Girls golf: Scouting Northwest

The 2017 girls golf season got off to an exciting start when Prospect's Kelly Kavanagh and Schaumburg's Trinity Corwin squared off in student death at the Early Bird Invite last week. Kavanagh parred the first playoff hole to win the individual crown at the Bridge of Poplar Creek Golf Course.

There should be plenty more exciting moments ahead this fall, and here is a breakdown of the local teams:

Barrington: It looks like another strong season for Hall of Fame coach Jodi Schoeck, who guided the Fillies to the state final last year. Her top returners are senior Maggie Hoffman, senior Swatha Seshadri, senior Nicole Ciskowski, junior Ishani Majmudar, junior Olivia Lee and sophomore Caroline Smith. The top newcomer is freshman Stephanie Su. Smith was the MSL Champion and placed 14th at state last year. Ciskowski was a regional champion and placed 45th at state last year. "Our team understands the meaning of working together and pulling for each other," Schoeck said. "Finishing the 2016 season as state runners-up renewed all our returning players with the sense of passion that each holds for the game of golf. This is a special family of players who have been together and are anxious to compete hard and be in the thick of things as the season progresses."

Barrington won its second straight Mid-Suburban League championship last fall with a score of 301 and will try to defend its title with Schoeck beginning her 31st season. She was the 2009 National High School Coach of the year and has guided the Fillies to 13 MSL titles (four straight from 2004 through 2007) with 13 regional crowns and 10 appearances in the state finals, including third in 1996 and second last year.

Buffalo Grove: Coach Matt Myers' club returns six golfers with varsity experience - senior Haeri Lee (45th in the state meet last fall), senior Jasmine Yi, senior Riley Donahue, senior Zoe Childs, junior Claire McLoone and sophomore Alisa Patel. The Bison were sectional qualifiers last fall.

"The hope is that the group continues the past success of the program," said Myers, whose team is coming off two straight MSL East Division titles. "We graduated eight seniors from last year, with many of them having varsity experience. We are looking forward to some of our other golfers having a great opportunity to step into new roles and challenge themselves throughout the season."

Conant: Coach Megan Hebert has some high hopes for her Cougars, who return senior Lex Alcantara, junior Alyssa Brand (seventh place at regionals), senior Lina Jang (tied for fourth at regional with an 86), senior Alexis Kim, senior Nimra Syed (sixth at regionals), junior Michelle Zhang (tied for fourth at regionals with an 86).

Top newcomers are sophomore Annika Brand (younger sister of Alyssa Brand), junior Kristen Frawley, sophomore Demitra Ganas, senior Rachel Kudla, senior Panagiota Markakos and senior Amanda Mytych.

"We have most of our top six from last year returning and seven seniors on the roster," Hebert said. "So I am hoping that experience will guide us through some of the major tournaments. If we can learn to relax and have fun while we are on the course, I know we will go far. We also have eight new freshmen on the roster so the future of our program is bright."

Elk Grove: Senior Kelly Walter and junior Maggie Cronin, a 2016 sectional qualifier, are expected to provide leadership for the Grens this fall. Other key members on the roster are sophomore Teodora Evtimova, freshman Grace Majer and junior Reyna Shino.

"As the program continues to grow, we are expecting the girls to card lower scores than a season ago behind the leadership of Maggie and Kelly," said second-year coach Kristen Gierman. "We will also look to continue to push more girls through the IHSA state series."

Fremd: Fremd coach Christine Vlaming has one returning varsity starter with sophomore Kellie Liu.

Other players include sophomore Crystal Kim, junior Shreyah Prasad, freshman Aerin Oh, sophomore Victoria Fitzgerald and freshman Mayu Aso.

"We are excited about our season," Vlaming said. "We have a young group with much enthusiasm and passion for the game. We are looking forward to growing and improving at each opportunity."

Hersey: It's a year of transition for coach Dan Vepser and his Huskies as seven players graduated. Returning players are senior Claire Rogowski (all-conference) and senior Mara Slosar (sectional qualifier last year). Newcomers include seniors Krista Thuer and McKenna Clapper and junior Renae Curtis.

"This year is going to be a big change because we had seven amazing seniors graduate, including the first Hersey state qualifier in 15 years (Megan Kopeny, who is playing at Winthrop)," Vesper said. "Claire Rogowski and Mara Slosar will be the leading seniors on this year's team. They both finished last season really well. Claire was all-conference and Mara qualified for the sectionals. Krista and McKenna are other seniors who will help lead the team. As always, the girls are so awesome, willing to learn and so much fun."

Hoffman Estates: It's a new era for Hoffman girls golf as coach Dan Canace takes over the program. Former coach Tim Teegarden retired after working 34 years in District 211 as a math teacher. He was the Hawks girls golf coach the last 16 seasons. Senior Katarina Ott-Durkin shot a 99 to lead the Hawks when they opened their season in the Early Bird Invite on Aug. 10.

Also contributing for Canace at the Early Bird were Christina Wood, Maya Woods, Maria Estevez and Angie Sanchez.

Palatine: Pirates sixth-year coach Bill LePage expects a fun season from his team, which will be led by senior Jenny Myslinski. The 2016 all-conference selection was a sectional qualifier the last two seasons. She had a productive summer, too, winning the HJGT event at Cog Hill.

She finished in the top five in three other IJGA events this summer and is receiving some offers to play at the collegiate level, which is her goal.

"She could have some low scores this year as she continues to get better," LePage said. "She has great support to maximize her potential."

Myslinski was the first freshman to play on the varsity roster for LePage.

