Rob Hunt: Time is running out

Jul. 28—As we prepare to kick off, tee off or serve up another school year, I share everyone's excitement at the dawn of the fall sports season in the area.

There are the high expectations for a number of teams and individuals as well as the anticipation of the inevitable "pleasant surprise" that always goes with the sports season. There are new coaches and the debut of new uniforms to look forward to as well as an eventual break from the scorching heat of the summer months.

I also tend to look around at this year's seniors and wonder where in the heck four years went.

It's a feeling they seemed to have just gotten here, and now it's time for the final season — a feeling I'm sure their parents can relate to as well.

I'm reminded of this as athletes parade one by one through our office and photo studio this week for our Elite 11 and Prime 8 feature work. The one that particularly struck me in this fashion is Lapel's Macy Beeson.

Maybe it's because I'm getting older, but it feels like Macy just got here.

This might be the time to reflect a little before the rigors of the fall season begin and before the next three months fly by.

Anyone who knows Macy knew she was going to have a special career. She had been excelling at golf since shortly after she mastered the art of walking. She came across my radar as a grade-schooler when she qualified for a national tournament in North Carolina, so her arrival at Lapel was met with higher than usual expectations for a freshman golfer.

And, boy, has she ever exceeded those expectations.

As a freshman, she led the Bulldogs to their first state finals as a team — placing second at sectional and third at regional individually — and finished a strong 13th place in the state finals at Prairie View.

Her follow-up campaign was even better as she swept to medalist honors at both sectional and regional before winning the 2020 state championship, the first of two in a row.

Macy is of course going for a third straight girls golf state championship, something that has only been done twice before and never in this century.

It's been a remarkable run just factoring in that surface information.

But it's even more so when you look deeper.

She has gotten to the state finals by advancing through one of the toughest sectional and regional fields anywhere in Indiana. Think about that. She could play a good round of golf at those two sites and still not advance. It happens to someone every year.

We also forget high school athletes are kids first. While dealing with all the struggles all teenage girls face, she has maintained the focus to excel on the golf course. Has she had bad days? Certainly. She has had some bad holes along the way, but rarely does she ever let those affect the next tee shot or the next hole — the mark of truly excellent golf.

And all of that seems to have happened in the blink of an eye.

This is not the first column I've written about Macy, and it certainly won't be the last. The clock is ticking on her high school career, and I hope to enjoy as many opportunities to watch her play the next couple months as I possibly can.

The saying "time flies when you're having fun" always holds true.

I'd say the same holds true of absolute greatness. It is never here for us to watch for as long as we'd like.

Contact Rob Hunt at

rob.hunt@heraldbulletin.com or 765-640-4886.