St. Viator again rises to the top

St. Viator golfer Joe Carlson has been flying under the radar.

The sophomore might have been one of the best freshman players in Illinois last year, but because of the Lions talented lineup, a team that finished second in state, he wasn't able to crack the varsity top six.

As a matter of fact, the scoreboard posting at Saturday's Wheeling Invitational had his name spelled incorrectly.

But after his performance at Chevy Chase, that shouldn't happen again.

Carlson shot 73, finishing only 1 shot behind medalist and St. Viator classmate Dan Stringfellow.

Stringfellow continued his sophomore success with another outstanding tournament, shooting 72 to take medalist honors as the Lions (304) won their sixth consecutive 18-hole tournament.

"It was nice to be able to play with a lot of my friends," said Carlson of his role as leader as the frosh-soph team in 2006. "But I knew I could play at a higher level."

"This was a good round -- my best high school round," said the talented sophomore. "This summer, though, I was playing really well."

"He was the No. 4-rated IJGA player," said St. Viator coach Jack Halpin of Carlson, "and he finished second over the summer at the prestigious Chick Evans tournament. We expect a lot from him and he came through today."

Hersey junior John McIlree was the fourth-place medalist, shooting a 76 among 130 golfers as 26 teams competed at Chevy Chase.

"This course was set up tough," said McIree. "I consider this one of my better rounds."

Hersey (318) finished fourth, just behind Wheaton Warrenville South (316).

"We're a deep team," McIlree said. "We've got at least eight guys who can shoot in the 70s on a consistent basis."

WWS senior Nick Novosad took the fifth-place medal by shooting 77.

"Our whole team really stepped up," said Novosad. "Steve (Skurla, 78) and Shawn (Plepel, 78) did a nice job, and Taylor (Rhoades) struggled a bit but still came in with a solid round."

Dan Alsup of Rolling Meadows, Marshall Rolston of Libertyville, and Barrington's Charlie Douglas all came away with medals after shooting 78.

But the day belonged to Stringfellow and Viator, which finished 10 shots ahead of Evanston (314), their closest competition.

"This is the best we've played all year," said Halpin. "These guys continue to surprise me. They just keep getting better and better."

"We've got three sophomores (Stringfellow, Carlson and Brad Klune) and a junior (Matt Vitale), and they all show a maturity beyond their years."

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Daniel White/dwhite@dailyherald.com

Barrington's Ryan Quinn follows a fairway iron during Saturda's Wheeling boys golf invitational.