Girls golf: Han’s 72 helps Hinsdale Central defend West Suburban Conference crown

Hinsdale Central’s Sara Han goes from one birdie to another.

Han, who plays both golf and badminton for the Red Devils, put together a trio of birdies Wednesday. That helped the senior fly to the individual title with an even par 72 at the West Suburban Conference girls golf meet at Village Greens in Woodridge.

Han, who was second in the conference last year in golf and 37th at the state meet, said that she likes both sports. Han finished in the top eight in the state last year in badminton.

“They are super different,” said Han, who has a 5.90 GPA out of 6.00.

“I still play badminton in high school. It is super fun. But I like the slow pace of golf. And I love being out there in nature.”

York’s Madison Cotey was second with a 77. Oak Park’s Nadia Vattana finished third with 78 followed by Hinsdale Central’s Naya Shirsat (79) and York’s Maya Patel (80).

Han led Hinsdale Central to the team title with a 316.

The Red Devils got their other top scores from Shirsat, Maggie Quirk’s 82 and Anika Danda’s 83. They showed their depth with Amelia Gambia’s 84, Amira Kapadia’s 86, and Taylor Muehlhauser and Scarlett Tonn each shot 89 as the entire Hinsdale Central team finished in the top 17.

“It’s quite an accomplishment for our whole team to finish that well,” said Hinsdale Central coach Nick Latorre, whose team won the conference title last year and finished sixth in the state.

“Our girls played well and they work hard on their game. So, it is fun to get to the point to reap the benefits.”

York was second with a 337. The Dukes were led by Cotey and Patel along with Briley O’Brien who shot 89 and Bella Cortez and Abby Evans who each had 91s.

“I thought our girls played well,” York coach Matt Monken said. “The conditions were a little wet, so that’s a little difficult. But overall, I thought they played really good.”

Cotey, who is a freshman, said she experienced some difficulties early because of the wind and wet conditions.

“It started to dry up more when I got to the turn,” said Cotey, who shot a 40 on the front and a 37 on the back. “The wind died down and I was able to hit my shots better.”

Downers Grove North finished third with 352. Mary Reilly and Paige Presern each had an 86 to lead the Trojans. Riley Prince shot 87 while Caitlin Sandridge and Emelia Jaikovski each had 93s.

“The front nine was really good for us,” Downers Grove North coach Matthew Dillard said. “I thought we actually had a chance at second because we were ahead. But we played well enough to pull off third.”

Glenbard West was sixth with a 363, one stroke behind Lyons and Oak Park. The Hilltoppers were led by Brooke Klamrzynski’s 81.

Downers Grove South was seventh with a 373 led by Izzy Latal’s 86.