Western Boone Jr. - Sr. High School

Ally Lewis has accomplished a lot in during her Western Boone golfing career. This weekend, she added another accolade to her resume, being the first Western Boone golfer to compete in the IHSAA State Finals. Lewis had a strong showing, finishing tied for 26th with a two-day total of 160 (82-78). "It was a crazy experience," Lewis said on Saturday. "There were a lot of people out here on each hole, and at first I was super nervous about it and didn't know what to expect. But it was an incredible experience and there were ups and downs to it." Lewis got off to a tough start on Day 1, being 5-over through five holes. But then she found her groove. She played the last 13 holes in 5-over to finish with an 82, and was 2-over through five on Saturday. She had a tough triple bogey on the par-3 15th, but birdied 18, 2 and 3 to move back to 2-over for her round. She finished with three pars, two bogeys and a double in her final six holes. "After the first bit, and getting the nerves to go down, I realized we are just out here playing golf," Lewis said. "I just wanted to go into today and know where to place every ball and do it I was able to get into a flow and just keep going." Western Boone head coach Katie Pilkington said she was proud of her junior standout for the way she handled everything. "I just wanted her to enjoy it," Pilkington said. "There is no guarantee either of us make it back here, so I wanted her to soak in the the moment. She set some goals for herself, and after day one, she was more confident in herself. To see the growth she had from last year to this year, being able to bounce back from bad shots and place the ball better - it's been incredible." Lewis had two big goals for the weekend - shoot under 80 and place in the top-30, both of which she accomplished. She broke the school's scoring record, and became Western Boone's first ever sectional medalist, along with being the first medalist of the new Monon Athletic Conference. Lewis said she takes a lot of pride in being able to represent WeBo on a big stage. "It's huge, for the school and myself," she said. "I've worked really hard to be here and it's a great moment to be able to represent WeBo here." Pilkington said that Lewis has been a key part of the Stars' success over the last two years, which has seen them win conference and sectional titles and go unbeaten in dual matches for two-straight years. Now having Lewis as a state qualifier is big for the growth of the program. "The team owns that, and takes pride in that," Pilkington said. "You walk into school now, and people know what girls golf did the night before, and that's not the case at a lot of schools." While happy with the way the season went for herself and the team, Lewis isn't satisfied by any means. And now having a taste of the big stage, she wants to make it back again next year. "This year was definitely a development year," Lewis said. "I learned to recover very well, because if I started going down hill last year there was no recovery. I just need to take that into next year, and know that if I hit a bad shot, I can still come back and recover. This weekend was a great experience to be out here with so many great golfers. There's nowhere else where there is this many. I just want to keep working in the off-season, and come back and progress even more. Hopefully I can come back and get in the top-20." Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems.