Rockford Lutheran is the best area girls golf team this year. The Crusaders are also the most balanced.
Madison Bushnell, Madelyn Bennett and Ella Pieschel all shot 88s and Reese Landin a 92 — giving Lutheran four of the top five scores in the 10-school tournament — to power Lutheran to the Class 1A Marengo Regional title by a whopping 56 strokes. Lutheran (356), Marengo (412) and Rockford Christian (462) advanced to sectionals out of the 10-team regional.
For awhile, Bushnell, Bennett and Pieschel thought they would be in a playoff for medalist honors. The Lutheran trio finished tied for second when Elgin Westminster freshman Colbie Canning, playing a few holes behind, came in strong to beat them by two strokes with an 86 at Blackstone.
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“It would have been cool to get first,” Pieschel said, “but we were also kind of scared because we didn’t want to play against our own teammates in a playoff hole.”
Lutheran coach Joe Lodico said playing so well at Blackstone was good preparation for Monday’s Class 1A Byron Sectional at PrairieView and also for state.
“Blackstone is a rough, rough course, probably one of the toughest in northern Illinois,” Lodico said. “With the way the course was and the weather — it was windy and cool — I was very pleased. I didn’t think anyone was going to shoot under 90.”
“If we can shoot a 356 in those conditions,” Bennett agreed, “we can shoot better in perfect conditions.”
Bushnell didn’t use to break 90. But now she has done it three times lately, including an 87 at conference and an 88 at regionals in her two biggest tournaments — so far — of the season.
“I just hope we can all play to our potential. Especially Madison,” Pieschel said. “If she can shoot in the 80s. that would be awesome because it would definitely get us to state.
“She started off the year shooting in the low 100s, high 90s. Now she is shooting high 80s. I am so happy for her. When she first shot 87, I was jumping up and down for her. I was so happy. I knew she could. When she did, I was like, ‘Finally!’ ”
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Bushnell, a sophomore, said she made a couple of changes in her swing that have helped. She also said Lutheran’s depth helps her relax. Lodico, Lutheran’s only coach in its 25-year girls golf history, said the only team he has had that is this balanced is the 2016-17 teams that won the Crusaders’ only state trophies, taking third and then a close second.
“We don’t have much competitiveness (between each other) on the team,” Bushnell said. “We are just happy for each other. It’s nice shooting the same low scores so nobody is sad when they shoot a high score. We don’t have to have anybody carrying the team. W@e can all shoot our own scores and be confident we’re going to do good.”
Shooting a 356 on a tough course indicates Lutheran could contend for a top-three state trophy. Last year, only three teams shot better than 355 both days at state. And Lutheran’s top four players will all be back next year, with Bushnell being a sophomore and the other three juniors.
“This whole season, we had an idea we were going into a good year,” Bennett said. “To see us all play to such a good ability lets us looking forward to a good future at sectionals and, hopefully, state.”
Class 1A Pearl City Regional
Gina Baker shot 87 and Alayna Brandt 89 at Wolf Hollow in Lena to help Byron win its eighth regional title since 2007. Baker tied for fourth individually and Brandt was sixth. Byron shot 367 to beat Dixon (373) by six strokes Oregon (381) also advanced to Monday’s Byron Sectional.
Stillman Valley’s Amelia Dunseth (83) finished second individually. Forreston’s Aspen McGlynn (86) was third, Pearl City’s Marley Joseph (87) tied for fourth. Oregon’s Sarah Eckardt and Stockton’s Masyn Cahill (tied for seventh at 90) and Oregon’s Aniyah Sarver (10th at 92) also finished in the top 10.
Class 2A Huntley Regional
NIC-10 champion Belvidere Co-op shot 365 at Pinecrest to edge host Huntley by four strokes and finish third, advancing to Monday’s Boylan Sectional at Atwood. Belvidere was just one stroke behind runner-up Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge. Belvidere’s Emma Pierson and Guilford’s Leah Hunter tied for second individually, each shooting 77.
Boylan’s Demi Hampilos (80) was fourth and teammate Ava Kalt (85) tied for 10th.
Matt Trowbridge is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at mtrowbridge@rrstar.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @MattTrowbridge.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rockford Lutheran, Byron win regional girls golf titles, aim for more
