Stevenson's Miller already in winning form
Stephanie Miller said no aspect of her golf game was 100 percent perfect at the Mt. Prospect Golf Course on Wednesday afternoon.
Still, the Stevenson junior and defending Class AA state champion was as perfect as anyone has been in the annual Prospect Invite.
She set the tourney record with a 2-under par 69, including a sizzling 33 on a front nine that featured 3 birdies to win the individual crown by 3 strikes over New Trier senior Elizabth Szokal (72), who was fifth in the state finals last season.
The Trevians (305) won the team title in the invite while the host Knights were second with a 321.
Stevenson (346) was third, followed by Prospect's “B” team (360), Maine South (370), Conant (380) and Glenbrook South (405).
Miller, who tied her personal best high school round, capped her performance with a 35-foot putt for par on the dogleg right 18th hole.
“You could see how bad she wanted to get into the 60s,” said Stevenson coach Andy Conneen, referring to Miller's aggressiveness on the final putt. “She was not going to leave that out short.
“I think if you asked her, she would say she didn't even play that well. She missed a few 2- and 3-foot birdie putts.”
Miller's 69 broke the tourney record of 71 held by Conant's Kris Yoo, the 2009 Class AA state champion.
Miller's final score included 29 putts.
“I only hit five fairways and five greens in regulation,” she said.
Prospect's best scores came from seniors Allison Walsh (74), who placed fourth, and Christine Garmoe (76), who tied for fifth.
Each had one birdie — Garmoe on the par 5 No. 17 and Walsh on the par 4 No. 9.
“Noelle (Johnston) played great, too,” said Prospect coach Jim Hamann.
Johnston, a junior, shot a ninth-place 83 while sophomore Kiley Walsh, sophomore Noreeen Caporusso and senior Sarah Scaccia each shot 84s to tie for tenth place.
“I have been very pleased with Noelle's play the last three days,” Hamann added. ”She is a doing a fantastic job. We've used her score all three days.”
The Knights finished strong, posting a 154 on the back nine.
“I was very pleased with how the team finished the back nine,” Hamann said. “The girls played it great.”
Allison Walsh agreed.
“We played awesome on the back nine,” she said. “It's almost the definition of our program. We all battle hard when we are not doing well. Mr. Hamann always tells us to never give up. I was really proud of our team.”
Prospect's “B” team was led by sophomore Ally Scaccia's 84.
Stevenson's Nikki Marquadt shot a 40 and 39 to finish in seventh place with a 79.
Conant was led by Jackie Halden (92) and Alex Swezey (94).
Fremd 176, Vernon Hills 219: Angie Kim (41), Christiana Kim (43), Madison Zyer (46) and Dorothy Feng (46) led Fremd in a nonconference dual meet at the Vernon Hills Golf Course.
Glenbrook North 169, Wheeling 220: Cassi Rothbart (47), Jackie Resnick (54), Natalie Parada (59) and Kaitlyn DeBusk (60) were top scorers for Wheeling at Chevy Chase.
Glenbrook North's Ashley Hong (38) was the medalist.