You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
opprairie.com Sports<br />
the orland park prairie | October 6, 2016 | 53<br />
Boys Golf<br />
Eagles take conference title by three strokes<br />
Sandburg’s Max<br />
Farley earns<br />
medalist honors<br />
Randy Whalen<br />
Freelance Reporter<br />
When Max Farley began<br />
golfing, he was 5 years old.<br />
That was in 2007. And<br />
that is the last time the Sandburg<br />
boys golf team won a<br />
conference championship.<br />
Until this past week.<br />
Farley was the medalist<br />
with a 6-over-par 78,<br />
as the Sandburg boys golf<br />
team overcame some windy<br />
conditions to win the Blue<br />
Division title of the South-<br />
West Suburban Conference<br />
Sept. 27 at Coyote Run Golf<br />
Course in Flossmoor.<br />
The Eagles, who had a trio<br />
of golfers in the Top 5 and<br />
finished with a score of 322,<br />
were three strokes ahead of<br />
host Homewood-Flossmoor<br />
(325). Lockport (335), Stagg<br />
(353) and Bolingbrook (395)<br />
rounded out the teams.<br />
“In my seven seasons as a<br />
head coach, I’ve had teams<br />
win regionals, but never a<br />
conference title,” Sandburg<br />
coach Jeff Kwilose said.<br />
“That’s how hard it is in this<br />
conference.<br />
“The boys battled through<br />
tough conditions. The winds<br />
were blowing at about 25<br />
mph, and gusting at times.<br />
But our guys did great, and<br />
our freshman was the medalist.”<br />
That was Farley, who hung<br />
“Going into the last three holes, I knew I was at the<br />
top or near the top of the leaderboard. But coach<br />
didn’t tell me. He said to just go play my game.”<br />
Max Farley — Sandburg golfer, on taking medalist honors at the conference<br />
meet<br />
on to that top spot down the<br />
stretch. He actually held off<br />
a couple of teammates, as senior<br />
Will Schieber took third<br />
with 79, and senior Brad<br />
Vetter was fifth with 80. Two<br />
more seniors, David Drabeck<br />
and John Karuntzos,<br />
each shot an 85 to round out<br />
the top scores for the Eagles.<br />
Farley — whose older<br />
brother and senior Aidan<br />
Farley is a top swimmer for<br />
the Eagles — never expected<br />
to be in position to be the<br />
medalist.<br />
“I would not have believed<br />
that,” Farley said,<br />
when asked if he thought a<br />
year ago that he would be in<br />
this spot. “There’s a lot of<br />
good golfers in high school<br />
with more experience than<br />
me.”<br />
But the strategy of Kwilose<br />
not letting his young<br />
golfer know where he stood<br />
paid off.<br />
“Going into the last three<br />
holes, I knew I was at the top<br />
or near the top of the leaderboard,”<br />
Farley said. “But<br />
coach didn’t tell me. He said<br />
to just go play my game.<br />
“I just played really conservative<br />
on the last thee<br />
holes. I actually bogeyed all<br />
of them but still had a goodenough<br />
score. I had only<br />
played the course once, and<br />
that was the Sunday before.<br />
The fairways on the course<br />
are really narrow, so with<br />
the wind, I had to golf really<br />
well to get there.”<br />
Farley and the rest of the<br />
Eagles are looking forward<br />
to the postseason, which<br />
opened this week. Sandburg<br />
was slated to host its own<br />
Class 3A regional Tuesday,<br />
Oct. 4, at Silver Lake Golf<br />
Course in Orland Park. The<br />
winners advance to the Pekin<br />
Sectional slated for Monday,<br />
Oct. 10 at Lick Creek Golf<br />
Course.<br />
The Class 3A state finals<br />
are to be held Oct. 14-15 at<br />
The Den at Fox Creek Golf<br />
Course in Bloomington.<br />
Athlete of the Month<br />
LW East defensive<br />
end wins September<br />
competition<br />
Finding the drive<br />
Orland Parker among Providence Catholic golfers<br />
at conference championship<br />
Bill Jones, Editor<br />
Lincoln-Way East football player Zack<br />
Tencza earned the most votes to be named<br />
22nd Century Media Southwest Chicago’s<br />
September Athlete of the Month.<br />
22nd Century Media File Photo<br />
As a defensive end, Lincoln-Way East’s<br />
Zack Tencza is tasked with making life<br />
hard for running backs and keeping the<br />
quarterback in a state of unease in the<br />
pocket.<br />
Apparently, Griffins fans think he has<br />
been doing a good job of just that, as they<br />
helped vote him to 22nd Century Media<br />
Southwest’s September Athlete of the<br />
Month title.<br />
The Athlete of the Month competition pits<br />
featured Athlete of the Week selections from<br />
our south suburban newspapers against one<br />
another in an online voting contest.<br />
The next contest is to begin Monday, Oct.<br />
10.<br />
To vote, visit <strong>OP</strong>Prairie.com, hover over<br />
the “Sports” menu tab and click “Athlete of<br />
the Month.” Readers can vote once per session<br />
per valid email address. Voting ends at<br />
5 p.m. Oct. 25.<br />
All athletes featured in the August Athlete<br />
of the Week sports interviews are automatically<br />
entered into the contest.<br />
Providence Catholic golfer Adam Harrington, of Orland Park, tees off during the Chicago<br />
Catholic League Championship for boys golf the morning of Thursday, Sept. 29, at Cog Hill<br />
Golf & Country Club. James Sanchez/22nd Century Media
Change language