Cary-Grove senior Luloff wins FVC crown

Cary-Grove senior Larissa Luloff admitted she put a lot of pressure on herself to win Wednesday's Fox Valley Conference girls golf tournament at Crystal Woods.

"I really wanted to win individually," Luloff said. "I put that pressure on myself and I probably shouldn't have."

But Luloff beat the pressure, and the golf course, to shoot a 5-over par 77 and come away with the individual title that also led her Crystal Lake co-op team to the FVC team championship.

The Crystal Lake team, made up of players from Cary-Grove, CL Central and CL South, shot a 333 to easily win by 46 shots over the Grayslake co-op team. Jacobs was third with 396.

"It was a little slow starting out and pretty chilly," said Luloff, who finished second the last two years, losing in a playoff to Delaney Peterson of Prairie Ridge her sophomore year. "Eventually it warmed up. I didn't have a single birdie and that was kind of disappointing but I made shots when I needed to. It was a fairly average type of round."

Luloff had the only sub-80 round of the day, which wind aside was a perfect day for golf. Her Cary-Grove classmates Emily Jean (81), Brittany Reid (87) and Lauren Kalamaras (88) also scored for coach Kathy Speaker's final team as the longtime coach will retire after this season.

The first-year Grayslake co-op team didn't disappoint, shooting a 379 to finish second in the tournament as well as in the conference standings. Senior Ireland Dunne of Grayslake North shot an 87 to tie for third place individually, while Grayslake Central senior Kim Balling had a 96. North's Dhani McDowell (97) and Kara Ahlemeyer (99) also scored.

"The round wasn't bad," said Dunne, who finished seventh last year on the same course. "I played really well at the beginning. My drives were really good and my putting was really good. There were a couple holes I wish I could have back but that's golf. It's always changing and there are so many variables that go into it."

That the Grayslake co-op team is playing together for the first time this season is really no big deal to its players.

"It doesn't matter what school it is," said Balling, "because we're Grayslake."

And that has made things much easier for coach Scott Ewen.

"Most of them knew each other to some degree," he said. "Some have golfed on boys teams and they golfed at the regional together last year. But this year has really brought them together. All the long bus rides have been a good bonding experience."

Despite having only one player in the Top 15, Jacobs was able to come away with third place. Nicole Durben led the Golden Eagles with a 98, Sydney Goll and Carly Sidor each had 99s and Julie Beaugureau a 100. The finish also allowed the Eagles to nip Huntley for third place in the overall conference standings after the Red Raiders had entered the tournament in third.

Huntley finished fourth in the tournament with a 403. Gillian Young shot 88 to lead the Raiders, while Katie Weidner had a 103. Nicole Gordus and Caroline Giorgi each shot 106.

Maddie Hunsberger led Dundee-Crown with a 103.