Tracy Iliff resigns, will be missed by Blue Jay golfers

Jul. 5—JAMESTOWN — Last October, Tracy Iliff had to make a difficult choice.

"It was my eighth year coaching," Iliff, the head coach for the Jamestown High School girls golf team, said. "It was a tough decision to step away because I love the girls, traveling with them to tournaments, building a relationship with them, watching them grow and just getting to know them and their families."

Iliff resigned after the completion of the 2022 season. She made the decision to step away from coaching as she and her husband, Ryan, are expecting their first child in September.

The end of the 2022-23 school year signaled the end of three Jamestown High School coaches' careers as Blue Jay coaches. Iliff, JHS boys basketball coach Lloyd and JHS boys wrestling coach Larry Eslick will not return to JHS next year.

As of July 1, the Jamestown High School board is still looking to fill Iliff's position. Former assistant wrestling coach Pat Schlosser has filled the head wrestling coach position. Jason Carroll was announced as the new head boys basketball coach on June 30.

Kyra Vogel was one of Iliff's seventh graders in her first year as the head coach of the Blue Jays.

"I distinctly remember the first time meeting Tracy," Vogel said. "It was at the Jamestown Country Club for our beginning of the year meeting. My first impression of Coach was how genuine she was and for the first time in my sports career, I felt like a coach genuinely wanted to help me get better on and off the golf course."

Vogel ended her career as a Blue Jay at the 2020 Class A State Golf Tournament. Vogel carded a two-round total of 175, good enough for 24th place.

"To be honest, Tracy made me fall in love with the game," Vogel said. "She made me want to get better and she helped me accomplish that. She brought so much to the table that is almost rare among high school coaches. She brought her love of the game, passion, honesty, encouragement, compassion, kindness, and so much more to the table. Because her heart was truly in it, the program excelled and the girls she coached benefited greatly."

Since leaving JHS, Vogel has played two full seasons for the University of Jamestown women's golf team — something she credits to Iliff.

"Something unique Coach did was write personalized notes for every player before each tournament," Vogel said. "She would write whatever she thought we needed that day, words of encouragement, swing reminders, or just a funny joke to jump-start our day. To this day, I keep one of those notes in my college golf bag as a reminder of why I play golf.

"I am a perfectionist, which is ironic because golf is not a perfect game, therefore, my mental game was not great in high school," she said. "Tracy helped me grow in the mental part of my game which has been beneficial in college. The reason I am playing at the collegiate level is because of Coach Tracy and her belief in my ability to hit a golf ball."

Back in 2020 when Vogel was preparing for her next steps, Olivia Sorlie was just two years into her golf career.

"I joined golf in seventh grade," Sorlie said. "Coach was very positive and she was always trying fun ways to do stations and just make practice more enjoyable. Coach was always welcoming with the new girls and she wanted us to continue golfing which kind of made me continue."

Sorlie has wound up one of the best golfers on the Jays' roster the past three seasons. Sorlie rounded out the Jays' 6-man roster at the 2020 state tournament, individually qualified for State in 2021 and qualified individually and with the team in 2022.

"Like me, Coach was also a competitive person and strived to be the best," Sorlie said. "She always pushed us to do better with each round we golfed and that encouragement helped me and the golf team grow through the years. My golf game improved because Coach was very encouraging and her golf stations were very helpful."

Sorlie hasn't been the only one who has seen great improvement as a golfer in the last couple of years.

Aspen Humes had a bit of a rollercoaster of a freshman season last fall, shooting a 113 one meet, a 97 the next meet and a 101 the one after that. While she's run into a bit of an issue with consistency, Humes managed to pull it all together at the right time.

"The most important lesson (Coach) taught me was, to leave it on the last shot," Humes said. "(This last season) I was about to do a really risky shot, attempt to go over and through a thick clump of trees. I didn't know she was right behind me with our JV players and so I just sent it. The shot worked out, but she came up behind me just laughing and said: 'you are so lucky that worked out.' I am so happy the shot worked out."

Humes qualified for the state meet at the Dickinson Invite on Sept. 8, 2022 where she carded a career-low 87. Prior to Dickinson, Humes' best score was an 89 which she shot at the first meet of the 2022 season. To finish out the year, Humes notched a 104 at the 2022 Class A State Golf Meet.

"This last season, I thought of her as a mentor," Humes said of Iliff. "She has helped me so much, not just as a player, but as my character development. She has taught me to take pride in who I am, no matter what my score at the end of the round, she has taught me that honesty is always the way to go, and she has taught me, most importantly, that no matter where I end up in five years, if I need someone, that she's just a call away."

A phone call or just a couple of miles.

Iliff will still be living in Jamestown as she is teaching at Gussner Elementary as an intervention specialist. Her former players said they will miss Iliff's presence on the course and wish her well in this next phase of life.

"To this day, Coach and I stay in touch and talk frequently not only about golf but just life," Vogel said. "Tracy is truly one of my heroes and a woman I look up to so much. If there is one thing I had to say to Tracy it would be thank you for truly changing my life and being the first coach to believe in me."

"I would just thank her repeatedly," Humes said. "She has changed my life and countless others, and for that, I am eternally grateful. I just want to wish her the best in her future. Thank you, Coach."