Senior Meghan Fortunato has played No. 2 for LePage the past two seasons behind Myslinski. "She is really strong and can hit the ball in the fairway," LePage said. "She could score if she continues to work on her putting."

Senior Ariel Blanchard and Lauren Kim (also plays lacrosse) are also back. "Ariel has been in the program for four years and has watched girls have great senior seniors,"LePage added. "We hope she will turn the corner and have success on the course this season. Lauren has been a four-year player for us and could be the fourth score we need to be successful in the MSL. She has great potential."

LePage also said three-sport sophomore Olivia Radtke and classmate Victoria Simons are up-and-coming golfers.

Prospect: As he begins his ninth year, Knights coach Jim Hamann returns three players who competed in the state finals last year with senior Margherite Pettenuzzo (all-conference in 2016, MPGC women's club champion in 2017), junior Emily Fleming (all-conference, Won IJGA event this summer) and sophomore Kelly Kavanagh (won IJGA event this summer and played in the IJGA Tournament of Champions). "All three of them played extremely well at the state finals and bring a great deal of experience to our team this year," said Hamann, the 2014 Midwest Golf Coach of the Year and National High School Golf Coach of the Year finalist that same year. "Marguerite, Emily and Kelly have all won numerous golf tournaments this summer. These three know their role as they will lead us in scoring." Also expected as key golfers are senior Allison Buck (MSL junior varsity champ in 2016) and senior Taylor Chantry, who had many top-five finishes in tournaments this summer. Hamann also has a lot of seniors who he says are doing a great job passing down the program's traditions to the younger players. "This season is going to be so much fun," added Hamann, who played golf at Illinois State and Eastern Illinois from 1997 to 2002. Hamann has two new coaches - Rebecca Schilz, the former Lakes head girls golf coach and new girls athletic director at Prospect, along with Jim Wills, the former Elk Grove varsity girls basketball and girls golf coach. "Both coaches had a fantastic summer with us," Hamann said. "They learned a lot and have been an absolute pleasure to coach with." Retired assistant coach Tim Casper will stay involved with the program as a volunteer coach. The Knights have qualified for the state finals six times in the last seven years (all but 2015). "We are going to prepare for every event with the same effort," Hamann said. "We will need to compete with the top teams with our depth as we have done in the past. We plan to be very competitive throughout the season with our depth and highly motivated kids. We expect to be playing our best golf toward the end of the season." Hamann has led the Knights to two state titles, one state runner-up, and a fourth- and fifth-place finish in the last six years.He has also won seven MSL crowns.

Rolling Meadows: Rolling Meadows coach Paul Fraser welcomes back seniors and team captains Nicole Von Oesen and Caroline Smith. "We are excited about their return," Fraser said. "The core of the team has mostly remained unchanged from last year where sophomores Taylor Lindsey and Alexis Favia established themselves as permanent varsity teammates. We are working with a great group of young ladies. They have worked hard during the off-season and maintained their focus from summer camp. We are looking forward to a progressive year."

Schaumburg: State qualifier Jennifer Cappello, a senior, returns for the Saxons, who have qualified for the state sectional the last two seasons. Coach Michelle Hinojosa also returns seniors Trinity Corwin and Cheyenne Harris. Corwin opened the season by taking second place at the Early Bird Invite where she lost in sudden death after firing a 73 for 18 holes at the Bridges at Poplar Creek.

"We are looking to add more players at the state series this season," Hinojosa said. "We are super excited for the season with some younger players looking to score low as well."

Wheeling: Junior Adrienne Rohwedder (54th in the state finals last year) and sophomore Symantha Rohwedder (sectional qualifier) return as the aces for coach Peggy Ellsworth, who begins her 17th season in charge of the program. The former standout athlete at Arlington High School, who played golf at Southern Illinois, also has junior Elena Falkiner and senior Cindy Dang on the squad.

"Adrienne and Samantha played summer tournaments again and are ready to go," Ellsworth said. "They're good kids who are always patient and encouraging to their teammates."

Samantha began the season with a flourish, shooting a 70 at the Barrington Invite.

Last year, Adrienne became the first girls golfer in Wheeling history to compete in the state finals, shooting an 81 on Saturday to finish with a two-day total of 160

"And I am confident that Elena and Cindy will lower their scoring averages from a year ago," Ellsworth added. "They're all good kids. It's a good group."

Other area teams

Maine West: The Warriors have four returning starters with senior Amber Ward, senior Christa Niewinski, junior Clara Cupuro and sophomore Anastasia Peric. Coach John Hauenstein also expects to see freshman Katie Benziger competing for the varsity. "We are hoping to improve on our 9-9 record from last season," Hauenstein said. "We have a number of girls who will be trying to find one of the remaining spots in the varsity lineup and that internal competition is helpful in pushing everyone to be their best."

St. Viator: St. Viator has three players returning from last year's regional winning team - juniors Carolina Lavender and Sophia Solari and sophomore Madeline Sebastian. Coach Mick Drewes believes the incoming freshman class is the best since 2006. Frosh Cate Reisinger is perhaps the most advanced player as a freshman to compete at St. Viator. "She is a lot like Dana Gattone, who is playing at Illinois," Drewes said. "She will be pressed by two other first-year players (Jill Doherty and Paige Klostermann)." Rounding out the varsity is Arianna Arthur, a senior playing golf after three years of competitive dance. Mary Peterson, Clare Dowd and Catherine Kelleher are tri-captains. "They have been so important in leadership roles," Drewes said. "We are still in Class A. Anything short of a trip to the state tournament would be disappointing."