee and endurance late in rounds.
“My game has improved immensely,” said York, a sophomore who is also a member of Christ the King Church. “In the off-season, I wanted to focus on strength training to become faster, stronger and just ultimately a better player. I played so many tourneys over the summer I was really grooved in and I felt confident in what I was doing.”
Meanwhile, Chloe Freville, a junior and member of Our Lady of the Holy Souls Church in Little Rock, concentrated on the mental game, work which has helped her move past bad shots and concentrate on the next stroke.
“I’ve been going to a sports psychologist, and he has helped me a lot on the mental game,” she said. “It helped me improve playing-wise and mentally as well. If I have a bad shot, I just forget about it, I put it out of my mind. I think, ‘Chloe you’ve got it; it’s just one hole, one shot, just do better on the next shot.’”
All three athletes said the skill level on the 2024 squad is considerable, and with the additional practice and competitive seasoning, confidence is running high for a repeat title.
“I think we got a really big boost of confidence last year, because winning state is pretty big,” Chloe said. “I definitely think we have some competition but overall I think we have a really good chance at winning state.”
