Northwest/ Scouting the Class AA girls golf state tournament
By John Leusch
jleusch@dailyherald.com
Where: Hickory Point Golf Course, Decatur.
When: Friday and Saturday
2010 team champion: New Trier.
2010 individual champion: Stephanie Miller (Stevenson).
2011 team qualifiers: Highland Park (305), Loyola (308), Wheaton Warrenville South (309), New Trier (315), Hinsdale Central (317) Prospect (319), Fremd (324), Marian Catholic (334), Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin (335), Lyons (347), Springfield High (348), Edwardsville (357)
2011 area qualifying teams: Prospect: Noreen Caporusso (so.), Christine Garmoe (sr.), Emma Menich (so.), Sarah Scaccia (sr.), Kiley Walsh (so.), Allison Walsh (sr.).
Fremd: Dorothy Feng (so.), Jennifer Kim (so.), Christina Kim (sr.), Angie Kim (Jr), Payton McAbee (sr.), Madison Zyer (sr.)
2011 area individual qualifiers: St. Viator: Dana Gattone (so.), Barrington: Julia Calbi (fr.), Heather Ciskowski (so.), Buffalo Grove: Grace Kil (Jr). Prospect outlook: Highland Park’s score of 305 at the Buffalo Grove sectional was the lowest of any team. Defending champ New Trier shot a 315 while last year’s fourth-place finisher Prospect recorded a 319, finishing second to Highland Park. “I’d like to think we can be right there (in the team race),” said Knights coach Jim Hamann, whose team won its fourth straight Mid-Suburban League crown this season. As the Knights bus prepared to leave for Decatur on Wednesday, former Knights football coach Brent Pearlman stepped aboard the team bus and gave a quick talk to the golfers. “He is a riveting speaker,” said Prospect senior golfer Allison Walsh, who carded a team-best 75 in the sectional. “He said a lot of inspirational things and talked about his past experiences (winning three state football titles at Prospect) and what it takes to get to that point.” The Knights have been pointing to the state finals all season, and twice shot a school record 308 during the season. “These girls have won a lot of tournaments this season,” Hamann said. “They are looking to win another. They are down here with a lot of confidence. They’ve practiced really hard this week on things they wanted to fix. These kids are ready to play good golf.” Walsh shot a 73 earlier this season to tie the school record with current teammate Christine Garmoe and former Knights’ Karly Grouwinkel and Michelle Caporusso. “Everyone has been working real hard this season,” said the Bradley-bound Walsh. “We know all we have to do is play well for two days, and good things will happen for us. It’s definitely an advantage having played here last year. We will be more used to how things work. Our first time here, we were so excited to see everything and we were just taking in the whole atmosphere. Now that we’ve been through that, we are more comfortable.”
Fremd outlook: In her fourth season, Fremd coach Christine Vlaming’s Vikings are the school’s second girls golf team to compete in the state finals. The 2002 team finished in a tie for ninth with a score of 374. Junior Angie Kim’s of 75 led the Vikes at the Buffalo Grove sectional where they shot their best score of the season (324) to place third behind Highland Park and Prospect. “We’re ready to go,” said Vlaming, who got career-best scores from Angie Kim and Payton McAbee (83) in the sectional and a season-best 81 by Christiana Kim. “And they said after that they felt they can play even better. I know there is some serious competition. The one thing we worry about is playing our game. We want to be good enough to have a lot of opportunities at pars and then with that comes chances for birdies. We just need to have things bounce our way. Hopefully some birdies will fall.” With Fremd and Prospect both qualifying as teams, the MSL is well-represented. “I’m very happy for Fremd and the MSL,” said Prospect coach Jim Hamann. “I think it’s fantastic that we’ve sent two teams and have other individuals from the conference playing, too.”
Individually speaking: Barrington qualified two players — and both are among the state’s elite. Playing in their first sectional, freshman Julia Calbi won at the Buffalo Grove Golf Course with a 70 while sophomore Heather Ciskowski tied for second with Buffalo Grove’s Grace Kil. Calbi’s 70 matched Hinsdale Central’s Rosanna Lederhausen for the top sectional score in Class AA. Although she is a sophomore, Ciskowski is a rookie golfer. She qualified for the tennis state finals a year ago as a freshman. “They (Calbi and Ciskowski) are the strongest 1-2 punch we’ve ever had,” said Hall of Fame Barrington coach Jodi Schoeck, who has taken 10 teams to the state finals in her 25 seasons. “They are a tough twosome. They have a lot of experience having played in a lot of tournaments.” Earlier this season, Calbi and Ciskowski played on the Hickory Point Golf Course when the Fillies played in the Decatur Eisenhower tourney. Calbi took second place with a 73 while Ciskowski was fifth with a 78. “They will be confident and comfortable playing here,” Schoeck said. “It’s an exciting time for them and hopefully their first of many more.” Calbi’s group will tee off just ahead of Ciskowski’s.“That’s great,” Schoeck said. “They’ll be able to see each other and it makes it easier for me to follow them, too.” The area’s other individual qualifiers are junior Grace Kil (Buffalo Grove) and St. Viator sophomore Dana Gattone. Both played in the state finals last year as Kil was seventh (151) and Gattone tied for 34th (166) with Prospect’s Allison Walsh.
Stevenson’s Stephanie Miller is looking to become the 10th two-time individual champion in state history after carding a 141 for a 4-stroke victory in 2010.