St. Edward wins sectional championship

It's on to the state finals for the St. Edward girls golf team.

The Green Wave shot a 386 Monday to score a 13-stroke victory over runner-up Rock Island Alleman at the Class 1A Byron sectional at Prairieview. The sectional championship, the Green Wave's first since 2006 and second in program history, puts the team into the Class 1A state finals Friday and Saturday at Crab Orchard Golf Club in downstate Carterville.

"It's been a great year for us," said St. Edward coach Mike Lehman. "The girls worked really hard today and we felt comfortable about our game. I'm really proud of all the girls."

St. Edward senior Danielle Coffman shot an 83 to tie for first place but then finished second after Somonauk freshman Jessica Schultz won a 2-hole playoff with Coffman and Chicago Latin's Lindsay Levin.

"I'm very excited. It was a lot of fun today," said Coffman, who finished tied for 46th at state last year. "I knew coming up to the 18th green that we were somewhere in there and it turned out to be us that won it."

Senior Erin Schneider shot a 90 for the Green Wave while junior Brittania Scheurs had a 103 and sophomore Maddie Wazowicz a 110.

Coffman was pleased with her round.

"My front nine was really strong," she said. "I was hitting the ball great and I only 3-putted three holes today. Everything was there and everything fell into place. My one goal was to make it to state and to lead the team down."

Now, the Wave has high hopes of adding to trophy-filled season.

"We've been successful this season bringing hardware home and that's our goal at state," said Coffman. "We're a really competitive team and a lot of us are seniors. We want to make the best of it."

Lehman believes his team can do well this weekend.

"I think we have a chance down there," he said. "I really feel we have a chance to go down there and bring home some hardware. That's our goal."