LP_100517

36 | October 5, 2017 | The Lockport Legend sports
lockportlegend.com
Boys Golf
Porters fall three strokes
short of conference title
Randy Whalen
Freelance Reporter
In a closely contested
match, Sandburg’s Max Farley
won a one-hole playoff
over Lockport Township junior
John Weis to capture the
individual title in the Blue
Division of the SouthWest
Suburban Conference boys
golf tournament.
The Tuesday, Sept. 26
conference game was held at
Coyote Run Golf Course in
Flossmoor.
But Lockport and Sandburg
both came up short
of being team conference
champion. That honor went
to Lincoln-Way East. The
Griffins, led by third place
finisher senior Kevin Bullington
(74), shot a team
total of 306. Lockport (309)
placed second, Sandburg
(312) third, host Homewood-
Flossmoor (315) fourth and
Bolingbrook (373) was fifth.
It was the second consecutive
conference title for Farley,
who captured his first
one a year ago under windier
conditions on the same
course.
“I won last year with a 78
with a lot of wind gusts,”
Farley said. “Last year,
when I won as a freshman,
I had the goal to win it every
year of high school. I
figured it was harder to win
as a freshman, so I’d set the
goal then.”
It was the first 18-hole victory
of the season for Farley.
For Weis, the final round
was very uncharacteristic of
the rest of his day. He had 13
pars, two birdies, and three
bogies in shooting his 18-
hole best 72.
“I’m usually the No. 4 guy
on the team,” Weis said of
his 72. “I’ve never been in
a playoff before, so it was
cool. I felt pretty confident
[going into the playoff]. I
play baseball and have been
in a lot of close games there,
so I felt good under pressure.”
But his second shot,
which went into the sand
trap, doomed Weis’ playoff
chances. His third shot,
which was from out of there,
sailed way long. It took him
four more shots to finish the
hole.
“My ball from my second
shot was plugged deep in the
sand,” Weis said. “So I hit it
a little too hard from there.
I had pared that hole [during
the round], so I felt pretty
confident.”
Lockport coach Matt Eber
saw that confidence.
“He had a really solid
round for us out of that No.
4 spot,” he said of Weis.
“He’s only really had one
bad round all year and this
was his low round. He’s just
consistent, and that’s good to
see.”
With nine strokes separating
the top four teams in the
conference, the tournament
was up for grabs with Lockport
still a slight favorite to
win it. The Porters, however,
fell short in their bid to capture
their first conference
crown since winning backto-back
titles in 2013 and
2014.
The Porters won the
regular season SWSC Blue
matchup between the two
schools with a 155-158 victory
in a triangular meet,
which also included Lincoln-
Way West (169), on Sept. 6
at Big Run Golf Course in
Lockport. But that result had
no factor in determining the
conference champion.
“I like the fact that it does
not factor in and that there’s
no points given for the dual
meets,” said Eber, who has
only one senior — Reilly
McAdams — in his Top 8
players. “It’s been really
competitive and I knew it
would be [at the conference
meet]. Sure it’s somewhat
disappointing. But with
regionals coming up [this
week] it’s a good and important
lesson. You can’t just go
14 holes, you have to take it
to the house. I’ve been proud
of the effort and we’ve been
consistent. We just have to
have that [this] week.”
In addition to Weis’ 72 the
other carded scores for the
Porters were freshman Ben
Sluzas (75, 5th overall), junior
Nolan Weis (80, 10th
overall), who is John Weis’
twin brother and junior Eric
Gasienica (82).
Besides Farley, the Top 4
for the Eagles were junior
Matt James (79, 8th overall),
freshman Mitchell Mazzei
(80, 9th overall) and junior
Kyle Matre (81).
In the end, the Eagles,
who were defending conference
champions, did not
have enough consistency to
secure them the win.
“There’s a lot of great
young talent out here,” said
Jeff Kwilose, Sandburg’s
coach. “But [at the conference
meet] we didn’t finish
strong enough. There’s no
room for error [in the regional].”
The conference title for
East was its fourth in the
past six seasons, but first
since it won the Red Division
in 2014.
Girls Golf
Young LTHS squad finishes third at conference
Randy Whalen
Freelance Reporter
It is now five wins in a row
for Sandburg. It’s three in a
row for Hannah Kilbane.
