Girls golf: Prospect battles past Rolling Meadows; March takes individual title
The Class 2A Prospect girls golf regional on Tuesday was 'Home Sweet Home" for the champions.
Individual champ Jennifer March of Rolling Meadows was playing on the course where her father Gary (former PGA tour member) is a teaching pro while the host Knights came up with their third regional crown in six seasons under coach Brad Rathe.
The Knights posted a score of 356 ahead of Rolling Meadows (369) and St. Viator (370) at the par-70 layout of the Mt. Prospect Golf Club.
Those three teams advanced to the Barrington sectional on Monday at Bonnie Dundee in Carpentersville.
"This is no small thing," said Rathe, who in 2022 and 2023 had the rare distinction of serving as the head boys basketball coach and head boys tennis coach as well as girls golf.
"Regardless of what you're shooting for, when it comes to this time of the season, we are trying to win as a team. The wind was howling early and we didn't start out as well as we wanted. But in a round like this that lasts for six hours, you never know when your score is going to count, and that's especially true with our team."
The Knights' four scores that counted were senior Alex Pignataro (83), senior Cathryn Wascher (88), junior Allison Warnement (92) and senior Faye Zinzer (93).
"We have such great depth (94 from sophomore Peyton Camardella and 95 from sophomore Maddie Bielecki)," Rathe added. "Our top four seeds are not always our four who are scoring and that's happened consistently all season. I'm proud of them."
Leading coach Kris Woo's Mustangs, who advanced to a sectional as a team for the first time, were March (69), Anne Barnett (96), Claire Cox (101), Brooke Albu (103) and Kailah Tavera (103).
Top scorers for coach Jack Halpin's Lions were Lily Zicarelli (72), Allison Bullock (96), Lily Harker (99) and Grace Adler (105).
March defeated Zicarelli by 3 strokes, despite a 33 by the Viator senior on the backside.
March had 4 birdies, 2 on each nine.
"My driving accuracy was on," said March, who won her second straight regional coming off a fourth-place finish in the Mid-Suburban meet last week. "I hit a lot of fairways. It was a pretty short course out there and I just hit a lot of wedges and tried to hit as many greens in regulation as possible."
Zicarelli had 3 birdies on her back nine.
"I realized it's not over until it's over," said the Wisconsin-Parkside pledge who recently won the East Suburban Catholic Conference title and Pekin Invite. "And I really wanted to help my team stay in the top three."
Lions coach Jack Halpin was thrilled the Lions advanced.
"After 2 holes we were 23 over par but we were only 5 strokes out of the lead," he said. "We got out (of the regional). That's all that counts. We're there (Bonnie Dundee on Monday)."
"That may be one the best sectionals the state has ever seen," Rathe said. "The field is just loaded. We always try to play a tough schedule to prepare us for this time of the season. We've played with a lot of these top players we saw today and the same goes for Monday. We've played with a lot of them there. No big surprises there. We've just got to play our game."
Individuals advancing to the sectional were Madelyn Howell of Maine West (88), Sydney Hollingsworth of Maine South (89), Heidi Fritz of Hersey (91), Makayla Waters of Mainme South (94), Avery Grove of Hersey 94), Lucia Steiner of Hersey (95), Jane Sieg of Hersey (98), Bridget Woods of Maine South (98), Alexis Vengazo of Maine South (99).
At Buffalo Grove: Barrington (325) took first place at the Buffalo Grove regional followed by Fremd (330) and Lake Park (342), Buffalo Grove (354), Lake Zurich 363, Conant (374), Schaumburg (413), Hoffman Estates (418) and Palatine (430) at the Buffalo Grove Golf Club
One week ago, coach Jeremy Malinowski's Fremd Vikings won the MId-Suburban League championship by 4 strokes over Barrington at the same course.
"We talked about having a redemption at the regionals, and the girls got the job done," said Barrington coach Tim Martin, who led the Fillies to their 10th regional title in 11 years. "The girls really earned it with some strategic golf. I am so proud of the way the team bounced back after a tough conference tournament. Conditions were really difficult today and the team played great."
Barrington was led by MSL champion and sophomore Reese Wallace , who took the individual crown with a 5-under par 70, sophomore Teagan Carden (83), junior Annie Carden (85) and senior Sophia Chaturvedi (87).
