Boys golf: Abel's 68 leads Geneva to regional crown
Andrew Abel did not want the same empty feeling as what occurred last week at the Upstate Eight Conference boys golf tournament in the River Division.
"We kind of struggled at conference," the Geneva senior said. "It kind of woke us up."
"We were hungry to come back," Geneva senior Spencer Monroe said.
At the Vikings' Class 3A regional at Mill Creek in Geneva on Tuesday, the hosts reversed the results at St. Andrews last Wednesday against St. Charles East.
Abel fired a masterful 3-under par 68, and Monroe was also one of four Geneva players in the top six with his third-place 72 as Geneva not only captured its sixth tournament title of the season but also defended its regional championship with a 288.
St. Charles East had five players shoot 77 or better to finish runner-up with a 295.
The St. Charles North players extended Rob Prentiss' tour of duty as coach by at least six days with the third qualifying slot to the Oswego sectional on Monday at Blackberry Oaks in Bristol with a 317.
Bartlett (331) and South Elgin (346) dominated the 10 at-large individual berths with four apiece.
Glenbard North and Larkin had one individual each make the qualifying cut, which fell at 89.
Elgin and Streamwood had their seasons come to a close.
Top-rated Geneva sophomore Tyler Isenhart was fourth with a 73; classmate Jack McDonald rounded out the Vikings' four counting scores with his sixth-place 75.
Nick Geen and Casey Prentiss are the other members of the Vikings' victorious postseason lineup.
"We got the job done today," Abel said. "I played really well today. Obviously there is an advantage (to playing at home), but you still have to hit the shots."
"We were kind of down for not winning conference," Monroe said. "We knew we had the talent to come and win the regional."
Even though St. Charles East No. 1 player Mike Bertke struggled, Connor King, Danny Buetow, Mason Meadows, Dylan Cook and Jeff Makowski more than picked up their senior teammate.
None of the five St. Charles East players shot worse than a 39 on their combined 10 nine-hole rounds.
"Forty (for nine holes) is no longer a barometer," St. Charles East coach John Stock said after Buetow (74), Meadows (75) and Cook (75) augmented the runner-up 71 King authored. "The game has grown."
The Saints did not even require the 77 Makowski fashioned.
King reduced his regular-season tournament round at Mill Creek by 15 shots.
"The main difference was my mental game," King said. "I got frustrated that day and fell apart mentally."
Tyler Barton and Nikolai Janchik were the cornerstones for St. Charles North with their respective rounds of 76 and 78.
"The ball is going farther," Prentiss said of the evolution of the game since his early days as a coach. "We have some great athletes playing the game now. It's showing up on the scoreboard."
Nate Gorniak, Brett Grabarek, Joey Tomazin and Alex Salantino made the sectional cut for fourth-place Bartlett.
Luke Reeser, Nathan Mehta, Nick Poblocki and Jack Watkins did likewise for South Elgin.
Cy Kerber, a Larkin junior, and Glenbard North senior Sahil Patel also extended their seasons.