Girls golf: Lemke ties for 12th at state

Katherine Lemke had a girls golf postseason to remember.

St. Francis' top player captured both state preliminaries, the Class 2A Glenbard East regional and Hoffman Estates sectional, in the Spartans' first year in the largest-class division.

“I was hoping to go out and win them,” said Lemke, who hails from Geneva. “I was second in both last year. It was pretty cool to win both of them.”

Lemke had the ultimate honor Saturday at Hickory Point, just north of Decatur, on the last day of the season.

The Spartans' junior, who tied for seventh last year in Class 1A, was in the final pairing at the par-72 layout.

“To be in the last group, you can't ask for anything more,” said St. Francis coach Gay Crain.

Lemke fired a second-day 76 to complement a 3-over 75 in her opening round on Friday. But Lemke had to settle for a 12th-place tie with her 151 total.

“I was only 4 shots off the girl (Barrington sophomore Mary Janess in a one-hole sudden-death playoff) who won it,” Lemke said. “I hit a rough patch toward the middle of the back nine. I was one stroke away from a top-10 finish, which was my goal for the season. I missed a couple of putts.”

“It was a great experience for (Lemke),” Crain said.

The Geneva girls missed out on the final day of the season by a mere stroke after placing ninth in the first round on Friday.

“New Trier edged us out,” Geneva coach Doug Ross said.

But the Vikings did have a major consolation prize in Avery Frick and Reese Clark.

The former had rounds of 79 and 81; Clark posted almost identical scores of 79 and 82.

“You try and rally the troops at the right time of the year,” Ross said of the program earning a team state berth for the first time. “They were definitely up and coming.”

St. Charles North, the defending champion, had a sole representative in Brooke Bayless. The senior tied for 28th with rounds of 81 and 77.

Jacobs' Roslyn Leitner was a shot behind Bayless' two-day mark with a 78 and 81.