Boys golf: Red-hot Jacobs wins regional crown
The Golden Eagles continue to soar.
The Jacobs boys' golf team's torrid 2015 season continued Tuesday as it won the Class 3A Crystal Lake South regional title at RedTail Golf Club in Lakewood.
Jacobs, a week removed from winning the Fox Valley Conference title, took home its third regional title in a row with a 291 team score, 5 strokes in front of Prairie Ridge.
The Golden Eagles, who have won every tournament they've played in this year sans one (runner-up), advance to the Class 3A Rockford East sectional at Elliot Golf Course next Monday.
Senior Justin Lenzini, who won the FVC individual title with a 73 at Prairie Isle, led the Golden Eagles with a 70. Senior Billy Walker shot 73, while senior Cooper Slack fired a 75. Underclassmen Garrett Tighe (freshman) and Riley Coakley (sophomore) each contributed 74s.
Cary-Grove also is headed to Rockford after claiming the third sectional-advancing spot with a 311. Senior Kyle Irlbacker shot 72. Junior Zach Beaugureau and senior Mitch Whitehouse each shot 79, while senior Keaton May shot 82.
Crystal Lake South (327) and Huntley (328) finished fourth and fifth respectively and thus had golfers populate the individual advancement list. Huntley seniors Jake Grabner (78), Danny Spoeth (81) and Nick Fanselow (82) advanced, as did the Crystal Lake South foursome of Nate Zacher (81), Ryan Benoit (82), Griffen Coakley (82) and Casey Hunter (82). Griffen Coakley and Hunter are freshmen. Dundee-Crown sophomore James Anderson shot 75 and punched a Rockford ticket for the finale of his upcoming three-day weekend.
Class 2A
Kaneland used four scores in the 70s to win the Class 2A Kaneland regional title on its home course at Hughes Creek in Elburn. It was Kaneland's second regional crown since 2012 (the year it qualified for the Class 2A state tournament).
Junior Jake Hed won the individual regional title with a 74. He received help from freshman Will Marshall (78), senior Kevin Healy (78) and junior Dan Franck (79).
Hed edged Wheaton Academy's Grant Gosden (75) and Aurora Central Catholic's Mac Cowen (76) for the regional title.
The Knights advance to the Columbus Day Class 2A Freeport sectional at Park Hills West. ACC's Cowen and teammate Zach Baker (82) also advanced as individuals.
At Marengo Ridge, Burlington Central advanced to a sectional for the sixth year in a row after shooting a 330 and taking third on a fifth-score playoff at the Class 2A Genoa-Kingston regional. Central and Marian Central tied for second, but the Hurricanes leapt ahead via the fifth score playoff.
Captain Joe Sherman, a two-time state qualifier, led the Rockets, tying for second individually with a 77. Fellow captain Jordan Souvigny tied for eighth with an 82, while Anthony Divito tied for 10th with an 83. Senior Max Quinn turned in a season-best 88.
"Going into the season the boys knew they lacked experience and consequently tempered expectations," noted Central coach Thomas Davies. "But with a trajectory that improved each week, the expectations naturally rose as well. Now the boys are eyeing a state qualification. They realize the competition will be that much more talented, but they've adopted a 'Why not us?' mentality."
Hampshire took fifth as a team with a 339, but had three golfers advance as individuals in junior Myles Miller IV (82), senior Nick Swierczynski (84) and freshman Mark Spitzer (86).
Genoa-Kingston qualifiers also head to Freeport on Monday.
Class 1A
Aurora Christian, powered by individual medalist Devin Johnson's 70, won the Class 1A Westminster Christian regional title at Golf Club of Illinois in Algonquin.
Aurora Christian, eighth in Class 1A a year ago, cruised to the title, shooting a 314, 24 shots ahead of second-place Byron. St. Edward snared the third and final sectional-qualifying berth with a 339.
In addition to Johnson's 70, Aurora Christian counted a 84 from Brett Seward, an 81 from Matt Buhrt and an 89 from Nick Green.
Michael Mattas' 78 led St. Edward. Aaron Worf (86), Jason Allen (87), Steve Poremba (88) and Karl Bibler (88) also showed up on the scorecard for the Green Wave.
Harvest Christian took fifth as a team (349), while Elgin Academy finished eighth with a 358.
Hilltoppers senior Frankie Bisconti qualified for sectionals as an individual with a 78. The Harvest tag team of Chad Jakel and Joey Pepper each shot 85 to advance. Westminster Christian's Dillon Rejman (87) joins them at sectionals.