Carmel in state title hunt
In this case, it isn't lonely at the top.
Two well-acquainted East Suburban Catholic Conference boys golf rivals, St. Viator and Carmel, hold the top two positions after one day of Class 3A state tournament competition at The Den at Fox Creek Golf Course in Bloomington on Friday.
Defending champion St. Viator, behind the best individual round of the day from senior Dan Stringfellow, a 69, shot 308.
Carmel, led by Billy White's 76 and Jack Watson's 77, is just 3 shots back in second place at 311. That puts the Corsairs 1 stroke ahead of New Trier and 5 strokes better than fourth-place Lake Forest.
Carmel defeated St. Viator in the ESCC tournament by 1 stroke on Oct. 1, but the schools had different paths through regionals and sectionals to reach the state tournament.
White birdied No. 7, 9 and 15 and had 7 bogeys but avoided double-bogey, leaving him in a three-way tie for seventh place with Providence's John Thomas and Lincoln-Way East's Brian Bullington.
Watson birdied Nos. 1 and 12, had 5 bogeys and 1 double bogey.
Also contributing to the Corsairs' total were junior Doug Meyer with a 78 and senior John Krzmarzick with an 80. Junior David Markiewicz and senior Alex Pabich both shot 86.
Meyer is one of seven players tied for 14th individually; Krzmarzick is one of 17 players tied for 29th.
Class 2A: Eric Hogencamp is in an eight-way tie for 20th place individually after shooting 80 at Weibring Golf Club at Illinois State University in Normal, but Grayslake Central fell out of contention in the team race after shooting 336. The Rams were 10th after the tournament's first day; Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin holds the lead at 318, just ahead of Wheaton Academy (319) and Joliet Catholic (323).
Grayslake Central's other counting scores came from senior Dylan Granquist (81), sophomore Colton Brunk (87) and junior Nick Wysocki (89).
Individually, five golfers are tied for the lead after shooting 75.
Both the Class 3A and 2A tournaments conclude after 18 more holes Saturday.