Impressive finishes for BG's Lee, Carnes
For the first time since girls golf began at Buffalo Grove High School in 1998, the Bison were represented by two golfers at the state tournament thiss weekend.
Not to mention, senior Emily Carnes and sophomore Haeri Lee were only the fourth and fifth Bison to play in the sport's showcase event now held at Hickory Point Golf Course in Decatur.
Lee made a big charge on Saturday to fire a 76 and grab 12th place (155 for two rounds) among the state's Class AA elite golfers while Carnes had an 82 to finish tied 26th with her two-round total of 161.
The other three Mid-Suburban League representatives were Barrington junior Reena Sulkar (15th place, 157 total), Fremd senior Jaehee Hur (tied for 22nd place, 159 total) and Conant senior Megan Nagorzanski (tie for 56th, 170 total).
Sophomore Madasyn Pettersen of Rockford Guilford won the title with a 144, defeating senior Jessica Yuen (Neuqua Valley) and junior Jessica Lee (Hinsdale Central) by one stroke.
Hinsdale Central (41 over par) won the Class AA team title over Loyola (59 over par).
"Emily and Haeri were only the fourth and fifth girls from our school to play in a state tournament and they represented themselves very well," said BG coach Matt Myers, whose club was the MSL East champ this fall. "I'm incredibly proud of the two of them, especially Emily for being a strong captain and leader for us this season."
Carnes got off to a fast start on Saturday, shooting a 3-over 39 on her first nine.
"Emily battled again," Myers said of the all-area softball catcher in the spring. "She started out strong. She played some real nice shots with the wind and into the wind. As the day went on, she wasn't getting the par putts to fall."
Lee converted a beautiful 25-foot putt to birdie the par 3, No. 16 hole.
"Haeri played great," Myers said. "She struggled early (2 bogeys in first three holes) but really found her swing as the day went on."
Lee played her last 15 holes one-over par, producing a 1-over 37 on her back nine.
"She was all over the pins and really giving herself a chance to score," Myers said. "She ended up 12th against incredible competition. I think she was pretty happy with the results of her first time here."
The only other Bison golfers to compete in the state final were Shannon Byrne, Grace Kil and Lauren Guiao.
Sulkar was making her third straight appearance in Decatur. She did what no Barrington player had done when she sat tied atop the leader board after day one with a one-under 71. She completed Saturday's round with an 86.
"Reena had a hard time getting momentum going (Saturday)," Schoeck said. "It was tough to make up strokes today."
Sulkar, the two-time defending MSL champ, recorded a school-record 65 in the Barrington regional at Bonnie Dundee, breaking her own record of 66 set at the Early Bird Invite at Fox Run on the first day of the season.
"Reena had a fantastic season," Schock said. "It was record-breaking. She has so much to be proud of her in her junior season."
Schoeck is looking forward to next season for Sulkar and the Fillies.
"Let's make it four trips down here for Reena her next year," the coach said. "We've had four or five play multiple times at state but no one has qualified four times as an individual.
"Reena has so much to be proud of. She has extraordinary talent and is a great person. I am looking for forward to her senior year and hopefully she can come back here with her team. That would be a great way to end her senior year."
Hur's round included birdies on both of her front nine oar 3 holes. It was Hur's second straight appearance in Decatur.
Her sectional score of 75 was greatly improved over her 83 which qualified in 2014.
"The weather was definitely tougher last year in the sectional (at Bitterwseet in Gurnee)," Hur said. "But I also want to say my game improved a lot from last year to this year. I had a new coach (Andy Song) and I put a lot more time into the sport."