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50 | October 18, 2018 | The New Lenox Patriot SPORTS newlenoxpatriot.com Girls Tennis Five Knights advance to state after second-place finish West’s Singh the first tennis player to make back-to-back state appearances RANDY WHALEN Freelance Reporter Sue Schneider was extremely excited. The Lincoln-Way Central girls tennis coach had every reason to be. Not only did her team capture a second straight SouthWest Suburban Conference Red Division title this season, it qualified five people for the IHSA State Finals and placed second last weekend at the Class 2A Lincoln-Way East Sectional. The five qualifiers were the most in Schneider’s seven seasons as head coach at the school. Lincoln-Way West also qualified a singles player and Lincoln-Way East has a doubles team advancing to the IHSA State Finals. Those are being held between Thursday, Oct. 18 and Saturday, Oct. 20 at Buffalo Grove High School and surrounding sites. There, the Knights’ top doubles team of junior Emma Rimkunas and her freshman sister, Kara Rimkunas, along with Central’s second doubles team of sophomore Micaela Cesta and junior Lily Malas, will be playing. No. 1 singles player Kiana Sikich, a junior, will also be making her second straight appearance. “I’m so excited for this, especially for our second doubles team,” Schneider said of the unseeded pair of Cesta and Malas. “They had a huge win (6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-0) over Andrew’s top doubles team [seniors Samantha Guzik and Haley Kamholz]. They were pumped after that. “And Emma and Kara have just focused from the start of the season. Their dad [John Rimkunas] was a sectional champion at Andrew [1988 graduate], so they have a great bloodline. They just balance each other and it’s so fun to watch. One of their goals is to win a couple of matches at state.” The Rimkunas sisters only dropped seven games in sweeping their four sectional matches. Because of rain, the opening round matches on Friday, Oct. 12, were moved from East to Andrew and Homewood-Flossmoor. The final rounds, on Saturday, Oct. 13, were played back at East. There, the Rimkunas sisters defeated H-F juniors Carolyn Page and Maya Nash 6-1, 6-4 for the title. Cesta and Malas, who lost 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals to Page and Nash, defeated East juniors Maddie Harper and Ellie Marion 7-6 (4), 6-2 for third place. Sikich, who was fourth in the sectional last year, placed third this season. After falling in the semifinals to the eventual sectional champion, H-F freshman Miracle Huckabee, she defeated Lincoln-Way West junior Natalie Singh 6-0, 6-2 for third place. “I’m just really excited and happy to go a second year in a row,” Sikich said of advancing back to state. “Last year just made me work harder to get back there. I just practiced really hard and I want to go there and do a lot better.” Huckabee, who won her first three matches 6-0, 6-0, defeated sophomore teammate Lauren Legardy 6-2, 6-2 in the final. H-F (30 points) was the sectional champion. Central (24) placed second, while East and West (14 points apiece) tied for third. Bremen (8), Andrew (6), Thornton Fractional South (4), Thornton Fractional North (2) and Thornwood (0) rounded out the 9-team field. West coach John Cupp, however, was happy. It was the best showing for a Warrior girls tennis team in a sectional in its 10-year history. Plus, by virtue of her fourth-place finish, Singh qualified for state for the second straight season. Last year, she made it to state in doubles with then senior Meghan Maynard. Singh is the first West tennis player, boys or girls, to go to state for two consecutive seasons in school history. “When I think about it, that’s so cool,” Singh said of making school history. “Last year, I went to doubles with Meghan at state. But I wanted to go to state in singles. I played singles as a freshman, and I like it so much more. I played doubles once in a tournament this season, otherwise it was all singles. State wasn’t on my mind when I started playing singles again this season. But it turned out well, and I’m going to state.” East was the two-time defending sectional champion. But the Griffins graduated all four of the players on their state qualifying doubles team. So this season was sort of a rebuilding one for East. Still Harper and Marion will be at state. “We did get our top doubles team thru to state and I am very proud of Maddie Harper and Ellie Marion for holding their No. 4 seed,” East coach Wes Cooley said. “They have been doubles Lincoln-Way Central freshman Kara Rimkunas starts her high-school career with a state appearance. 22nd century media file photos Junior Kiana Sikich makes her second straight appearance to state as a singles player. teammates for several years and their chemistry makes them a good doubles team. “Our No. 1 singles player [senior] Mia Lamantia and our No. 2 doubles team of [junior] Sara Cooley and [sophomore] Camryn Mitchell, all fought hard in the qualifying matches but got out played in the end. They should be proud of their performances as I am. As a team it was nice to finish tied for third. Five out of the six players will return for next year which is encouraging, but they must play hard in the off season to improve. These other teams are also young and talented.”
