Yoo wins playoff; Cougars, Mustangs advance
It was gut-check time on the 18th green during Wednesday's girls golf regional at Highland Woods.
Conant's Kris Yoo lined up her 12-foot putt as Evanston's Liz Fitzsimonds stood over her 10-footer. Both putts would secure 81s and force a playoff to decide the champion.
Two strokes, two drained putts and two fist pumps later it was back to No. 1, a 354-yard par 4, with top honors at stake.
"I was aware of what Liz's score was and knew that I had to make the putt to send us to a playoff," said a calm Yoo.
As teammates and coaches from both sides followed along in the fairway, both girls would make the green in two shots.
Yoo hit a 150-yard 5 iron to just under 30 feet and Fitzsimonds hit out of the left rough to also have a run at birdie. As golf normally does, it all came down to putting. Fitzsimonds would end up carding a score of 6 while Yoo made par to win first place.
"Kris played well under a lot of pressure and as a sophomore that's excellent to be able to handle that," said Conant coach Diana Johannesen.
As a team, the Cougars placed second with a score of 384 and punched their ticket to Monday's Rockford Guilford sectional at Ingersoll Golf Course.
Contributing to the strong finish were seniors Pam Wawrzyniak (92) and Stacy Pollack (113) and junior Heather Nyc (98).
"To see these girls go on to sectionals is very impressive because we haven't done that in over 10 years," added Johannesen.
Also moving on as a team was Rolling Meadows co-op. The Mustangs were led by senior Shannon Leon who shot back-to-back 47s to finish with 94.
Seniors Melissa Greenwood (96), Megan Baumgartner (101), Amanda Coleman (101) and freshman Mia Kaim (100) also helped extend the Mustangs' season.
"I'm very happy for the girls -- especially since they were close last year," said Meadows coach Dan Rymarz. "It will be a lot more fun taking the team to Rockford rather than a couple of qualifiers."
Maine South took top team honors with a 371. The Hawks 88s by senior Nicole Mirjanich and sophomore Rachel Oberheide.
Maine West finished 8 shots off of third place with a 399. The Warriors have two players advancing in juniors Chelsea Kellogg (90) and Becca Candra (97). Kellogg would take home the fifth place medal for the meet.
"The front side was really tough but I came back and got two birdies on the back side so that was really exciting," said Kellogg.
Hoffman Estates, which hosted the regional, also had two individuals move on to sectionals. Senior Tiffany Ehardt and junior Alaine Coleman both shot 97s.