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Performance: Mona Shores' Nathan Taylor
May 13, 2019
Nathan Taylor
Muskegon Mona Shores junior – Golf
Taylor on May 3 had perhaps the highlight so far of an eventful season, shooting a 71 to earn the medalist honor at the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association championship tournament at Stonegate Golf Club while leading Mona Shores to the team title and earning the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week” for April 29-May 5. Reeths-Puffer had won the title the last two seasons, and Taylor brought a championship back home to his family as well – his father Tim, a 1990 Shores grad, also had won the tournament as a high schooler three decades ago.
Nathan Taylor and his team have enjoyed a significant rise this spring after closing the 2018 season shooting a 333 to finish fourth at their Division 1 Regional. Taylor had lowered both his nine and 18-hole averages to 39.6 and 79.2 strokes, respectively, heading into this past weekend. The latter remains on the downswing as he shot a 71 this past Friday at the Montague Invitational, finishing second after losing in a playoff, and also led the Sailors with a 78 on Saturday at the Wayne Wire Tournament in Frankenmuth. Mona Shores played in the Big Rapids Tournament on Monday, and Taylor shot a 73. The 71s at the GMAA and Montague events were his season-low rounds. His team, meanwhile, shot a 294 at the GMAA to win by 32 strokes.
Hockey always has been Taylor’s main sport – he plays center for the Fox Motors U18 AAA team, and father Tim formerly served as president of the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the United States Hockey League. But golf has become a passion, and Taylor – last year the lone sophomore in the Mona Shores lineup and the only freshman in 2017 – has improved significantly and quickly. Taylor also carries a 3.0 GPA, with his science classes among his favorites. He has another year of high school to build on all of that success, and certainly is on his way this spring.
Coach Scott Volkmann said: “Nathan means a lot to the team, and the team means a lot to Nathan. I thought his performance (at the GMAA) was the turning point of his high school golf career. He is averaging about three shots lower on his 9-hole average and six shots lower on his 18-hole average (than as a freshman).”
Performance Point: “Going into it, I knew there was basically this one team there we had to beat that had beat us the past two years,” Taylor said of the GMAA event, referring to Reeths-Puffer. “Coach told our guys and me to just go in and play the course and don’t worry about anything else. The score will take care of itself. I just went out and played. I’ve been hitting the ball well, and I had a good score. I had no idea (my dad had won it too); I’m serious. I knew that he had a lot of great accomplishments – I did not know he had won city. I texted him and told him what I shot, and he texted me back and said we might be the first father/son duo to both win the city. That’s when I knew. I just kinda got a big smile. It’s pretty sweet to take after your dad.”
Practice pays off: “I have a younger brother (Nicholas) who will most likely be better than I am. He's in eighth grade so he'll be up next year. My brother and I spend a lot of time out on the course together. We're out there every day, after practice even. We'll go out and play nine; if we can squeeze in 18, we'll do that. My dad got me into it, my brother and I both. But golf wasn't even my main sport until this year, honestly. I've always been better at hockey. This year, the beginning of the season, we had a scrimmage and I shot 74, and I just kinda followed up from that and have been having good rounds.”
Making the jump: “I got a new driver. I got a new putter. My putting has gotten a lot better. My drive has gotten a lot better. My swing, my whole game, managing my game, just came together this year. It was actually really weird. It’s still weird to think about. Last year I had one 70s round at a JV invite, and everything else was in the 80s. This year I’ve had five or six 70s scores. Something clicked.”
State would be great: “This offseason we put in a lot of work, and so far it’s paid off. Obviously the goal is to go win states. To win Regionals would be really cool. I think we have to beat (No. 3) Rockford … you never know. We’ve got a good chance. Just to get to states would be sweet. We actually played at that course (The Fortress, home of this season’s Division 1 Final), so we’re already kinda focusing on states.”
Jordan rules: “Jordan Spieth – I think he’s always positive. He drives me to slow down. He’s really smooth with everything. (He) stays calm. I take after that, being calm and relaxed. … I think I get my competitiveness from hockey. I hate to lose at literally anything I do.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2018-19 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard recognizes a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Past 2018-19 honorees
May 2: Ally Gaunt, New Baltimore Anchor Bay soccer - Read
April 25: Kali Heivilin, Three Rivers softball - Read
March 28: Rickea Jackson, Detroit Edison basketball - Read
March 21: Noah Wiswary, Hudsonville Unity Christian basketball - Read
March 14: Cam Peel, Spring Lake swimming - Read
March 7: Jordan Hamdan, Hudson wrestling - Read
February 28: Kevon Davenport, Detroit Catholic Central wrestling - Read
February 21: Reagan Olli, Gaylord skiing - Read
February 14: Jake Stevenson, Traverse City Bay Reps hockey - Read
February 7: Molly Davis, Midland Dow basketball - Read
January 31: Chris DeRocher, Alpena basketball - Read
January 24: Imari Blond, Flint Kearsley bowling - Read
January 17: William Dunn, Quincy basketball - Read
November 29: Dequan Finn, Detroit Martin Luther King football - Read
November 22: Paige Briggs, Lake Orion volleyball - Read
November 15: Hunter Nowak, Morrice football - Read
November 8: Jon Dougherty, Detroit Country Day soccer - Read
November 1: Jordan Stump, Camden-Frontier volleyball - Read
October 25: Danielle Staskowski, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep golf - Read
October 18: Adam Bruce, Gladstone cross country - Read
October 11: Ericka VanderLende, Rockford cross country - Read
October 4: Kobe Clark, Schoolcraft football - Read
September 27: Jonathan Kliewer, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern soccer - Read
September 20: Kiera Lasky, Bronson volleyball - Read
September 13: Judy Rector, Hanover-Horton cross country - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Mona Shores’ Nathan Taylor lines up a putt during the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association championship tournament May 3. (Middle) Taylor watches an approach shot on the way to winning the title. (Photos courtesy of Local Sports Journal.)
