Sports
LT Girls Golf Team Seeks Another Visit to State
With five returnees from last year's 10th-place state team, the Lions have the experience to make back-to-back state appearances for the first time since three straight trips from 2003-05.
LYONS TOWNSHIP GIRLS GOLF PREVIEW
COACH: Brad Anderson (7th season)
2010 RESULTS: 9-4 overall, 8-1 in West Suburban Conference; second at WSC Meet (367) and second in final overall standings; won York Regional (357); second at Nazareth Sectional (324); fifth at Class 2A state meet (703)
RETURNING 2010 STATE QUALIFIERS: Senior Katie Ellis (tied for 17th, 159), junior Rachael Johnson (tied for 63rd, 177), sophomore Ciara Rattana (tied for 91st, 188) and seniors Jamie Blechschmidt (tied for 94th, 191) and Emma Pasquinelli (tied for 96th, 192)
OTHER VARSITY RETURNEES: Seniors Madeline Gosz and Mariel Skoda
VARSITY NEWCOMERS: Sophomores Sarah Donahoe, Katie Dougherty and Jameson Mitchell
OUTLOOK: This Saturday, the Lions are planning to sacrifice a rare weekend off from competition to visit the course at Hickory Point Golf Club in Decatur – site of the Class 2A state meet.
It’s just one sign of their commitment. With two-time state competitor Ellis, Johnson, Rattana, Pasquinelli and Blechschmidt back from the state lineup, the Lions are eager to return to state and do even better.
They have to get there first. Last year, the Lions were seeded eighth entering the sectionals, but four individual lifetime bests helped them get the top-three finish necessary to qualify for the state meet for the time since three straight trips from 2003-05.
The only graduate from the state lineup was Lindsay Purpura (tied for 71st, 179), who had their third-best 18-hole total.
“They’re very excited and I think they just have to believe in the group. They’ve set their goal to win the state championship,” Anderson said.
“I always tell them you can set your goal to win a state championship, but the first goal is to make it to state. I just want to remind them they have to take care of business one step at a time. When you tee up at sectionals, everyone’s even.”
After its first two meets, LT has proven its in the hunt. The Lions were third at their season-opening New Trier Quad Aug. 16 (341) but then they finished third (335) at the 14-team Rockford Invitational Aug. 18, two strokes ahead of both Hinsdale Central (3rd at state in 2010) and defending state champion New Trier.
LT only was beaten by Loyola (327) and Prospect (333), which were fifth and fourth at state in 2010, respectively. At the quad, the Lions finished behind New Trier (320) and Marian Catholic (332), which was sixth at state, and topped St. Charles North (372).
“We’ve got to catch up to those teams. It’s just are we going to work harder?” Anderson said. “As always, it’s how the girls worked in the offseason. When it’s the season, it’s just how hard are they going to work day in and out to earn that state championship? And some of it in golf is out of your control. You just play your best and see what happens.”
Ellis is trying for her third straight state trip. Last year, she was just four strokes shy of a top-10, all-state finish after taking 69th in 2009 (180) as LT’s lone state representative.
At the Rockford Invite, Ellis tied for second (75) and was awarded third on a scorecard tiebreaker, one stroke behind Stevenson junior Stephanie Miller, the defending state champion. Rattana has moved in the No. 2 spot in the early going.
LT has two other varsity returnees in Gosz and Skoda. Anderson also has promoted three strong sophomores (Dougherty, Donahoe and Mitchell) that he felt improved significantly during the summer.
“I wanted to bring them up and increase the internal competition to hopefully push the team to greater heights,” Anderson said.
In the WSC, Hinsdale Central is going for its fifth straight overall title. At the 2010 WSC Meet, Ellis (6th) and Johnson (17th) were individual all-conference medalists for top-20 finishers and Rattana and Pasquinelli also were part of the varsity lineup. LT’s junior varsity team also took second overall to Hinsdale Central with Blechschmidt (2nd), Dougherty (5th), Mitchell (6th), Skoda (7th), Donahoe (8th) and Gosz (15th) all-conference medalists on that level.
The Lions' home meets will be at La Grange Country Club and Willow Crest Golf Club.
KEYS TO SUCCESS: “As always, good communication. And team cohesiveness. Are we all pulling in the same direction to avoid distractions?” Anderson said. “Another thing is just working hard, and in practices they seem to be working very hard. We’ve got some very reflective players and they know what to improve upon. It’s a really exciting time, just a team with a ton of potential.”
