Barrington at its festive best against Fremd
The Barrington girls golfers were in tune with their clubs - and their singing voices - on Tuesday at the Palatine Hills Golf Course in Palatine.
The Fillies shot a 156 to top host Fremd (165) and pull to within one win of their first 11-0 Mid-Suburban League season since 2007.
Afterward, they presented a golf-themed cake and sang happy birthday to their Hall of Fame coach, Jodi Schoeck.
"That's the best birthday present ever," said Schoeck, whose team (10-0) hosts Schaumburg on Thursday at Bonnie-Dundee. "The last time we played Fremd on my birthday was in 1994, when they had Karen Karmazin (former University of Illinois golfer) on the team."
Fillies junior Shivani Majmudar was pleased to be able to celebrate both the birthday, and the meet's outcome.
"We didn't plan it, but it worked out well," she said. "Fremd is a tough team but we put it together and got the job done."
It was another workmanlike effort for medalist Reena Sulkar, who equaled her high best high school round of 36 on the course's front nine.
Two more Fillies came in under 40 as freshman Nicole Ciskowski recorded a 38 and Shivani Majmudar a 39.
Rounding the Fillies' scorecard were freshman Ishani Majmudar and junior Allie Quinn, who both had 43s.
Quinn's sister Taylor, who played at Minnesota, was on the last Barrington team to go 11-0 in 2007.
"It's crazy how that worked out," said Allie, who has been on the team since her freshman year. "I started thinking about that after we beat Prospect (two months ago ending the Knights string of seven straight 11-0 seasons). It's great to know that we have so many underclassmen and will be strong again my senior year."
Sulkar was strong off the tee on Tuesday, positioning herself for many birdie putts.
"I was setting myself up pretty well all day," said Sulkar, who will be the defending champion at the MSL meet next Tuesday at Fox Run Golf Course in Elk Grove. "But I was not executing putting-wise (a 3-putt on No. 8 was her only bogey)."
Sulkar's best performance on the greens came on hole No. 3, when she recorded her only birdie with a 12-footer.
Fremd (8-2 in the MSL) has been performing well all season and was led on Tuesday by senior Jae Hee Hurr, who shot a 39. She was followed by junior Annie Gao (40), senior Haezi Jung (43) and junior Annmarie O'Sullivan (43).
"It's fun to play Barrington because they are a quality program," said Fremd coach Christine (Pedersen) Vlaming, who was a standout softball pitcher at Barrington. "I was happy with how our girls played. It was fun golf all-around. Barrington played a nice round."
The Vikings' final MSL round will be Thursday when they host Rolling Meadows at Palatine Hills.
"Things are starting to come together," Vlaming said. "The girls are really working hard on their games, and that's fun to see."
Schoeck also likes what she sees from her Fillies, who have featured five different medalists this season.
"This was a great win," she said. "The girls were focused and it took everyone to contribute. We were playing on the road against a top team, which is not an easy feat.
"We love playing Fremd. Everyone gets along so well, and everyone pushes each other to be better."