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High 5s - 5/1/12
May 1, 2012
Each week, Second Half gives "High 5s" to multiple athletes and a team that have performed exceptionally on the field or made a notable impact off of it.
Please offer your suggestions by e-mail to editor Geoff Kimmerly at [email protected]. Below are this week's honorees:
Sarita Dotson
Battle Creek Lakeview junior
Girls Track and Field
For the second straight season, Dotson was named the Most Valuable Female Athlete at the Eldon Draime/Al Geisler Memorial All-City Meet held at Battle Creek Harper Creek (she shared the award in 2011). Dotson won the 100-meter dash (12.5 seconds), the 200 (25.5) and the long jump (16 feet, 3.5 inches) and was on the winning 800 relay (1:48.11) as Lakeview scored 250 points as a team to win the meet by 102.83. Dotson qualified for the MHSAA Division 1 Final last spring as a sophomore, but just missed making the championship races in the 100 and 200. She focuses solely on track, but was a cheerleader as both a freshman and a sophomore.
100 is my No. 1: "It's just so much fun. It's really exciting. You've got it or you don't. After a while, everyone is at the same level. Whoever is on her game that day, prepared the hardest, it's going to show in the 100 meters."
I learned the most about track from: Dotson said a number of coaches, and that her first youth coaches -- including Larry Caper -- could tell right away what she should be running. "Immediately, the first day of practice, one of them said, 'She's a sprinter.' I didn't know what a sprinter was."
A few words to run by: "I always start off with a prayer, or at least try, to remember why I do this and to get my mind straight. My pastor was my coach when I started in third grade, and the first thing he taught us to do when we get on the track is pray."
Favorite formula: Dotson's favorite school subject is chemistry -- and she is considering a career in cosmetic science with a focus on the engineering and creation of make-up.
Cullen Prena
Walled Lake Central junior
Boys Track and Field
Prena has blasted onto the throwing scene this spring and especially the last few weeks after twice throwing the discus more than 180 feet -- and according to an Oakland Press report, broke both school and Oakland County records that had each stood for at least 29 seasons. He threw the discus 187 feet, seven inches, to win the event at Saturday's Oxford Invitational, and he also won the shot put with a toss of 52-1. Prena's best discus throw last season was 159 feet -- and his toss Saturday would've won every MHSAA Final dating back to 2003. Prena finished fifth in discus at last season's Division 1 championship meet. He's not the only thrower in his family -- older sisters Kari (University of Michigan) and Kelsey (Michigan State) throw in the Big Ten.
I learned the most about throwing from: "Definitely Coach (Nebojsa Stojkovic). And it helps to have my sisters now in college. They can give me advice all the time."
Be like Ryan (Crouser): The University of Texas freshman owns the national high school discus record of 237-6, and "is definitely a model (for me). That's quite a mark."
My dream scenario: "... after this would be college, then to train for the Olympics after that, and win gold in the Olympics. Realistically, I don't know if that's out there or not. But it's a great place to aim."
Major decision: Prena hasn't picked his college or what he'll study some day, but "I'm thinking some kind of marketing or business, or something in the communications field. I do like working with people, and I also like talking. Potentially a sports broadcaster or a marketing engineer."
Muskegon Mona Shores boys golf
Mona Shores didn't finish first during either round of this weekend's Traverse City Central Invitational. But the Sailors, ranked No. 2 in the Division 1 state poll, finished second both at Spruce Run (309) and the Wolverine (297) for a combined score of 606 -- good for a one-stroke win over top-ranked Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central and two strokes ahead of then No. 5 Traverse City West. Three more teams from that field have since joined the Division 1 top 10.
Reed Hrynewich shot a 69 to finish second at the Wolverine and a 75 to finish fifth at Spruce Run, while teammate Andrew Van Aels finished eight overall at both courses. Those two, Joel Maire and Eric Kastelic also were among the team's top five when it finished fifth at last season's MHSAA Division 1 Final.
This spring's previous honorees
- Sarah Appold, Saginaw Valley Lutheran softball
- Jake McFadden, Clare track and field
- Nick Stiles, Bath baseball
- Malloy Weber, Northville soccer
- Grand Rapids West Catholic golf
- Stevensville Lakeshore softball