Metea Valley girls take trophy
Metea Valley’s first crop of seniors haven’t had their first day of school as seniors yet, but the Mustangs already have a nice trophy to brag about.
Metea Valley’s girls golf team won Wednesday’s Vern McGonagle Naperville City Championship at Naperville Country Club, shooting a 168 in the nine-hole tournament to defeat second-place Waubonsie Valley by 9 strokes. Benet placed third with a 179.
“We have three really solid seniors that have come a long way since their opening year two years ago,” Metea Valley coach Mark Jager said of Natalya Schleebs, Alyna Vaughan and Amy Lundstram, who shot 41, 42 and 45, respectively.
But it was a junior who led the Mustangs. Anna Petersen’s 40 nipped her teammates on a very consistent team leaderboard.
“Her drives were excellent,” Jager said of Petersen. “She birdied all of her par 3s. She had a birdie over on No. 2. Her roughest holes were the par 5s. But overall she’s playing really solid, very consistent.”
The boys championship was even closer than the girls’, with Naperville North and Benet both shooting a 160, the Huskies winning the tiebreaker on Pat Hendrickson’s fifth-score 42.
“We always know this is a tough course. The only thing I really said to the kids was, don’t get frustrated when you’re a couple over par when you’re out there,” Huskies coach Ryan Hantak said after the repeat victory. “Last year we won it, and I don’t think we broke 80 (over 18 holes) last year. We just knew we had to be patient out here. Our kids are pretty familiar with the course, maybe compared to some of the other kids. A good start to the season again.”
Benet’s Conor Ryan brought home the only sub-par score, shooting a 1-under 35 to take medalist honors.
“I was just trying to hit fairways and greens,” the senior said. “The greens were really fast out there, so I thought that was the way to do it. I had a few good shots that probably helped me. Like when I didn’t hit the green I chipped on No. 17. That’s how I finished my round. That really helped.”
Eric Izzo paced the Huskies, tying for third overall with a 39, even with Neuqua Valley’s Ian Nebendahl and 1 back of Waubonsie Valley’s Alec Meyer.
“He’s really played awesome,” Hantak said of Izzo. “Before this round he’s 3 under par for the last 36 holes. The guy’s on fire, and from what I heard out there he’s doing really well and had one really bad hole.”
The victory is a first for Ryan, and it was a high school first for Waubonsie Valley freshman Bing Singhsumalee, who has won a number of junior tournaments and won girls medalist honors Wednesday.
“My drives were really straight today, and my irons were really accurate,” Singhsumalee said. “I was kind of nervous because I heard that this course was really hard, but I also heard the front nine was easier than the back nine, so I was grateful that we got to play the front nine instead.
“But it was a really good experience. The course was really nice.”