Student-Athlete of the Week – Gwen Caress

THOUSAND PALMS, Calif. (KESQ) – Our latest student-athlete of the week is Gwen Caress from La Quinta High School girls golf.

“She's got a really big personality," La Quinta head coach Mark Williams said. "She's the highlight of the van rides every time we take one. It's going to get real quiet in that van next year when she's gone.”

Caress, a senior at La Quinta, started playing golf when she was young. But, she said she only decided to start taking the sport seriously last season by joining the Blackhawks team.

“I used to play soccer, and I wanted to do something more individual and competitive that I could work at," Caress said. "And so golf really provided that for me.”

Moving to golf has made all the difference for Caress, and Coach Williams said in just one year she's solidified her swing.

“[She] Had a pretty good season for being a first year golfer last year, but put in a ton of work in the off season," Williams said. "Came back and ended up dropping her scoring average four and a half strokes from last year. Which is super hard to do.”

“This team has honestly changed my life," Caress said. "I didn't think that I would be playing golf at this point, but there's so many great people on this team and the coaches...That's why I succeed, because people truly believe in you and it sets you up for success.”

Caress said she spends six days a week training, which has built her confidence in the sport.

“I think that every day that I put in work, even if it's not a successful day, like at least I'm out there doing my best and giving it my all," she said. 

Williams describes Caress as dedicated, and it's made her a great leader for the Blackhawks.

“A lot of times we go of town to play a match, if she doesn't like what she did out there will come home, [she'll] go straight to the course," Williams said. "Half of our starting lineup are freshmen. They take after what their peers do more than they do what the coach wants them to do.” 

Caress said she enjoys leading others, and it shows. She's also a 3.47 GPA student, a part of yearbook and on the board for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. They're all passions she plans to pursue after graduation.

“I'm going to serve a church mission..and then I'm going to go, after a year and a half of serving, to college," Caress said. "I want to study business, and I want to get into marketing because that's what my parents do. They have an insurance agency, so I want to kind of follow in their footsteps a little bit.”

If you know a local senior who should be our next student-athlete of the week, please reach out to share@kesq.com to submit a nomination.