Scouting DuPage County girls golf
Top teams: Naperville North, Benet, Hinsdale Central, Naperville Central, Glenbard West, York, Neuqua Valley, Downers Grove North, Wheaton North, Waubonsie Valley.
Top athletes: Addison Trail: Tori Dudka, sr., Mikaela Olvera, jr., Victoria Toay, jr., Anna Tracz, sr.; Benet: Lauren Beaudreau, sr.; Tess Jacobs, sr., Missy Oei, jr., Reagan Rodenbostel, soph., Caroline Wing, sr.; Downers Grove North: Brin Driscoll, sr., Eleanor Maher, sr., Lauren Schenk, sr., Blaire Steele, sr.; Downers Grove South: Alina Brindza, jr., Maggie Lynch, sr., Elena Kuczkowski, soph., Kourtney Troha, sr.; Glenbard East: Kali Burke, sr., Sarah Dzieza, jr., Mackenzie Lyons, sr., Sydney Nastemak, sr.; Glenbard North: Madison Gordon, jr., Wynona Lam, soph., Brooke Westra, soph.; Glenbard South: Megan Bristow, jr., Paige Kennedy, fr., Grace Murphy, soph., Stephanie Price, sr.; Glenbard West: Taylor Beck, sr., Emily Carlson, sr., Isabella Rosley, sr., Lilly Stutelberg, sr.; Hinsdale Central: Emily Ascher, soph., Gillian Filer, sr., Grace Owens, sr., Natalie Spitzer, sr.; Hinsdale South: Alissa Banks, sr., Sabrina Chandler, sr., Charlotte O'Neil, soph., Vieniq Romero, sr.; Lake Park: Giovanna Breslin, fr., Olivia Essary, soph., Brooke Schenck, sr., Marisa Vandini, sr.; Lisle: Emily Cassells, fr., Emily Mao, sr., Hannah Myslewic, fr., Suhani Patel, sr., Alexandra Sohl, sr.; Metea Valley: Grace Buchta, sr., Madison Neihardt, sr., Clare Pajakowski, sr., Madison Palmquist, jr., Alyssa Pellegrini, sr.; Montini: Katie Bukovsky, jr., Megan Laughlin, jr., Mary Mikolajczak, soph., Brooke Morgan, sr., Abby Petersen, jr., Ava Ujestica, soph., Elizabeth White, jr.; Naperville Central: Erin Fang, sr., Sally Gombas, jr., Emma Lim, jr., Bella Russo, jr., Neha Vinesh, jr.; Naperville North: Mara Flaherty, sr., Emma Lin, jr., Hannah Martin, jr., Emily Nay, jr., Avani Shah sr.; Neuqua Valley: Lanette Choi, fr., Lauren DiGrazia, sr., Ali Efnor, jr., Karsen O'Keefe, sr., Isabelle Wu, soph.; St. Francis: Elizabeth Grivetti, jr., Katherine Lemke, soph., Cameron Marr, soph.; Waubonsie Valley: Aisha Iyengar, jr., Kate Libby, jr., Rebekka Rontanen, sr., Emily Skowronski, jr.; West Chicago: Kendall Farm, soph., Julia Wasserstrom, sr.; Wheaton Academy: Ellie Coniaris, soph., Margaret Harmon, sr., Katie Lenting, jr.; Wheaton North: Sasha Danielson, sr., Angela DeFalco, sr., Abby O'Connell, soph., Grace Quinn, soph.; Wheaton Warrenville South: Mikaela Deleon, sr., Grace Ellison, jr., Caroline Kolet, sr., Erica Meissner, soph., Anna Schmidt, jr.; Willowbrook: Peyton Mitrick, soph., Julianna Paulsen, jr., Emma Rattana, fr.; York: Bella Bartolone, sr., Haley Blattner, jr., Elle Borchardt, soph., Nora Foley, soph., Audrey Matias, fr., Cassie Sika, jr.
Scouting report: Naperville North and Hinsdale Central are in a customary position heading into the girls golf season. But Benet cannot be discounted as a force not only on the local scene but at the statewide level as well with the return of Beaudreau. The evolution of girls golf at the prep level in the last generation has reached new heights in Illinois. The Class 2A state series could be the deepest and most talented since the IHSA first sanctioned the sport four decades ago. Of the top six teams - New Trier, Barrington, Hinsdale Central, St. Charles North, Naperville North and Lincoln-Way Central - at the large-class state tournament last fall, 28 of the 36 participating team members were non-seniors.
"Twenty years ago, you could get to the state tournament with one really good player or two solid players," veteran Naperville Central coach Jane Thompson said. "That's no longer the case. You need to have four consistent players to get out of the sectional."
Naperville North enters as a prohibitive favorite to extend its state-appearance run to three straight seasons. "I think Naperville North is one of the best teams in the state," Neuqua Valley coach John Keller said. "Every single (dual) match and tournament they will be right there."
"It will be interested to see what happens at the end of the season," said Naperville North coach Greta Williams, who lost only Illinois' Lauren Nay to graduation. "Between New Trier, Barrington, St. Charles (North), Hinsdale (Central) and Lincoln-Way (Central), you have some great teams. Other teams are just as deep as we are." Naperville North started the season in grand fashion by eclipsing 300 strokes (294) for the first time in capturing the Homewood-Flossmoor Invitational. The Huskies denied Barrington by a stroke in capturing the Fillies' home tournament earlier last week. But Williams is cautiously optimistic. "Barrington didn't have some of their best girls," Williams said.
