Sulkar, Barrington lead the way in Lake Forest regional
There was plenty of drama at Wednesday's conclusion of the Lake Forest regional at Deerpath Golf Club in Lake Forest.
When the final scores were entered in the clubhouse, the Fillies were 1 stroke better than Deerfield (359 to 360) to win their 15th title in 28 seasons under Hall of Fame girls golf coach Jodi Schoeck.
"It was thrilling when we realized that we had won it," Schoeck said. "When we saw the scoreboard was completed, it was a sigh of relief because we were not sure what was going to happen."
The scoreboard showed that Fillies sophomore Reena Sulkar tied for first with Lake Forest junior Emily Young for medalist honors (76s) - so more drama was to come as they went back on the course for a playoff.
Young parred the first playoff hole to edge the Mid-Suburban League champion.
Young and Sulkar were the only golfers to break 80 on the par-72 course.
"So that was a big deal for Reena to be out there in a playoff," Schoeck said. "She deserved it. It was so dramatic as the teams and players were all out there watching the playoff hole. It was really a special moment.
"Reena had another solid, fabulous round. She has been putting together solid rounds all season. She is so focused and determined. That big win at the conference meet (Palatine Hills) really propelled her for today."
Highland Park was the third-place team with a score of 365, ahead of Buffalo Grove and Stevenson, who tied for fourth with scores of 372.
Completing the champions' card were sophomore Shivani Majmudar (92), senior Bailee McDonald (93) and freshman Swetha Seshadri (98), who counted the first 18-hole score of her career.
"That was really a neat thing to see from Swetha," Schoeck said. "She hung in there and shot her career best so that was exciting.
"Our team score was higher than our average this season so I am not surprised it came down to 1 stroke. Luckily we were on the good side."
Buffalo Grove coach Matt Myers watched two of his players advance to Monday's Warren sectional at the Bittersweet Golf Club in Gurnee.
Bison freshman Haeri Lee (85) and junior teammate Emily Carnes (90) were among the sectional qualifying individuals.
Palatine coach Bill LePage also watched senior Hannah Colbrook (96) become the first Pirate in at least five years to advance to sectional play.
Hoffman Estates regional: Conant (389) and Elk Grove (401) finished second and third, respectively, behind champion Maine South (346) at Bridges of Poplar Creek Country Club. These three teams advance to the Conant sectional at Fox Run Golf Course on Monday.
The champion Hawks are coached by Jeff Hamann, the brother of Prospect coach Jim Hamann's. Jeff's senior Katie Krall earned medalist honors with an 83.
Leading the way for coach Megan Hebert's Cougars were senior Carly Bryeans (89), junior Megan Nagorzanski (90), freshman Lina Jang (105) and freshman Alexis Alcantara (105).
Grens coach Jon Rowley counted the scores of senior Erin Walz (88), senior Sarah Hartness (95), junior Mia Loxley (107) and sophomore Amy Carpenter (111).
Individual area qualifiers included Maine West junior Renee Adam (101), Schaumburg freshman Jennifer Cappello (101), Schaumburg freshman Trinity Corwin (103), Schaumburg junior Gianna Fanelli (106), Hoffman Estates senior Maeve Prusnick (106), Maine West senior Kari Roycroft (108) and Hoffman Estates senior Aashna Singh (109).