Kilbane shot a 1-over
par 73 to capture her third
straight individual girls golf
conference championship
at the SouthWest Suburban
Conference Blue Division
meet Wednesday, Sept. 27 at
Green Garden Country Club
in Frankfort. In the process,
the Sandburg junior helped
the Eagles to a score of 336
as they captured their fifth
straight league title.
Host Lincoln-Way East
(350) placed second. Lockport
Township (367) placed
third, Homewood-Flossmoor
(404) finished fourth and
Bolingbrook (452) took fifth.
But for Kilbane, the individual
championship didn’t
mean as much as helping her
team capture the team title.
“I’m really happy about it,
but I didn’t focus on winning
the individual title,” Kilbane
said. “I just wanted to play
my best and get a low score
to help my team. I know that
we have others on the team
that can score low too.”
Her 73 was a season low
in an 18-hole tournament.
Still it was a bit disappointing
since she was 1-under
through 16 holes.
“I had two bogeys to end,”
Kilbane said. “That was disappointing.
But the front nine
(35) was pretty good and the
back nine (38) was pretty
good until the final two holes.
“I’m always looking to improve.”
Sandburg coach Todd Allen
knows that and was very
happy for Kilbane to capture
another conference crown.
“Three years in a row and
great for Hannah,” he said.
“She’s special. She puts in a
lot of time and is very good.
This is our fifth team title in
a row, and I’ve been blessed
with a lot of good girls.”
In addition to Kilbane,
freshman Athena Kwon
(84) finished third overall,
freshman Joanna James (86)
placed fifth and senior Dayna
Waner (93) rounded out the
squad in 10th place.
“We had our two freshman
shoot an 84 and 86,” Allen
said. “So two good scores
and Dayna, a senior, gets a
96. We wanted to be in the
320s rather than the 330s.
But for the most part we’re
happy.”
Lincoln-Way East had balanced
scoring and also had
four place in the Top 10, allowing
them to finish in second
place. Senior Hannah
Hill (78, 2nd overall) led the
way for the Griffins. Junior
Sam Bollman (89, 6th overall),
sophomore Jessica Loera
(91, 8th overall), and senior
Kerigan McAllister (92, 9th
overall) rounded out the carded
scores for East.
While Lockport placed
third, the season long improvement
for the Porters
showed through.
“It’s the best we’ve played
in an 18-hole tournament,”
said Kyle Yaeger, Lockport’s
first year coach. “We were 16
shots better than our previous
lowest score, which was a
383 and also at Green Garden
at the Oak Forest Invite [on
Sept. 9]. We had two girls finish
in the Top 10 here.”
As she usually has this
season, sophomore Rachel
Kuzel (85, 4th overall) led
Lockport. Sophomore Megan
Kohley (91, 7th overall) had
her lowest score ever to also
place in the Top 10. Freshman
Claire Ancevicius (97)
and junior Kearney Pluth
(98) rounded out the rest of
the Top four for the Porters,
who don’t have any seniors.
Kohley, who’s previous
best 18-hole score was a 93
at the Homewood-Flossmoor
Co-Ed Classic, used a simple
approach to getting her best
score.
“I didn’t think too much,”
she said. “I thought just hit
the ball and go. My drives
were good. Plus I enjoyed
the cooler weather [it was 20
degrees cooler than the previous
day] and the group I was
in was fun.
“Next year I expect big
things and lower scores.
Hopefully I will be consistently
in the lower 40s and
even the 30s next season.”
Yaeger believes this season
has been a learning experience
and the future looks
bright. And perhaps the Porters
can contend for their first
SWSC Blue title since 2008.
“We have freshmen and
sophomores playing good,
so that’s great,” Yaeger said.
“Things look good for the
next two to three years and
we’re ecstatic.”
The postseason teed-off
this week. Sandburg was at
the Class 2A Hinsdale South
Regional on Wednesday, Oct.
4, at Prairie Bluff Golf Club
in Lockport. On the same
day, the Porters were also
in Lockport, but were at the
Class 2A Providence Regional
which was held on the
south east course at Broken
Arrow Golf Club.
Both of those regionals
feed into the Waubonsie Valley
Sectional. That will be
held on Tuesday, Oct. 10, at
Springbrook Golf Course
in Naperville. The Class 2A
State Finals are held on Oct.
13-14 at Hickory Creek Golf
Club in Decatur.
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