Mangal helps Waubonsie Valley edge Naperville C.
The stakes were as high as the drama Wednesday at Naperbrook Golf Course, as both the team and individual championships came down to the final strokes at the Class AA Neuqua Valley regional.
Waubonsie Valley held off Naperville Central 355-357 to claim the regional title. The Warriors need every bit of Cherise Mangal's round of 84, as she led a consistent Waubonsie effort. Mangal missed a chance at the individual title by one shot.
“Nothing was really working today, but what saved me was my chipping, Mangal said. “We wanted to play a lot like we did at conference. We wanted to relax, focus on each shot and take it as it is. We wanted to advance, but winning it is great.
Maggie Miklasz, Courtney Williams and Morgan Neihart also played a big role in helping the Warriors' claim the regional title.
“Cherise is where she's usually at, 81-83, and I can't say enough about the rest of the girls. Everyone's right there so it's good to have that much depth so we don't have to rely on one or two people, Waubonsie Valley coach John Farnan said. “The next couple of days we're going to work on the mental part of the game, because physically, they're right there.
Advancing with Waubonsie was Naperville Central and Lemont. Naperville North and Rosary rounded out the top five; each missed advancing by 5 strokes.
The individual crown came down to a one-hole playoff between Naperville Central's Carolyn Wong and Lemont's Emily Lejmann.
After staying close to each other through two shots, Lejmann overshot the green, giving Wong an opportunity to seize control of the hole. Wong then laid up a safe but clutch chip and putted out to claim the individual title.
“I just tried to collect my nerves because I knew I was playing Emily and she's a really good player, Wong said. “My drives were getting out there pretty well, but nothing was really exceptional. I had some putts that didn't drop, but everything was solid enough to get pars and bogeys. It's exciting to advance because we've put in a lot of hard work, so hopefully it all works out and we get to state.
Joining Wong and Lejmann in the top five were Paige Wollensak of Naperville North, Mangal and Liz Healy of Rosary.
“We were up against real good competition, but I love to play with them, Wollensak said. “Cherise, Liz and Carolyn are the nicest people and it just makes for so much of a better round.
Healy led the Royals in the attempt to live out their beloved former coach's dream, the late Scott Walker.
“We wanted to do this for Mr. Walker and we were so hopeful, Healy said. “We made an improvement but we're still disappointed. His dream for us was to advance to sectionals as a team.
Healy leading the way was no surprise to new coach Paul Iwanski.
“Liz has been the anchor of the team all year, she leads from start to finish, Iwanski said.
Other individual qualifiers included Naperville North's Taylor Arenson, Neuqua Valley's Alisha Patel and Therese Long, Metea Valley's Natalya Schleebs and Alyna Vaughn, West Aurora's Lari Mitchell and Rosary's Lauren Hoss.