Myslinski on course in hoops and on links

Palatine senior Jenny Myslinski can shoot the 3-pointer with the best of them.

She connected for seven long-range shots in the Pirates' girls basketball opener 11 days ago.

But when she gets to Loyola University, Myslinski will much more interested in shooting low scores with a much smaller ball.

She has signed a letter of intent to play golf for the Ramblers.

The only female golfer to play four years of varsity golf at Palatine was a state qualifier this fall.

"Jenny has been a leader for our golf program and school for four years," said Palatine girls golf coach Bill LePage. "She is leader not only by her golf scores but her ability to work in the classroom."

Myslinski is leaning toward communications/marketing major, possibly with an interest in digital media.

"I've wanted to go to an urban campus for a while," Myslinski said of her college choice. "And Loyola's golf team is really good - I definitely think I can play there my freshman year and be competitive. My major is at the school and everything else just fit real well."

Golf has fit into Myslinski's life really well, too.

Her father Doug, a golf course architect, has been the lead designer for Wisconsin courses such as Hunters Glen in Crivitz, Thornberry Creek Country Club in Green Bay, Morningstar Golf Club in Waukesha and The Broadlands in North Prairie along with Vista Links in Buena Vista, Va.

Doug started playing seriously after graduating from West Virginia, where he studied landscape architecture, and owns a 1.8 handicap.

"My dad got me into golfing when I was about 10 or 11 years old," Jenny said. "He's an architect for courses so I've been around golf practically my whole life. I did some competition events (drive, chip and putt) and I just got real interested in the game from there.

"My dad has meant a lot. He would watch me in every match and kind of been my main support system for everything. My mom (Barb) always comes and watches me play, too, and has always believed in me."

Myslinski has wanted to pay collegiate golf since her freshman year at Palatine.

"When I visited Loyola, I knew that's where I wanted to go," she said. "Both coaches are Loyola graduates and pretty young. They played at Loyola pretty recently."

LePage says the Ramblers are getting a solid student/athlete.

"They are getting someone who will work diligently at the game of golf and academics," he said. "And she will be a great addition to Loyola University."

Men's soccer

Illinois Wesleyan sophomore midfielder Patrick Hickey (St. Viator) was named to the first team of all-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. Hickey had 2 goals and 5 assists in CCIW play, tied for seventh in league statistics with 9 points.

Football

Rolling Meadows graduate Jimmy Garoppolo threw his first touchdown pass on Sunday as a San Francisco 49er. In three snaps with the 49ers, he ran for 4 yards and then completed two passes in the final 67 seconds of a 24-13 loss to Seattle. On the final play of the game, he threw a 10-yard TD strike to Louis Murphy.

Women's soccer

Harper freshman Julia Szylke (Fremd) scored 36 goals in 15 regular season games this fall, making her the No. 1 scorer in the nation at the junior college level. She also scored 4 goals in her first playoff game which gave her 40 overall, breaking Harper's record for most goals in a single season.

Women's basketball

Denver freshman Claire Gritt (Hersey) scored a career-high 18 points and shot 50 percent (7-for-14) from the field and 66.7 (4-for-6) from behind the arc in a 61-51 loss to Wyoming. She also had 14 points in a 71-63 loss to Northern Colorado.

• Elmhurst freshman Kelly Weyhrich (Hersey) scored 11 points and had 4 rebounds while playing a team-high 38 minutes in a 75-64 loss to 20th-ranked Whitewater.

She also had 4 assists while playing a team-high 31 minutes in am 85-2 win over the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

• Alabama-Birmingham junior guard Deanna Kuzmanic (Wheeling) posted 9 points and had a team-best 7 assists in an 85-42 win over visiting Miles College. It was second time the Blazers eclipsed the 80-point mark this season.

• Five former Mid-Suburban League players (three from Hersey) were on the floor when Carthage defeated Cornell (Iowa) 68-56 in Mt. Vernon, Iowa.

The Lady Reds notched their largest lead of the game at 45-15 on a layup by sophomore Maggie Berigan (Hersey) at the 6:51 mark of the third quarter.

Carthage senior Morgan Harris (Hersey) ended up with 8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals while Berigan had 5 points, 2 assists, 1 rebound, 1 block and 1 steal. Junior Monica Masini (Palatine) scored 7 points with 2 assists and 2 rebounds.

For Cornell, senior Diamond Boyd (Elk Grove) collected 10 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 assist while senior Renee Poulos (Hersey) had 5 rebounds and 1 assist.

Harris registered her second double-digit rebound game of the season (10) while contributing 7 assists in a 67-49 win over Coe. Masini had 10 points in the game.

• Duke redshirt sophomore Haley Gorecki (Fremd) handed out 4 assists and scored 4 points in 16 minutes during the No. 16-ranked Blue Devils' 79-45 win over Presbyterian in Cameron Indoor Arena.

Four days earlier, Gorecki tied her career-high with 11 points in 14 minutes of play as she went 3-for-5 from three-point land in an 84-51 win over Old Dominion.

• Saint Louis senior Jackie Kemph (Rolling Meadows) registered her 12th career double-double and Jenny Vliet (Rolling Meadows) posted an offensive career high in Saint Louis' 80-64 victory over Cleveland State at the South Point Shootout in Las Vegas.

Kemph tallied game highs of 20 points and 12 assists (a season high for her), while Vliet (8-of-12 field goals) scored 19 points and equaled her season high with a game-best 8 rebounds.

Kemph, who already owns the SLU career assists record, passed the 700-assist mark. She now has 707.

• Email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com