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WWS's O'Connor headed to state

The North Shore trumped Prospect once again.

With three tournament titles under their belts this season, 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 at the Class AA St. Ignatius sectional at Cog Hill in Lemont on Tuesday afternoon.

"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.

St. Francis' first sectional appearance in school history fell short 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 hometown squad.

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

Stueland 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 Stueland, who finished at 88.

It was not a complete loss for female golfers from Wheaton, though, as Molly O'Connor made return reservations.

The Wheaton Warrenville South junior 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)," O'Connor said.

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.

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 another of the four rounds of 78.

"It was a roller-coaster ride today," Bettis said. "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 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," Niemiec said. "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," Niemiec said. "She is our captain."

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

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