Triton boys golf head coach Jack Carpenter was named the IHSGCA Coach of the Year after leading the Trojans to a 14th place finish at state. (Photo provided by Orion Lemler)

BOURBON – Jack Carpenter didn’t want to really talk about the past. But after he was chosen by the Indiana High School Golf Coaches Association as the 2013 state boys golf Coach of the Year, Carpenter deflected the accolades as much as he could.

“It’s not about me, it’s about the kids,” a humbled Carpenter stated Saturday afternoon while the Triton girls golf team wrapped up its sectional round at Stonehenge as part of the Warsaw Girls Golf Sectional. Carpenter is head coach of both Triton boys and girls golf teams. “Those kinds of awards are great, but it is more a reflection on the kids. You have to have kids that are dedicated. You have to have kids that want to work beyond the two-hour practices and go beyond the Monday through Friday practices.”

Carpenter was saluted as both Regional 2 District Coach of the Year and the State Coach of the Year. He led the Triton boys’ team to a 14th place finish at the IHSAA State Finals in June. A Triton team that finished two strokes ahead of Warsaw at state, the program Triton lost to by a combined two strokes in sectional and regional competition.

Triton was led by seniors Ryan Rapp and Quentyn Carpenter at the State Finals in Franklin. Rapp finished fifth individually with a two-round total of 140 and Carpenter tied for 24th place in the field with a 147. Rapp is now playing at Marian University and Carpenter, the son of coach Carpenter, is at Ball State. Carpenter also led Triton to the state finals in 2010.

Carpenter did mention it is nice to be acknowledged given Triton’s size and the competition that surrounds the school.

“I want to say its a reflection of our program and the respect we have gained in the past ten years being a 1A school being able to compete with the 4A schools,” Carpenter said. “To say we finished 14th in the state isn’t a big deal to most people. But that’s coming from a 1A program and there are 366 schools. To me, it’s a better accomplishment than what our basketball team has been able to do.

“We had a 59-match winning streak. Quentyn and Ryan never lost a match until this past year when Warsaw beat us in an 18-hole match, they did it by two shots. Those are the types of things I would like to reflect on than it was about me.”