Girls golf: Lake Park, West Chicago's Farm champs at Conant
Lake Park girls golf coach Jeff Henrikson said he had a good feeling about Thursday's Class 2A Conant regional tournament.
“I thought we could possibly make some noise,” said Henrikson. “Our girls have put in the work, they've been preparing for the last several weeks — and some of them for the last several years — to get to this point. They came in with a positive mindset knowing they had a chance to pull off some good scores today.”
All that hard work paid off in droves for the Lancers at Fox Run Golf Links, as Lake Park (366) won the regional to advance to Monday's Hoffman Estates sectional at Poplar Creek.
The host Cougars (377, 2nd place) and Rolling Meadows (396, 3rd) also qualified for the sectional.
“I knew we had a chance,” said senior Victoria Hocuk, who led the way for Lake Park by carding an 80. “Last year we came close to winning, and we've grown so much as a team. “
West Chicago junior Kendall Farm took medalist honors by shooting 76, and will advance to Poplar Creek as an individual.
The junior had a great start to the day with eight consecutive pars.
“I was just hitting greens and putting pretty well today,” said Farm. “I was excited and looking forward to play.”
Conant freshman Sadie Zorrilla picked a prime time to shoot her best ever round. She fired a 78 to win the runner-up medal and lead her team to second place.
“I just had to be relaxed today and not worry about what other people shot,” said Zorrilla. “I was a little nervous because I hadn't had great scores out here (previously at Fox Run), but I came out and focused on what I needed to do.”
“She's battled all season,” said Cougars coach Megan Hebert of the standout freshman. “She's had quite a learning curve. I threw her right in from the start as my number one player. That meant in our first tourney she was playing with the St. Charles (North) number one and the New Trier number one, which was a little intimidating. I'm just so proud of her.”
“We really needed her score today, that's for sure,” added Hebert. “Sadie has worked so hard all year to put herself in this position. Just a great job today.”
Cassandra Hyland (98), Sarah Carr (100) and Molly McFadden (101) all counted scores for Conant, while Natalie Anderson (92), Lauren Schiele (100), Taylor Lindsey (101) and Julia Moran (103) all made contributions to the big day for Rolling Meadows.
Elk Grove did not move on as a team, but Grace Cloherty (98), Grace Majer (100), Megan Steffens (101) and Teodora Evtimova (102) all qualified for the sectional as individuals.
Other individual qualifiers were Madison Gordon of Glenbard North, who shot 89; Emily Akers (92) and Lauren Christians (95) from Schaumburg; Lyndi Bressner of West Chicago, who carded a 104, and Sophia Steel from Hoffman Estates (105).
“Amazing,” said Steel, a sophomore. “My drives helped me out today, definitely. I'm just going to practice over the weekend and see how it goes (at Poplar Creek).
For the victorious Lancers, Simran Bhagat (92), Olivia Essary (96) and Giovanna Breslin (98) all excelled in the win.
“I'm really happy that I was able to be helpful today,” added Hocuk. “I'm hoping that we can make it all the way (to state) this year. We have the ability.”