Downers Grove North's Mahoney Comes Up Just Short in Bid for Medalist Honors

OAK BROOK -- It took 19 holes to determine an individual champion in the Class AA York girls golf regional at Willow Crest on Wednesday.

And 19 wasn't a good number for Downers Grove North senior Colleen Mahoney.

She went into a one-hole playoff with Lyons Township junior Katie Ellis feeling like it was her time to shine. Mahoney matched Ellis shot-for-shot as both carded rounds of 80 in regulation play.

Mahoney, though,  put herself in a bind with an errant tee shot that dribbled up the fairway about 10 yards from the tee box. She recovered with a solid second shot, but it wasn't enough. Ellis won the playoff with a bogey-5 and punched her ticket into Monday's sectional.

"I couldn't believe how bad that tee shot was," Mahoney said.

"For (Colleen), the biggest difference was she'd been out for an hour and 10 minutes whereas (Ellis) had just come off the golf course," Downers Grove North coach Jackie McCormick said. "But I'm really proud of her."

The playoff setback wasn't all bad for Mahoney. She and a teammate, Colleen Duffy, who shot a 101, also will be moving on to play in Monday's sectional as two of the top-10 scoring individuals not on qualifying teams. Downers North finished sixth out of 11 teams with a team total of 407.

It was a good day all-around for Lyons Township.

In addition to Ellis's playoff victory, the Lions took home the regional title with a score of 357, beating second-place Benet (359) by two strokes. In addition to Ellis's 80, LT posted an 86 from Lindsey Purpura, a 94 from Ciara Rattana and a 97 from Emma Pasquinelli.

Benet was the only other team to post four scores under 100. Emily Callahan led the way for the Redwings with an 86, followed by an 87 from Elaine Krebs, a 90 from Christy Callahan and a pair of 96s from Emily Brown and Janet Craig.

Nazareth (371), Glenbard West (373), and Downers Grove South (402) rounded out the top five.

Outside of the top four teams and the top individuals, it was not uncommon to see scores of 110-130 on the short, but tricky Willow Crest course. Scores from qualifying players outside the top three ranged from Mahoney's 80 to Duffy's 101.

Fourth-place Glenbard West advanced three individuals: Brooke Hochevar (83), Ellen Nighbor (89) and Meredith Berk (98). Fifth-place Downers South had two individuals survive the cut: Kristin Ivan (95) and Meredith Richard (100).

"The scores were a lot higher than we thought," Downers South coach Jeff Bryant said. "The weather was better than it's been all year, but the pin placements were very tough all the way around."

"It was very tough today," McCormick said. "But the best girls out there on the course today shot what they usually shot."

The top three teams and all of the individual qualifiers return to Willow Crest on Monday.

"The important thing is to get there," Bryant said. "But I know my girls will have to shoot a lot better."