newlenoxpatriot.com SPORTS the New Lenox Patriot | October 18, 2018 | 51 Boys Golf Curran finishes second at state tournament behind SWSC foe Managing the course the key to sophomore’s 3-under finish James Sanchez, Editor The 112-man field at the 3A IHSA state tournament had to hit the rewind button after Day 1. Bad weather in the opening round on Friday, Oct. 12, forced IHSA officials to suspend play and start fresh with a one-day tournament the following day. “The first day was brutal,” Lincoln-Way Central coach Ryan Pohlmann said. “For the kids, No. 1, it was cold. I don’t think it got above 40 degrees the first day. It was snowing hard for about 45 minutes to an hour. The greens were pretty coated to where when guys were putting, the ball was picking up snow. It was quite an adventure.” Scores from Day 1 at The Den at Fox Creek in Bloomington did not count. Some golfers completed as many as 15 holes before play suspended. Knights No. 1 golfer Sean Curran was 12 holes in when play was stopped. He was in a comfortable position in 14th place, three strokes behind the leader. Pohlmann said Curran never felt rattled one bit about having to start over. “He kind of has that laid back demeanor and personality, which is good for a golfer, but he felt like he played well the first day and put himself in a good position,” Pohlmann said. “For him, he looked at it as a one-day tournament, which gives him as good a shot as anybody in the tournament to finish at the top.” That opportunity came to Lincoln-Way Central state qualifiers Sean Curran (second place), Brian Sterling (102nd) and Juney Bai (71st) pose for a picture. Photos Submitted fruition the following day. Starting on the back nine at The Den, Curran played the first nine holes at 1-under, despite two bogeys in that stretch. Playing the final nine holes, Pohlmann said Curran knew he was in the mix for the state title. Curran birdied hole 2 and saved par on the par-5 fifth hole even with hitting his ball in the water. He followed that up by birdieing hole 6, which is arguably the toughest hole at The Den. Only four other golfers birdied that hole. However, playing ahead of him was SWSC foe Ben Sluzas, of Lockport, going 3-under the final two holes to finish at 4-under for the tournament. Needing to go mistake free the rest of the way, at the par-3 eighth hole, Curran missed the green, and his chip was short, giving him a testy, 5-foot par putt, which he missed. At that point, Curran knew he had to eagle the final hole, which was a par- 5, to tie Sluzas. After his tee shot, he was 210 yards from the green but shooting into the wind. The shot went short of the green, leaving him an attempt to hole in a difficult, short pitch shot to tie. He didn’t convert, but made his birdie putt after to finish in second place, one stroke behind Sluzas. Pohlmann said he wasn’t surprised to see Curran, only a sophomore, contending for a state title. “He had played well all year but hasn’t had that peak run,” Pohlmann said. “I knew he was due for a really low number. Most of the day, he was hitting a driving iron. He probably only hit five drivers throughout the day. He really controlled the ball, controlled the course and showed a maturity that a sophomore doesn’t usually have.” Curran’s teammate Juney Bai was also in the mix. The freshman was as high as 14th place in the early going at 1-under through six holes before hitting a rough stretch. He finished his first nine holes with a 37 (1-over), but a 45 on the final nine holes bumped him down to 71st place. Pohlman said the stretch of holes 5-7 at The Den is called the “Fox Trap,” signifying its difficulty, which Bai could not overcome. However, he’s only a freshman and has plenty of time to bounce back. “He was so poised early on, but the ‘Fox Trap’ got him,” Pohlmann said. “He bogeyed [hole 5], he ended Lincoln-Way Central golfer Sean Curran was the runnerup at the 3A IHSA state tournament in Bloomington on Saturday, Oct. 13. up making a big number at 8, and at that point, for a freshman to be able to rally and bounce back is a difficult thing, especially after he was playing so well.” Senior Brian Sterling sneaked into the state tournament by capturing the final qualifying spot at the Edwardsville Sectional. He finished in 102nd place, shooting an 88. “Brian just couldn’t putt today,” Pohlmann said. “He had one of those rounds. He had 37 putts, which means a lot of three putts. Some of that is the state atmosphere, some of that is the cold, but what a way for Brian to finish off his career with a state appearance.” The Knights could have advanced as a team to state had they qualified out of regionals.The Top 4 scores out of Central’s five qualifying individuals at the Edwardsville Sectional on Oct. 8 combined for 321, which would’ve placed them second as a team. Top 3 teams at sectionals advance to state. Pohlmann sees the positives out of the unfortunate team result in the postseason, noting this will keep his talented team hungry going into next year. Aside from Bai and Curran, starters Nick Tingley and T.J. Edmier will also return next season. “I don’t get too upset [about the team not advancing out of regionals] because it’s good that the younger kids face some adversity,” Pohlmann said. “I think our guys really are motivated heading into next year, and they see the possibilities that lie ahead.”
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