Hinsdale Central, meanwhile, is poised to continue its brilliance. The Red Devils seek to extend their Class 2A appearance streak to double figures after their ninth straight trip to Hickory Point - on the outskirts of Decatur - produced a fifth consecutive trophy last year. Filer is the Red Devils' latest standout; the senior combines the athleticism of a state-qualifying track athlete with the grace required on a golf course. "We just want to play up to our capabilities at the end of the season," Hinsdale Central coach Nick Latorre said. "Hinsdale (Central) is always going to be right there," Keller said.
But Benet senior Beaudreau, bound for Notre Dame, has garnered much of the attention in the opening days of the season. Two years ago, Beaudreau catapulted the Redwings to their first state appearance with a second consecutive individual sectional championship en route to a runner-up finish to Minnesota-bound Lincoln-Way Central senior Grace Curran. But Beaudreau skipped her junior campaign to play a national schedule after placing fifth at the girls junior PGA championship in the summer of 2017.
At the Redwings' first two tournaments of the season - H-F and the Naperville City Tournament - Boudreau was collectively 10-under par with her respective medalist performances of 66 and 67. Benet stunned Naperville North by 4 shots to win the city team title Tuesday. "We always play well on tough courses," Beaudreau said of the Redwings' triumph at Naperville County Club. "Benet has good players even without Beaudreau," Keller said. "She turns Benet from a good team to a great team. She takes their (tournament-team) score down 30 strokes."
"For all the tournaments you may play, there's nothing like (Beaudreau) going back to play for her high school team," Williams said. "She is like no other player I have seen. She is a player who has such a calm demeanor."
Beaudreau, fourth at state as a freshman, has undergone a personal evolution as well since entering the Lisle school. "My distance control with my irons has become much better," Beaudreau said of one particular improvement. "I am getting it super close to the hole every time. I feel like on every par 4 I have an opportunity to make birdie." Flaherty and Martin were a combined 3-under par in leading Naperville North to the H-F team title in record fashion. "We really want to get a trophy," said Flaherty, who will continue playing at Bradley. "I know I especially do before I graduate. I just hope to fill the big shoes that Lauren (Nay) left." Many local coaches undoubtedly covet Williams' position. "I have a lot of options of who is playing," Williams said. "My top five girls can all break 80."
Naperville Central has Lim, an at-large state qualifier last fall, to anchor five returning sectional performers. "This past (summer) season hasn't been what I wanted it to be," Lim said. "This fall I want to shoot scores I know I'm capable of shooting." Thompson is hopeful for the upcoming season in general and the new-look DuPage Valley Conference in particular. "We will be competitive," Thompson said. "Are we in the upper-tier (at the state level)? Not yet."
Two seasons removed from the only state championship by a girls program in school history, WW South is conspicuously absent from the preseason Daily Herald top 10. "My expectations are different from they have been in the last 10 years," said WW South coach Art Tang, whose 2016 state-championship sextet capped seven state showings in a nine-year period. "I think we can improve a lot."
Of the four DVC members who left the league to form the DuKane Conference, Wheaton North is arguably the most promising. "We should be very competitive in the new conference," said Wheaton North coach Karen Calabrese, who returns sectional qualifiers Danielson, DeFalco and Quinn to the fold. "I have a couple of freshmen who have raw talent."
The difficulty of even earning a state berth is illuminated by Naperville Central junior Lim and Wheaton Academy senior Harmon. The Beaudreau return could very well obviate what otherwise would have been a vacuum among elite local players as at-large qualifiers Nicole Hansen (Lake Park), Arushi Singh (Waubonsie Valley) and Julia Hohenstein (WW South) are all in the Big Ten, at Nebraska, Indiana and Illinois, respectively.
"I wouldn't say we're going to be rebuilding," Lake Park coach Jeff Henrikson said of the Lancers' move to the DuKane. "I think we will be in the middle of the pack." Schenck is the Lancers' lone returnee with sectional experience.
Harmon has ambitions of playing at the next level for Wheaton Academy. "She has worked really hard in the off-season," Wheaton Academy coach Chip Dykema said. "Our hope and her hope is to return to the state tournament."
Among the other ranked teams entering the season, Hinsdale Central is the prohibitive favorite in the single-division West Suburban Conference. But Glenbard West, behind returning sectional qualifiers Beck, Rosley and Stutelberg, and York pose challenges for sectional advancement as teams. Downers North has played well in its season debut; York will have senior Bartolone at its vanguard. "They're a young team," York coach Barb Tilden said of the Dukes, "but they're very enthusiastic. I would love to advance as a team to the sectional."
Waubonsie Valley coach Jack Farnen will have virtually no room for error. His four varsity members constitute the entire squad. O'Keefe is the leader of reigning sectional-team qualifier Neuqua Valley.
St. Francis is the local benchmark for the smaller schools with the return of its triumvirate of state-series members. "These kids want to get to state as a group," St. Francis coach Gay Crain said. There will unquestionably be an element of sadness surrounding the Naperville North and West Chicago programs. Ed Rosenthal, who once oversaw the Huskies' run of 19 state appearances in the 20-year span, and Mike Cain, the Wildcats' first coach while serving as an instructor at St. Andrews Golf & County Club, passed away during the last school year. "Rosie is simply a fixture in girls golf," Thompson said. "He was the bedrock of the development of girls golf. He was known throughout the state for girls sports. Mike brought West Chicago golf into competition. He was old-school gruff, but he had a heart of gold."
- Kevin McGavin