Fourth No Fun, but Viking Golfers' Five a Nice Accomplishment

So, the football team gets a notebook story now and again. Why shouldn't the golf team?

Here are a few tidbits, quotes and fun facts from Tuesday's regional tournament at Bartlett Hills.

Cisco's 74—and the 33 Front

Senior Andrew Cisco has been a rock all year for the Vikings, and he was set to shoot lights out at Bartlett Hills. He led all golfers with a 33 on the front nine.

"Oh yeah, I was throwing darts. I had three birdies on the front," he said, minutes after he finished. "But on the back I just couldn't get much going, and I was just trying to make pars."

The killer was a an unlucky seven on the card. "That was no good. I made a double on the par 5, so that hurt."

This was early when I interviewed him, and Cisco showed a ton of leadership and class.

"I'm just hoping my team gets out right now, more so than me," he said.

Happy for Milano

Junior Adam Milano made a great stretch run Tuesday, going birdie-par-birdie to finish with an 82.

"I was really excited to move onto sectionals. I've been waiting for this moment for a long time," he said.

"After the 15th hole, my coach said I needed to finish strong to have a chance to move on, so I birdied two of my last three holes, which really got me going."

The raw video you see here shows Milano sinking his birdie putt on 18.

"I hit it to about 15 feet right of the pin. It was a downhill, right-to-left putt, and I played it maybe a cup-and-a-half outside the hole. And it just turned right in and fell on the right side, so I birdied it to finish."

Sweet.

Five Out of Six Ain't Bad

Although Geneva finished fourth and did not advance as a team, five of its six team members will go on to the sectional competition Monday at Naperbrook Golf Course in Plainfield. That's 22204 111th St. for any spectators who want to make the trip.

The top 10 scores of any individuals NOT advancing in team competition qualified to move on, and of course, five of those 10 are Genevans.

• 1st—Cisco's 74 was far and away the best of the rest.
• 2nd—Ryan Pondel of South Elgin (76)
• 3rd—Xavier Owens of South Elgin (78)
• 4th—Mason Struthers of DeKalb (79)
• 5th—Cody Schmidt of DeKalb (82)
• 6th—Jeff Lapetina of Geneva (82)
• 7th—Bill Gregory of Geneva (82)
• 8th—Milano of Geneva (82)
• 9th—Peter Karkos of Batavia (83)
• 10th—Ben Kale of Geneva (83)

A Lillibridge Not Too Far—Maybe Something Special Next Year?

Colin Lillibridge was the only one who did not advance. He had an 86.

"You know, he's a sophomore, and this was a learning experience for him," coach Bill Koehn said. "We brought him here with the hopes that we're going to build around him for next year. He's played great all season long."

A Tip of the Golf Hat to St. Charles, East's Osland

Congratulations to our neighbors to the north. St. Charles East won in dramatic fashion and St. Charles North beat Geneva to the third-place finish line on the strength of Nathan Clark's 72.

East's sixth man, Stephan Osland, was the story of the day, though.

Bartlett had posted three super scores early—73, 74, 74—and looked like they were going to run away with first place. Meanwhile, East's top three scores were Jordan Wetsch's 75, Nick Maze's 78 and Jon Woods' 79—a whopping 9-stroke deficit to make up with the fourth score.

Enter Osland. He shot a sweet little 34 on the front nine, was still at even par after 15 holes, and held on by his fingernails, finishing bogey, bogey, par to give East the win.

"Coming in, I was shaking a little bit, yeah. I was getting nervous," Osland said. "But I knew I could do it, and today I did. I was happy could do that for the team."

Final Thoughts

Kudos to all the players and to golf coach Bill Koehn. Whatever he said to Milano must have worked. And the Vikings are again moving on to sectionals.

On to the next.

Download the movie