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the orland park prairie | October 6, 2016 | 55
fastbreak
Sandburg girls golfers lead the pack in SWSC Blue
22nd Century Media File
Photo
1st and 3
Postseason
Progress: Sandburg
golf programs
1. Boys win regionals
In the time in which
Jeff Kwilose has
served as coach of the
Sandburg boys golf
team, the Eagles have
won regional titles in
2011, 2012, 2014 and
2015.
2. Girls start a streak
On the girls side of the
golf ball, the Eagles
have won the South-
West Suburban Conference
Blue Division for
four straight years, as
of Sept. 28.
3. Close competition
The Sandburg girls’
closest competition in
terms of score also is
close, geographically
speaking. Lockport
Township took a close
second in the conference,
while the next
closest was nearly 100
strokes away from the
Eagles Sept. 28 at Broken
Arrow Golf Club.
Eagles take first,
Lockport second at
Broken Arrow
Randy Whalen
Freelance Reporter
New faces, same good result
for the Sandburg girls
golf team.
Three of the Eagles’ Top 6
players on last season’s team
graduated. But that did not
stop them from capturing a
fourth straight Blue Division
title in the SouthWest Suburban
Conference Sept. 28 at
Broken Arrow Golf Club in
Lockport.
Hannah Kilbane led the
way for Sandburg. The sophomore
easily won top medalist
honors with a 2-over-par 74.
Veteran Emilyee McGiles
(82) finished second, as
Sandburg had five players
receive medals in shooting
a 346.
Lockport Township (362)
was second. The balanced
Porters had the other seven
medalists and had all eight of
their girls finish in the Top 13.
Homewood-Flossmoor
(445), Stagg (456) and
Bolingbrook (499) rounded
out the rest of the team
scores.
“To shoot a 346 in tough
conditions, with a lot of
wind, on what was really the
first cool day of the fall, is really
good,” Sandburg coach
Todd Allen said. “Hannah
shot a 74 and looked really
solid. We’re glad to win the
conference again. It’s one of
our goals at the start of the
season.”
Kilbane, who tied Emily
Cosler for the best score
at the state tournament in
helping the Eagles to a sixthplace
finish in Class 2A this
past year, was happy to be
the conference medalist, but
not satisfied.
“Last year, I shot a 79 at
Silver Lake South Course,
and this year I did a lot better,”
she said. “But it could
have been an even better
score. I missed a few short
putts for par, and that bothered
me. So, it was kind of
disappointing, because I
know I can do better.”
She had two birdies in the
18-hole round.
“I’m still happy with how
I played, because it was
windy out,” Kilbane said.
“We definitely want to make
it back to state.”
Senior Morgan Howard
(94), junior Dayna Waner
(96) and senior Jenna Perdue
(99) rounded out the Sandburg
medalists. Senior Sarah
Gleason (109), junior Hannah
Carrie (116) and junior
Maddie Cosler (121) had the
rest of the Eagles scores.
McGiles, now a senior,
has been a mainstay for the
Eagles since she helped
them to an 11th-place state
finish in 2013. They tied for
fifth two years ago and finished
sixth this past season,
and she said she hopes for
one more state run this fall.
“We lost a few scorers
from last year,” said McGiles,
who has verbally committed
to Southern Illinois
University in Carbondale.
“But we’ve had girls that
have put in the effort and
seen that hard work pay off.
“I would love to take the
team downstate again. We’re
working real hard to get
there.”
While Lockport did not
have the top scores to realistically
compete with Sandburg
for the league title, the
Porters have an amazingly
balanced team. That showed
in their Top 4 scores. Those
were by freshman Rachel
Kuzel (88), followed by seniors
Sydney Loeffler (89),
Erica Long (92) and McKenzie
Ebel (93).
The remaining Lockport
scores were seniors Hannah
Frank (102), Katelyn Kendziora
(102), Beth Kuhn (105)
and Paige Christian (106).
The Porters won the JV
Tournament with a score of
470 and were led by overall
runner-up sophomore Sarah
Pritchard (114).
“We have seven seniors,
so we lose a lot after this
year,” said Lockport coach
Matt Major, whose squad
lost to Sandburg 173-180 in
the team’s dual meet matchup
Sept. 22 at Silver Lake
Country Club. “But our JV
won, and we’re happy with
the way things went. It was
a lot of fun and a good day.”
Sandburg and Lockport
could meet one more time
next week. The Eagles were
Sandburg students Maddie Cosler (left) and Jenna Perdue,
both of Orland Park, celebrate their scores Sept. 28
after the SouthWest Suburban Conference Blue Division
tournament at Broken Arrow Golf Club in Lockport.
Photos by Mary Compton/22nd Century Media
The Sandburg girls golf team poses for a photo after
winning the SWSC Blue tournament at Broken Arrow.
slated to be at the Shepard
Regional, which took place
Wednesday, Oct. 5, at Lincoln
Oaks Golf Course in
Crete, while the Porters
were to be at the Joliet Central
Regional the same day at
Wedgewood Golf Course in
Joliet.
If the teams advance,
they will be at the Class 2A
Lockport Sectional Tuesday,
Oct.11, back at Broken Arrow.
The Class 2A state finals
are slated for Oct. 14-15 at
Hickory Point Golf Club in
Decatur.
LISTEN UP
”To shoot a 346 in tough conditions, with a lot of wind, on
what was really the first cool day of the fall, is really good.”
Todd Allen — Sandburg girls golf coach, on his team’s performance at the
SouthWest Suburban Conference tournament
What 2 Watch
Football — 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7
• Sandburg looks for redemption after a loss
to Homewood-Flossmoor, but Lincoln-Way
East will be a tough team to beat, even in
Orland Park.
INDEX
52 — This Week In
50 — Athlete of the Week
Compiled by Editor Bill Jones, bill@opprairie.com.