St. Charles' Bettis state bound

St. Charles North senior Brooke Bettis took a most unusual route to her third trip to the state finals.

The North Stars standout was without a par on her card for the first 12 holes, suffering a pair of rare double bogeys in the process.

Bettis' willpower saved the day, however, as she recorded back-to-back birdies on two separate occasions in fashioning a 78 at the Class AA St. Ignatius sectional at Cog Hill in Lemont on Tuesday afternoon.

"It was a roller-coaster ride today," said Bettis. "My woods, my wedges and my putter saved me today. That's what gave me 5 birdies today."

"(Bettis) obviously didn't have her 'A' game today, but (her score) still shows how mentally tough she is," said St. Charles North coach Chris Patrick. "Two years ago it could have been an 85 or 90."

The North Stars edged city and league rival St. Charles East by a stroke (343-344) for fourth place in the team standings.

One day after her older brother Chris advanced in the boys Class 3A state tournament, the Saints' Jenny Niemiec symbolically matched her sibling by firing a pair of 40s to make the individual cut by a stroke.

"I sort of thought I could do it if he could," said Niemiec. "I always wanted to do everything my brother could do. My brother gave me an additional push."

Nicole Rae had a career-best 83 for the Saints, and Rachael Edwards fell short as well with an 85.

"Rachael, more than anyone else on our team, deserved to make it," said Niemiec. "She is our captain."

Geneva junior Kim Connor more than made her third straight sectional appearance worth every moment.

The Vikings' No. 1 joined the logjam at 78 with a pair of 39s.

"I had lots of ups and downs for pars today that kept me in the game," said Connor. "After the first nine, I figured a 39 to match it would be pretty good."

Batavia senior Lauren Lenkowksi missed the cut by two, finishing at 83.

St. Francis, with three team members from St. Charles and freshman Kayla Steuland hailing from Geneva, made the first sectional appearance in school history. The Spartans finished with a seventh-place 354 total.

"It was a bad day for everyone," said Morgan Walsh, the Spartans' low regional performer. "We all planned to stay in the 80s."

Lynn Dreisilker had an 84 to lead her squad.

"I had good shots here and there and made some key putts," said Dreisilker.

Steuland concluded her season with back-to-back birdies to forge an inward-nine 38.

"I wanted to shoot in the high 70s -- that didn't really happen," said Steuland, who finished at 88.

In the team competition, the North Shore trumped Prospect once again.

With three tournament titles under its belt, the Knights were seeking their second trip to the girls state golf finals as a team in program history.

It was not meant to be.

Traditional powers Loyola Academy and New Trier denied the Knights.

"We had six scores in the 80s," said Prospect coach Jim Hamann. "We're the only school that did that. We deserve to be in the state tournament. I have a great group of kids."

The lone solace for the Knights was the play of Marietta Smith, who snared the eighth and final at-large berth to the state finals in Carbondale this weekend with an 81.

"We really wanted to go downstate," said junior Melanie Walsh, who had an 84, the Knights' second-lowest score. "It's unfortunate we have to be in the same sectional as New Trier and Loyola. Both teams played very well today and deserve to go downstate."

With three scores at 80 or better, Loyola had a 321 total, 11 strokes better than New Trier.

The Knights, with an 85 from Karly Grouwinkel and matching 87s by Michelle Lawless and Alexa Campanile, were five off the Trevians' pace at 337.

St. Viator junior Kaela Klune was in the final pairing with the Knights' Smith and Loyola sophomore Somy Kim, and the Lions' ace booked a return trip to southern Illinois by playing the final five holes in 2-under-par.

Klune was in danger of missing the individual cut, which ultimately came at 81, only to record back-to-back birdies on her inward nine for a state-clinching round of 78, tied by three others for third place overall.

"There was no way I was going to let it slip away," said Klune. "There were some tough pin placements, but I was glad that we were going to play (at Cog Hill)."

Abbie Dickey was within inches of making it a pair of qualifiers for St. Viator, only to fall short by a stroke, the sole player in the field to record an 82.

The third Lions' at-large qualifier -- Betsy Mleko -- had her season end with a 91.

Claudia Schwan and Kelly Voight had an 87 and 89 for Fremd, respectively, and Hersey sophomore Catherine Park came in with a 98.

Wheaton Warrenville South junior Molly O'Connor overcame a pair of triple-bogeys to fire an 80, which included a trio of birdies.

"I made a lot of pars after that (a 6-over sequence in four holes)," said O'Connor.

Three Wheaton North golfers -- Nicole Bronson, Allie Cerone and Jordan Heinlein -- all missed the cut as well.

"Our team set school records in just about every category this season," said Wheaton North coach Dave Fenton.

Carly Schneider was one of the many hard-luck individuals; the Streamwood sophomore snared a final spot at the St. Charles East regional, only to fall short of state by a pair of strokes with an 83.

"We were pretty much thinking she was in," said Streamwood-South Elgin-Bartlett co-op coach Sue Hannula. "I forgot the better players teed off later in the day. She was pretty disappointed. (But) she is only a sophomore. If she works half as hard as she did last summer, there's no doubt she'll be right there next year. She has a real good work ethic and loves the game."

Dundee-Crown senior Beth Nowicke ended her career on a positive note after bettering her front-nine 52 by 10 strokes to finish with a 94.

"I got off to a really rocky start but finished strong on the back side," said Nowicke, who was making her second sectional appearance. "I was really happy with my 42."