Girls golf: Nay helps Naperville North score league championship
Lauren Nay went toe-to-toe with two Big Ten recruits on Tuesday at Phillips Park in Aurora.
"I've always wanted to play in the Big Ten," Indiana-bound Waubonsie Valley senior Arushi Singh said.
Wheaton Warrenville South defending DuPage Valley Conference champion Sarah Hauenstein, tied for sixth last year at the Class 2A girls golf tournament, is headed for Illinois.
If the format at the nine-school conference tournament featured foursomes, Purdue recruit Nicole Hansen of Lake Park could have been in the lead group.
Hauenstein led the Tigers to their first state championship in any girls sport in school history last fall.
Illinois' future had a day to remember after a 4-under-par 68 to defend her individual championship.
"That was the best score I have ever shot before," Hauenstein said after six birdies on the par-72 layout. "I shot a 70 about six to eight times before."
Singh and Nay were in the same lead threesome as Hauenstein; Singh was declared runner-up on a scorecard playoff after Nay matched her 1-under 71.
"I have known Sarah and Lauren for the longest time," Singh said. "We played in junior golf together. We had a very positive vibe going out there today."
"I definitely think we were feeding off each other," Nay added. "When someone starts playing well, the competition is amped up. I know I play better when I play with better players than people who are not at that level."
It turned out to be an extra special day for Nay.
Naperville North ended the three-year WW South conference-championship winning streak with authority.
Nay, a senior, and her sophomore sister, Emily, senior Mara Flaherty and junior Avani Shah combined to score a 309. The younger Nay, Flaherty and Shah had rounds of 77, 79 and 82, respectively.
Defending state champion WW South was a distant second at 327.
Two shots separated Neuqua Valley (335), Waubonsie Valley (336) and Naperville Central (337) for third through fifth.
Wheaton North (353), Metea Valley (368), Lake Park (393) and Glenbard North (452) completed the field in the final league tournament before four schools leave the conference.
"The girls played great," Naperville North coach Greta Williams said.
The first conference title in four years for Naperville North was aided by Lauren Nay's score.
"I can always count on Lauren to shoot well," Williams said. "The greatest thing, though, about this team is we can count on anybody to score."
"It's the deepest team they've ever had," longtime Naperville Central coach Jane Thompson said of her conference and city rival.
Naperville Central sophomore Emma Lim fired a 76 to place fourth.
"I was really consistent throughout the entire 18 holes," Lim said. "I managed the course as best as I could for playing it for the first time."
The following players comprised the top-10 individuals following Lim: Emily Nay, 77; Hadley Moritz, WW South, 77; Neha Vinesh, 77; Flaherty, 79; Karsen O'Keefe, Neuqua Valley, 80; Hansen, 81.