Plainfield East makes history while Oswego Co-op captures title at girls golf regional

YORKVILLE – On a day that was perfect for golf except for strong winds, the Oswego co-op girls team won the Class 2A Plainfield North Regional title by a stroke over Plainfield North, 339-340, at Whitetail Ridge.

Plainfield East came in third with a round of 344, becoming the first golf team in school history – boys or girls – to advance to a sectional as a team. The top three teams, along with the top 10 individual finishers not on an advancing team, qualified for Monday’s Rockford Boylan Sectional at Atwood Homestead Golf Course.

Also competing in the 10-team regional were Waubonsie Valley (350), Neuqua Valley (359), Naperville Central (369), Plainfield Central (417), Yorkville (419), West Aurora (441) and Plainfield South (472).

It took a little while for the golfers to get their games adjusted to the windy conditions, as evidenced by the fact that all of Oswego’s golfers shot better scores on the back nine than the front nine. That was highlighted by individual second-place finisher Alli Wiertel, who fired a 3-under par 32 on the back nine and finished with a 73, one behind champion Mina Shyam of Waubonsie Valley.

Wiertel shot a 41 on the front nine but regrouped and took on the back nine with a vengeance, recording four birdies, including one on the final hole that proved to be the difference for the team win.

“I did not have the best front nine,” Wiertel said. “I just wanted to play better and give my team a chance on the back. On the drive over to hole 10, coach [Brian Chandler] told me to just keep doing what I do.

“I hit my driver better on the back nine, and I was able to hit my irons well enough to give me some birdie putts. I wasn’t really nervous today. I’ve played in a lot of big tournaments before, so this was another one of those. It’s pretty cool to be going to the sectional as a whole team. We’re pretty excited.”

Chandler also was pleased with the way his team performed. After Wiertel, they were led by Kendall Grant (eighth, 83), Abigail Mundsinger (12th, 88), Annabelle Williams (19th, 95), Lia Paribello (21st, 97) and Mallory Paustenbach (47th, 115).

“The girls did great today,” Chandler said. “We were hoping that we could qualify. We had played against Plainfield North and Plainfield East in duals and in tournaments this year, so we knew what we had in store for us. What I liked the most was that every one of our girls shot better on the back nine than they did on the front nine.

“We only have one senior [Mundsinger], and she shot her personal best today. I am very excited about what happened today, and I hope we can keep it going next week.”

Plainfield North advanced a girls team to the sectional for the first time since 2017, and it was only a few years ago that the program had only three players and was in danger of being shut down.

“This is a big day for our program,” said North coach Matt Meindl, who is in his second year as head coach after being an assistant for two years. “Before I came into the program four years ago, there was a chance of it being shut down. This year, we had to have cuts to determine who would stay on the team.”

Grace Gilbert is one of only two seniors in the starting lineup, and she has been with the program since Meindl started as an assistant four years ago. She and sophomore Kiley Sanborn shot the top rounds of the day for the Tigers with 81 each, while senior Maggie Spencer shot an 84, junior Brooklynn Griffith shot a 94, junior Mia Harmon shot a 97 and sophomore Annie Halvorsen shot a 98. Had Oswego’s Wiertel recorded a par instead of a birdie on the final hole, North would have won the championship on the strength of Halvorsen’s score.

“I used to play softball, but I quit that and started concentrating on golf full time,” Gilbert said. “It’s still swinging at a ball, and the ball doesn’t move. I talked some of my softball teammates into coming out, too.

“I wasn’t really nervous today. I’ve played in enough big tournaments over four years, and this is my home course, so I had a little bit of an advantage. It was super windy out there, but I gave it my best shot. I qualified for the sectional as an individual the last three years, but it’s going to be so fun to go as a team this year. We’re all excited about it.”

Meindl was more than happy to see the program come this far in such a short time.

“Half of the team is either former or current softball players,” he said. “The time and effort they have put in, along with their parents, really paid off today. We advanced four out of the regional last year, which is a scoring team, but we finished fourth and didn’t technically qualify as a team. To see these girls do it today feels great.”

For Plainfield East, freshman Taylor Miller led the charge with a round of 73 to finish tied for second. Other Bengal golfers were sophomore Hope Trosclair (90), sophomore Hailey Cudal (90), senior Lauren Reinertson (91), sophomore Kendall Battle (102) and senior Alyssa Siegfried (102).

“I’ve been having a good season,” Miller said. “I think my mental game was my strongest thing today. I was trying to relax on the course and not worry about the wind. It’s windy for everyone, and I usually play a lot of knockdown shots anyway, so it kind of worked in my favor.

“It’s cool to be part of a team moving on to a sectional. I love being a Bengal.”

The love of the Bengals runs through the East team.

“It’s a big day for our program,” East coach Erin McGinnis-Janozik said. “Taylor carried us today. The rest of the girls didn’t shoot their best, but that leaves improvement for the sectional, which is a good thing.

“This a very close-bonded team, and they figure things out. We are very lucky that they support each other the way they do, and that includes their parents as well. It’s just a close-knit community.”

Advancing as individuals were Shyam, Ashika Patel of Naperville Central, (78), Evan Ashley of Neuqua Valley (81), Carley Rogers of Neuqua Valley (83), Hannah Lee of Waubonsie Valley (86), Ava Sheffler of Waubonsie Valley (89), Mae Binkowski of Naperville Central (93), Yami Gonzalez of Plainfield Central (96), Ellie Rogers of Neuqua Valley (97) and Malar Anand of Neuqua Valley (98).