Downey hits 'em down the middle for Cougars
Dan Downey had what he called "the best round of his high school career" Saturday afternoon at the Bison Invitational.
The Vernon Hills senior shot a 71 at Buffalo Grove Golf Club, tying the school record and just missing out on medalist honors as Steve Deutsch of Glenbrook South finished at 70.
Glenbrook South took the team title with a score of 289.
Downey shot a few rounds in the 70s last year as a junior, and excelled at the Deerfield regional by carding a 75 to help lead the Cougars into sectionals.
Now this year Downey has taken his game to another level.
"He's worked hard over the summer," said Vernon Hills coach Shawn Healey. "Dan played a lot of golf, and he also started working with a new pro. But the biggest part of his improvement is all the time he's put in.
"He's always working on his short game, or he's on the putting green."
"Ball striking," was Downey's answer when asked about his success at BG, where the senior improved by almost 10 strokes over last year's score.
"I hit 17 out of 18 greens in regulation," Downey said. "I made a lot of putts, but I also missed a lot of putts, so putting was not the key (today)."
Dex Reese of Glenbrook South also shot 71, while Libertyville's Bill Stone was next best with a 74.
Steve Petchenik of the Titans helped lead the Glenbrook South sweep with a 74, and Homewood-Flossmoor's Tim Weber finished with the same total.
Joe Pellettiere of Stevenson shot a 75, while Marshall Rolston of Libertyville had a 77. Nick Mazza of Vernon Hills carded a 78, as did Ryan McCullough of the host Bison and Mike Larson from Hersey.
Local scores of 79 were from Eric Pacewicz of Stevenson, Dan Parks and John McIlree from Hersey, and Eric Jones of Elk Grove.
"I played really smart on the front nine (36)," said Jones, "but on the back nine I had some mental errors."
The Grens' junior also improved over last year's BG finish when he carded an 81 while just a sophomore.
"This year," said Jones, "I have more confidence."
-- Bill Esbrook
Girls golf
St. Viator Invitational: Old Orchard Country Club, with all its trees, rough and water, can bring out the best in golfers or seriously challenge them.
In Saturday's St. Viator girls golf invitational it did both.
Three standouts certainly rose to the occasion. Viator's Kaela Klune, Conant's Kris Yoo and Fenwick's Lisa Joyce were all in the leading group and all shot 76s.
But a late start, a slow course and a shorter day prevented a playoff at this meet. The tiebreaker came down to the scorecard and the marks from holes 9, 8 and 7, in that order.
Nine, being one of the more difficult holes on the course, made the difference with medalist Klune getting the edge by a stroke.
"I had a really solid round," Klune said. "I had a lot of pars which really helped. I was making putts from everywhere. It was really fun."
The Lions took third as a team with 340 behind champs Loyola (333) and Carmel (336).
"We had good scores in the 80s," said Lions coach Mick Drewes. "We're very proud of our 340. We were struggling a little bit going into the season."
Betsy Mleko (87), Hallie Dunn (88) and Abby Dickey (89) all scored for the hosts.
"There's a lot of quality players here," added Drewes. "I hate the scorecard playoff -- they all just play so good. But that's the only way we could do it. If we had another hour of daylight, we might go play another couple holes."
The host course also sponsored a prize for closest to the pin. That went to Dickey on No. 14. Incidentally, she made the putt for a birdie.
Leading the Corsairs second-place effort was Shannon Howell, who had a lifetime best 80 to finish fourth.
"That was my first time shooting in the 30s (for nine holes)," Howell said of her performance, which included 3 birdies. "I hit my driver pretty well today and my chipping and putting saved me."
The rest of Carmel stayed on pace with Katie Kelly (83), Jacqueline Jaskowiak (84) and Stephanie Zdon (89) scoring.
"They did very well," said Carmel coach Brian Smithe. "They played to their potential, which is nothing surprising. They always had that ability and it all came together for them today."
Prospect scored a 350 thanks to the steady play of Melanie Walsh (86), Michelle Lawless (87), Marietta Smith (88) and Alexa Campanile (89).
-- Bill Swick
Girls tennis
At Cary-Grove: Mundelein won the championship of quad, as its doubles delivered.
The Mustangs defeated Larkin, Cary-Grove and Antioch all by 3-2 scores. Mundelein's doubles teams of Karlie Alms/Paige Parola (No. 1), Mandy Ranck/Karolina Kucybala (No. 2) and Rosie Powers/Grace Casali (No. 3) all went 3-0.