Girls golf: Barrington gives Shoeck one last state trip

Barrington's future Division I golfers couldn't have been much more productive in sending their retiring coach Jodi Schoeck off to her final state tournament in a 32-year hall of fame career.

Wisconsin-bound senior Nicole Ciskowski won a sectional for the second straight year with a sizzling 4-under par 68 and Wake Forest recruit Caroline Smith was just one stroke behind in a tie for second with DeKalbs' Emma Carpenter.

Ciskowski fired her personal-best high school score and helped lead the Fillies (298) to the Class 2A Huntley sectional title at the Blackstone Golf Club in Marengo. St. Charles North (306) was second and Stevenson (314) took third as all three advance to Decatur for Friday's state finals.

"Honestly, I'm still surprised by it (68)," said Ciskowski, who converted 4 birdies and 10 one-putts. "I'm so happy to do it for the team. We've worked so hard. We just want to give her (Schoeck) the best ending we can. We're doing it all for her."

"It was an emotional win," said Schoeck, who will guide her 12th team to the state finals. "These girls have so much heart, desire and faith. They're always fighting to the finish.

"There were some ups and downs but they get to advance downstate as a team and that has been their goal since day one."

Completing the Fillies' scorecard were senior Ishani Majmudar (79 with a 37 on the back nine for the second straight meet), senior Olivia Lee (82), freshman Mara Janess (82) and sophomore Sophia Denison (82).

"It was so fantastic to sit up above the 18th hole and watch them all come in," Schoeck added. "My No. 6, 5 and 4 players all came in with birdies. It was just amazing."

Smith, the Mid-Suburban League and regional champion, continued her amazing season with 5 birdies and a couple of near misses for two more.

"It was really windy but we all played really well," said Smith, who also bent her putter near the grip and had to adjust for the final 15 holes. "We just played our games and we had good outcomes."

The outcome for St. Charles North was a fifth straight trip to the state finals under coach Irish Whalen.

Duke-bound senior Megan Furtney led the way with a 74, followed by senior Sarah Arnold (75), senior Emma Hayes (78), senior Katelyn David (79) and freshman Catie Nekola (79).

"I was very proud of the girls," Whalen said. "Their goal was getting downstate and see what happens, so we're very happy."

"I don't think I played my best golf but I'm OK with it today," Furtney said "I'd rather wait a couple of days to play my best golf. My putting was just a little off. It's really fun that I'm going downstate for one last time with these girls, they're like family. "It's one last hurrah so we're excited."

Whalen said with four seniors, this team is different from her first four.

"The four seniors have kind of led the way," she said. "We have a lot of maturity and lot of strength off the tee. They're more excited to play as a team rather than individually. They're trying to do this together."

Freshman Emily Duan (career-best 73), junior Joyce Kelly (78), sophomore Kelly Dong (80) and Sophia Zhuang (83) and junior Julia Yoo (83) helped lead Stevenson to a second straight trip to Decatur under coach Emma Degen.

"The key was that the girls finished," Degen said. "We talked about how the front nine doesn't matter if you can't finish on the back, and they finished.

"It's kind of survive and advance at this point. So we're excited about going back down. Hats off to Barrington and St. Charles North. We're happy to be mentioned in the same category with them."

Prospect placed fourth with a score of 330 that pleased coach Jim Hamann.

"We're walking away pretty happy with how we played," he said. "A score of 330 on day like today is a very good score for a high school team.

"Unfortunately we were paired with the top three teams in the state. There were 43 teams in our sectional and only 33 in the other sectionals. I'm hoping the IHSA realizes that is an advantage for the other sectionals. We had 10 extra teams in ours which is 60 more golfers,

"But there's nothing we can do about the pairings. We are leaving with our heads high and I'm a proud of our girls."

Knights senior Emily Fleming was one of three area players to advance as an individual. Fleming shot a 78 to finish in a tie for 12th place.

"Emily went down there with a team a couple of years ago so she's very familiar with the course," Hamman said.

Also familiar with the state finals are qualifiers Adrienne Rohwedder (senior) of Wheeling and sophomore Cate Reisinger of St. Viator.

Rohwedder fired a 73 to tie for fourth with Duan. Rohwedder was 17th in last year's state finals.

Reisinger shot a 75 to finish a in three-way tie for eighth on Monday. She tied for tenth in the Class 1A tourney last year.