St. Viator surges to third-place ESCC finish

Talk about rising to the occasion.

St. Viator's girls golf team didn't win a match all season.

But Lions coach Mick Drewes had his girls improving step by step each week.

On Monday afternoon, the Lions saw the dividends from that improvement with a third-place finish at the East Suburban Catholic Conference tournament at the challenging Village Greens of Woodridge.

The Lions were led by Susie Carlson, who shot a career-best 83 to earn all-conference honors with a sixth-place individual finish in the tournament.

Freshman teammate Carolina Lavender carded a 99, tying her personal best as a varsity player.

In a fitting end to their high school careers, senior captains Paige Patano and Catherine Hafner also shot 101 and 103 respectively for their best scores this year. Juniors Micayla Shevlin and Nicole Bavaro rounded out the scoring for the Lions in their season's best performance.

"Most of our team has only been playing golf for a couple of years," Drewes said. "However their game has steadily improved so I'm not really surprised by the third-place finish. Well, maybe a little surprised, but I'm more proud of them for their determination and the effort they put in." Rolling Meadows d. Wheeling: Rolling Meadows' Bridget Anderson (48) was medalist as the visiting Mustangs posted a 208-266 victory at Chevy Chase in the Mid-Suburban League meet.