"Reese was incredible and to shoot 5-under par in these conditions was amazing. Reese had five birdies on the back nine and finished her round with three straight birdies. We are so glad to add her to our list of Filly regional champions."
Teagan Carden placed sixth overall in the individual competition while Annie Carden was 12th.
"Teagan showed why she is one of the most improved players in the state," Martin sxaid. "Annie has worked so hard, and it paid off with her 12th finish. Her energy lifted the team. Olivia Yoon has been so good for us this year, and she finished really strong on the back nine. Sophia Chaturvedi and Kalena Lee (seniors) also had very good days."
Top scorers for Fremd were senior Gloria Lee (81), Keira Brazeau (82), junior Marritt Bell (83) and sophomore Alia Brazeau (84) while Lake Park was paced by Samantha Rottinger (84), Amaani Patel (84), Isha Opatel (84) and Jenna Danicek (89).
Advancing individuals were Buffalo junior and second-place finisher Courtney Beerheide (75), Conant freshman Madeline Gutierrez (82), Schaumburg freshman Megan Akers (85), Conant senior Gabriella Zyung (85), Lake Zurich senior Jeanne Yu (86), Lake Zurich senior Maddie Michalak (88), Wheeling junior Sofia Costantini (89), Buffalo Grove junior Meagan Ryan (89), Buffalo Grove sophomore Abbey Foster (92), and Lake Zurich junior Brittany Radtke (93).
At Glenview: Stevenson (305) topped defending state champion Glenbrook North (309) and New Trier (311) to win the Glenbrook South regional at the Glenview Park Golf Club .
New Trier junior Grace Leber (70) took the individual crown over Stevenson sophomore Campbell Ray (73). Glenbrook North's Kacie Moon and Alexis Myers tied for third.
"Campbell continued to save herself by making 20 and 30-foot putts," said Stevenson coach Emma Deegan. "And she even had a chip-in for a birdie on a par-3 hole."
Stevenson juniors Sophia Joeng (77) and sophomore Ava Alimissis (77) tied for fifth in the individual competition while freshman Lily Wang tied for eighth with a 78.
Deegan said Alimissis bounced back nicely from a couple of her bad shots and finished with a birdie on hole No. 18.
"She worked hard to manage the course," Deegan added. "Pars on this course were a sign of a good day and Sophia and Lily were able to do that to keep themselves in the top four spots," Deegan said. "They recovered well from some miss-hits and three putts and were very consistent throughout the round.
At Antioch: Libertyville (346) took first place in this regional followed by Carmel (374), Lakes (378), Grayslake
Central (378), Wauconda (406), Antioch (418) Mundelein) (418) Grant (422), Warren (431) and Grayslake North (465) at the Spring Valley Country Club
Coach Greg Pedersen's champion Wildcats were led by freshmen Kenzie Christie (84) and Abby Feltz (86).
"Kenzie and Abby have really enhanced our competitive mindset this season - they take it very seriously and want to win now," said Pedersen, also the Wildcass head girls basketball coach. "They both hit a long ball off the tee and Kenzie is laser sharp with a wedge in her hand.
Seniors Sophia Cesnovar (87) and Jozie Mitran (89) were the other two scores counted for Libertyville.
"Sophia and Jozie have had great senior seasons," Pedersen added. "Sophia is one of the best golfers in Lake County and today she had two birdies on the back nine to win her the 5th place medal. Jozie is our most improved golfer and her performance this year has given us a steady top four score to use on every match, which is a big part of why we finished 10-1 on the season.
"We have an interesting balance of senior experience and freshman talent and it’s brought us success this year."
Carmel sophomore Idaly Sereno won the individual crown with an 82 helping her Corsairs to second place . She was followed by sophomore Gabriella Stephens (87), senior Gracie Collins (96) and junior Elizabeth Bell (109)
Lakes top scorer scores were senior Maia Becker (83), senior Jia Singh (96), junior Alysia Friedel Foat (99) and senior Heidi Jung (100).
Advancing Individuals were Wauconda's Reese Romer (89), Grayslake Central's Ashlyn Bean (92), Grayslake Central's Britta Lynch (95), Mundelein's Audrey Smith (98), Antioch's Nora Cecchi (98), ,Mundkleienb;s Addison Field (99), Grant's Riley Daniele (99), Wauconda's McKenna Powers (100), Grayslake Centrtal's Kaylee Hughes (100). and Grayslake Central's Taelyn Peterson (100).