Girls golf: Janess, Smith lead Barrington to 5th straight MSL crown
You could say it was truly amazing that Barrington senior Caroline Smith came into Tuesday's Mid-Suburban League girls golf meet as three-time defending champion.
And when it was said and done, it was the reigning champion using those same two words.
About her teammate, Mara Janess.
The sophomore negotiated the Mount Prospect Golf Club 2 strokes under par with a 68 to earn medalist honors by 1 stroke over Smith as the Fillies won their fifth straight league crown.
Janess' previous best high school round was a 75 as a freshman.
"She has made crazy improvement," said Smith, who will be playing for Wake Forest. "In eighth grade she wasn't at the top of her game and she's made like a 15-shot difference. She's been truly amazing."
Even first-year Fillies coach Tim Martin called it a breakout year for Janess, who finished strong her freshman year with a 19th-place showing in the state tournament.
"Mara was really coming on at the end of last season," Martin said. "But she just had a fantastic summer. This season she has been great. We'd been thinking a breakout year is coming so we're not surprised to see her shoot that kind of number and we're really looking forward to seeing her performance down the stretch."
Janess came home with 4 birdies on the back nine, giving her a career-best 6 for the round.
Completing the Barrington scorecard were Sophia Sulkar (79) and Samantha Saile (84), giving the Fillies a score of 298, easily outdistancing runner-up Prospect (332), which won the MSL East crown.
"I'm thrilled, the girls are amazing," Martin said. "I'm so proud of Mara and Caroline to be one-two. And Sophia and Samantha fourth and sixth.
"These girls have worked real hard for this and have improved so much this season. They are very talented bit there work ethic is second to none."
Janess, who began the sport at the age of 10, worked at it all winter and this past summer.
"It feels really good," she said. "I hit a lot of real tight shots and made a lot of putts. After a practice round here on Monday, I didn't think this would happen. I really didn't know."
Martin knows his top two golfers on Tuesday were cheering for each other.
"Mara and Caroline are best friends," he said. "Seeing Caroline hugging and congratulating Mara and being so happy for her after Caroline won this the last three years is special.
"That's what being a great teammate and being a leader is all about. And Caroline has really led us. As good as she is on the course, she is even better as a leader for this team. She is the most excited for Mara right now and that what's so fun for me to see."
Prospect coach Brad Rathe got to see his girls place second with Drake recruit Kelly Kavanagh leading the way with a 74 on her home course.
Completing the Knights' card were Olivia Accardi (86), Bella Peshek (86) and Emma Preissing (86).
"Winning the MSL East is no small accomplishment," Rathe said. "I think sometimes as coaches and players, you can kind of assume some of those things but it's never an assumption.
"From coaching basketball and tennis, I've said the hardest matches to win are against people you know the best, people you've grown up with and gone to middle school with. It's hard to beat them so a division title is certainly something to be proud of and we have bigger things left."
Rounding out the top 20 to earn all-conference status were Wheeling's Samantha Rohwedder (79), Buffalo Grove's Alisa Patel (86), Barrington's Phebe Chen (86), Hersey's Sydney Ohr (87), Hersey's Madeline Ritter (87), Rolling Meadow's Natalie Anderson (88) Buffalo Grove's Eva Ruterschmidt (88), Prospect's Abby Knott (88), Barrington's Sophia Denison (89), Conant's Sadie Zorrila (90), Palatine's Olivia Radtke (90), Schaumburg's Lauren Christians (90) and Rolling Meadows' Lindsey Taylor (90).
Christians converted one of the day's longest putts, sinking a 30-footer for birdie on the par 4 ninth hole.
Next up for Barrington is the Buffalo Grove regional on Oct. 10.
"I think coach Martin did a real good job of helping us get comfortable for this," said Smith, who won her three MSL crowns under retired hall of fame coach Jodi Schoeck, who showed up to support the Fillies on Tuesday. "I miss her (Schoeck) so much. It was great seeing her cheering us on."
"Caroline and Mara played great today," Martin added. "We couldn't have asked for anything more.
"We're just thinking about the regional now and getting ready for the Buffalo Grove Golf Course. The girls prepared so well for today and we're just going to keep working and taking it one step at time, but today was certainly a great step for this team."
And a major step for Janess.