Boys golf: Libertyville, Mundelein boast experience
A couple of fewer strokes by each of their top golfers in the sectional last fall could have made all the difference for both Libertyville and Mundelein.
If nothing else, considering both boys golf teams return experienced squads this season, it shows the potential each has this year of getting downstate.
Carson Darnall is playing his fourth season on varsity for Libertyville, which also boasts seniors James Schmidt and Bruce Jahanke, both of whom are playing their third varsity season. Senior Jason Ross, junior Danny Keating and senior Scott Johnston all played on varsity last year.
Keating tied for third in the North Suburban Conference meet, shooting a 74 at Willow Glen. He then helped the Wildcats finish second behind Lake Forest in the Class 3A Mundelein regional. Libertyville shot a 314 in the Palatine sectional, tying Mundelein for fifth place, nine strokes behind third-place Barrington.
Keating, Schmidt, Ross, Jahanke and Darnall teed it up in the sectional last year.
"We're pretty senior dominated," Libertyville coach Sean Matthews said. "We have five of the six players back from our sectional team last year, and their hopes are to make another run that will take them down to Bloomington this year."
First-year varsity golfers for Libertyville are seniors Mark Madland, Owen Clark and Ryan Giannetti.
Wade leads experienced Mundelein: Colin Wade returns for his fourth varsity season to lead perennial NSC contender Mundelein, which tied for fourth the conference meet and qualified for a Class sectional out of its own regional last fall.
Fellow seniors Tanner Anderson and Anthony Heelan also teed it up in the regional. Anderson is playing his third season on varsity.
Seniors Jaden Robinson and newcomer Austin Greco, juniors Parker Neumaier and Grant Nailor, sophomore Kevin Edquiban and freshmen Brandon Hinkle and Jackson Koenigsknecht also help comprise a mix of veterans and newcomers.
"We look to be competitive in a very tough NSC and hope to be playing our best golf at regionals," Mundelein coach Todd Parola said.
Rebuild for Stevenson?: Stevenson finished second in the state in Class 3A last fall, one shot behind Hinsdale Central and one shot ahead of Lockport. But junior Conan Pan and senior Jake Surane also the only starters back for the Patriots, who graduated 2017 state champ Jackson Bussell (Bucknell).
Seniors Ethan Lee and Andrew Babbo and junior Nick Udoni help fill out the lineup.
"This is a learning year," coach John Rueth said. "Because of the strong teams in the past, many of the players do not have a great deal of tournament experience. Therefore, learning how to score in tournament play is our main objective."
Lake Zurich young: Lake Zurich returns only a pair of golfers in senior Gavin Consdorf and sophomore Jacob Michalak. Bears looking to secure varsity-lineup spots include sophomores Trey Kenyon, Noah Van Herik and Dylan Howell, and juniors Jonah Schwartz, Brandon Koester and Alex Ketcham.
"We are a young team with good potential," said coach Terry Geoghegan, who's in his 13th season at Lake Zurich. "These guys have worked hard during the off-season and it will be fun to see how far they can go. Gavin will provide great leadership on or off the course."
Warren boasts experience: Kevin Borbath, Steffen Nerheim and Garrett Porter all advanced to sectional last fall, and all three seniors return for Warren this season.
Seniors Luke Behrens and Jacob Horne also return. The Blue Devils' newcomers are juniors Logan Machnics, Parker Martin and Zack Zorzy, sophomore Andreas Ackron and freshman Nick Steinhilber.
"With a record number of fresh-soph golfers trying out this year we believe our program has a bright future," coach Dave Zaban said. "At the same time we are excited for our varsity, which we believe has a great chance to score well in one of the toughest regionals and sectionals around."