Girls golf season preview

Posted August 21, 2009 11:00 pm

Top area teams: St. Charles East, Batavia, St. Charles North, St. Francis, Geneva, Rosary, West Aurora

Top returning athletes: St. Charles East: Jenny Niemiec, Rebecca Norris, seniors; Nicole Rae, Kate VenHorst, juniors. Batavia: Megan Ramp, Alejandre Serrate, juniors; Kayla Lehman, Tara Cullerton, sophomores. St. Charles North: Marin Beagley, senior; KK Barr, Marissa Fencl, juniors. St. Francis: Mary Kate Beckman, senior; Kayla Stueland, junior; Meghan Van Thournout, sophomore. Geneva: Melanie Schlenker, Shannon Delaney, seniors. Rosary: Natalie Haines, Lane Richmond, seniors; Elizabeth Healy, Lauren Hoss, juniors. West Aurora: Emily Mueller, senior.

Three freshmen to remember: Ariana Furrie, Jordyn McFarlane, St. Charles North; Paige Jordan, St. Charles East.

In a league of her own: Kaneland two-time state qualifier Hayley Guyton; the Knights' junior is the finest golfer at the school, regardless of gender.

Scouting report: The girls golf season is not even a week old yet, and the top teams and individuals have already triumphantly displayed their championship mettle. Niemiec, the Saints' two-time state veteran who vaulted the squad to a fifth-place finish in the Class AA state finals last year, returns for a final fall campaign with equally potent firepower behind her. But the dynamics of intracity rivalries reared its unmistakable charm as St. Charles North, behind state returnee Beagley and top newcomer Furrie, claimed the first local invitational title of the year Monday at Conant. The Saints would have to wait until Thursday to duplicate the feat at the prestigious Barrington tournament. St. Francis, fourth last year at St. Andrews' sectional, boasts a powerful local contingent behind Geneva resident Stueland, who tied for seventh last fall at state. Batavia also had its looming presence cast an even more intriguing shadow by capturing the Minooka regional team title in advancing to the Saints' sectional. Lehman and Cullerton made instant statements for the Bulldogs in their celebrated freshman campaigns while overcoming the spotlight as their top-two ranked players. Geneva denied West Aurora, which had the individual champion at Minooka in four-year standout Madison Whitt, on the tiebreaker to quality at the venerable West Chicago layout. But the Vikings have an enormous void to fill with the graduation of Kim Connor, the only two-time state qualifier in program history. Delaney has first dibs at the unenviable chore, and the senior returns for a fourth varsity season for Geneva. Rosary had its chances for a team advancement to St. Andrews fall tantalizingly close at Minooka last fall, but Haines headlines the Royals' collective mission to forge a statement-making season. West Aurora, meanwhile, has to replace its entire playoff lineup from last season to continue its inexorable progression since the program was founded a decade ago. Golf in St. Charles has become as synonymous as frenzied emotions between Batavia and Geneva or the basketball wars in Aurora, but the establishment of a second high school has hardly muted its expressiveness. The Saints look for a repeat team trip to state, but St. Charles North has designs of its own to ascend the loaded Upstate Eight Conference ladder while composing its own athletic legacy. "(Beagley and Furrie are) going to be a good one-two punch for us this year," St. Charles North coach Chris Patrick said. "We have a positive outlook. We have some youth and some girls who are excited about playing." St. Charles East will reload not only behind state returnees Niemiec, Norris, Rae and VenHorst but also a second-echelon group that includes seniors Kathryn Belanger and Leslie Reading, junior Sarah Odell and newcomer Jordan. "I know North has a couple of pretty good girls," Niemiec said. "I would love to make it to state as a team. It's way more fun to go as a team than as an individual." In high school girls golf, more times than naught the third and fourth scores are the ultimate arbiter of team success. That delicate task falls on the likes of Emily Comperda and Jessie Matthiesen at Geneva, Ramp and Serrate at Batavia, or any possible combination at West Aurora between Mueller, Mia Hicks, LaRi Mitchell, Emma Blincoe, Patti Noonan, Jen Waters and Mariah Hudson. "It's a chance for them to shine," said second-year West Aurora coach Chris Soulsby, who lost eight players to graduation. "They are definitely vested to put the time in and get better." Rosary senior Danielle Hyatt certainly knows the feeling.

Key dates: Aug. 22, Rock Falls Invitational; Aug. 24, York Invitational at Medinah County Club; Aug. 27, Batavia at Wheaton Warrenville South; Sept. 12, St. Viator Invitational; Sept. 14, Batavia at Geneva; Sept. 19, Rockford Guilford Invitational; Sept. 24, St. Charles East at St. Charles North; Sept. 26, Naperville North Invitational; Week of Sept. 28, Conference championships; Oct. 3, Rosary Invitational.

Predicted state champions: Class A (Champaign) St. Thomas More; Class AA Homewood-Flossmoor.

- Kevin McGavin

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