Girls golf / Scouting northwest suburban regionals
Hoffman Estates regional
Where: Bridges of Poplar Creek, Hoffman Estates
When: Wednesday, 9 a.m.
Teams: Hersey, St. Viator, Glenbrook South, Conant, Hoffman Estates, Prospect, Glenbrook North, Fremd, Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg
Outlook: Prospect, fourth in last year’s Class AA state finals, has been preparing for the state tournament all season. The Knights could not be much sharper to begin regional play. They have posted two of their best scores over the past week, shooting a 309 (1 stroke shy of school record 308 set earlier this season against Loyola) to win the Mid-Suburban League Invite at Bonnie Dundee and a 311 to win the John Macek Memorial Invite at the University of Illinois Blue Course just four days later. After winning the MSL meet, Knight coach Jim Hamann said the team accomplished its first goal and the second was the regional. Seniors Allison Walsh and Christine Garmoe have led the team all season, and they were the top two finishers in the Macek with scores of 76. In the MSL meet, Garmoe and teammate Noreen Caporusso tied for second (75), Allison Walsh was sixth (78) and sophomore Kiley Walsh seventh (81). Sarah Scaccia, Ally Scaccia, Noelle Johnston and Emma Menich have also been key contributors for the four-time defending MSL champs who won regional crowns under Hamann in 2006 and 2010. Fremd coach Christine Vlaming watched her team improve from last year’s fourth-place finish to third in the MSL meet as junior Angie Kim’s 83 led the way, Her teammates Jennifer Kim (sophomore) and Christiana Kim (senior) each shot 88s to tie for 12th place. None of the Kims are related. St. Viator enters the tourney after a second-place finish (356) behind Marian Catholic (339) in the East Suburban Catholic Conference meet where Lions sophomore Dan Gattone (81) was second by 1 strike to Georgia recruit Sylvie Brick of Marian Catholic at the Village Greens of Woodridge. The highlight of the day for the Lions was senior and team captain Molly O’Keeffe’s sixth-place finish with a score of 85. Lions junior Amy Stringfellow (91) became a conference medalist for the third straight year with a 16th-place finish. Coach Mick Drewes guided the Lions to a regional crown in 2009.
Prairie Ridge Regional
Where: Prairie Isle Golf Course, Prairie Grove
When: Wednesday, 9 a.m.
Teams: Jacobs, Barrington, Dundee-Crown, Crystal Lake Coop, Prairie Ridge, Lake Zurich, McHenry, Carmel, Mundelein, Wauconda
Outlook: Barrington is the only Mid-Suburban League team in this regional. Fillies Hall of Fame coach Jodi Schoeck has her 25th team playing its finest golf of the season. The Fillies come into the regional after a second-place finish (323) in the Mid-Suburban meet and with the MSL individual champ Julia Calbi. Only a freshman, Calbi wowed them with a even-par 71 over a soggy Bonnie Dundee Golf Club course a week ago. Barrington sophomore Heather Ciskowski, who was playing No. 1 doubles in the state tennis meet last fall, had made quite a rookie impact on the golf scene. She fired a 76 to take fourth-place in her first MSL golf meet.
Barrington senior Sammy Carman posted an 87 and classmate Lindsey Martindale a 91 to round out the Fillies score card in the MSL meet. Calbi’s best high school round came earlier in the season when she shot a 68 in the Barrington Invite, also at Bonnie Dundee. Schoeck had led the Fillies to 12 regionals, the last in 2008. Her teams have qualified for the state finals nine times.
Lake Forest regional
Where: Lake Bluff Golf Course, Lake Bluff
When: Wednesday, 9 a.m.
Teams: Buffalo Grove, Deerfield, Warren, Highland Park
Lake Forest, Libertyville, Stevenson, Vernon Hills, Waukegan, Wheeling, Zion-Benton
Outlook: Buffalo Grove and Wheeling are the lone area representatives. The Bison were fourth in the Mid-Suburban League, shooting a 353 at the Bonnie Dundee Golf Club in Carpentersville. Coach Matt Myers’ group includes Grace Kil, a junior who was fourth in the MSL meet with a 76. Kil was the MSL’s highest finisher in the 2010 state meet (seventh place) and also won this year’s Early Bird tournament by 3 strokes when she shot a 72 on the Fox Run Golf Course in Elk Grove. Wheeling’s top scorer in the MSL meet was Cassie Rothbart’s 90. The regional features 2010 state champ Stephanie Miller, who led Stevenson to its fifth straight North Suburban Conference title by shooting a 75 and winning the individual crown by 10 strokes. The Pats scored a 366 to edge Libertyville by 1 stroke while Lake Forest placed third at 373 at the Deerpath Golf Course in Lake Forest.
Loyola Academy regional
Where: Glencoe Golf Club, Glencoe
When: Wednesday
Teams: Northside Prep, Resurrection, Von Steuben, Maine West, Evanston, Maine South, Niles North, Niles West, Loyola, New Trier
Outlook: Maine West is the only area representative in this field which includes New Trier, the defending Class AA state champ. The highly-regarded Trevians were led by Elizabeth Szokol, Callie Nelson and Ellie McGuire when they won the Prospect Invite with a score of 305 early this season at the Mt. Prospect Golf Club. The Trevians were most recently second to Prospect at the John Macek Memorial Invite hosted by Champaign Centennial High School at the University of Illinois Blue Course. Szokol finished in a three-way tie for first with Prospect’s Allison Walsh and Christine Garmoe. They all shot 76s. Walsh then won the first playoff hole to take medalist honors. Also in the field is Loyola, which was fifth in the Class AA tourney a year ago.