Two shots were all the St. Viateur boys needed to qualify for state this season, but instead of sending the entire team, St. Viateur will only send two golfers.
Ryan Kalaway shot a 1-under-par 70 to tie for second to pace the Lions and advance to state, but he will only be joined by senior teammate Max Maiorano (40-36 — 76).
Kalaway even shot a par 36 on the front nine and a 1-under par 34 on the back nine. Kalaway sank three birdies that day.
St. Viator shot a very good team score of 308, but only Lemont (302), St. Francis (303) and Mount Carmel (306) advanced in the team portion to qualify out of the Lemont section of class 2A on Monday, October 2 at Wedgewood Golf Club (par 36-35 — 71).
Behind St. Viator in fifth place were regional champion Wheaton Academy (309), Providence Catholic (310), regional champion Fenwick (316), Marmion Academy (316), St. Patrick (324), regional champion Brother Rice (333), Saint-Laurent (334) and Saint-Rita (350).
Chicago U-High would have finished in 10th place with a 325, but they only counted as individuals after missing the team cut at regionals.
While Saint-Viateur qualified two to state, it was the final meeting for David Koziol (41-37 — 78), Ryder Schuch (44-40 — 84), Vince Chacon (45-46 — 91) and Dominick Andino (44-48-92).
Notre Dame competed in the same sectional as St. Viateur, but none of their three golfers qualified for state. The Dons were led by Ryan Surz (39-43 — 82), Daniel Mulac (41-43 — 84) and Nick Mroz (43-41 — 84).
Eddie Scott of Lemont shot a 3-under-par 68 to earn medalist honors.
Saint-Viateur was also very close a year ago, shooting a score of 305 to finish six shots behind the final qualifying team. Kalaway qualified for state last year with Koziol and Grayson Dossett. Koziol finished tied for 30th with a score of 79-77 — 156 to lead the Lions last year at state. Dossett, who graduated after last season, was tied for 53rd in the state and Koziol was the first golfer eliminated in the first round at state last year after shooting an 83.
Saint-Viateur scored a 311 in the sections in 2021 to miss his fourth place by five strokes. Kalaway, Koziol and Charlie Bullock all qualified for state in 2021, but to represent the Lions. Bullock (75-78 — 153) was tied for 31st and Koziol (79-78 — 157) was tied for 53rd, while Kalaway shot an 82 in the first round to miss the cut for day two.
The last time Saint-Viateur qualified for state as a team was in 2018.
While St. Viateur advances two golfers to state, Northridge found itself without a Class 1A state qualifier this season.
Northridge was competing as a team at sectionals for the first time since 2015, and just like they did eight years ago, the Knights finished in seventh place. Northridge shot 357 in 2015, but dropped its section score to 347 this year.
Leading Northridge Monday, Oct. 2, at Kankakee Elks Country Club (par 37-35 — 72) were EJ Spingola (42-38 — 80), Evan Kataoka (44-42 — 86), Ruairi O’Hagan (42- 45 — 87), Jack Kurt (47-47-94), Jackson Groth (49-48-97) and Christopher Carney (53-47-100).
Unfortunately for Northridge fans, the Knights failed to qualify anyone. The last state qualifier for Northridge was Paul DiFranco in 2015. Spingola was two shots away.
On the Class 1A girls side, the only competitors from the Journal region were two Dominican golfers from Regina competing in the Lanark section. Lily Grillo shot 46-45-91 at Lake Carroll Golf Course (par 35-35-70) to miss individual qualifying by 3 strokes. Aleia Lauer of Genoa-Kingston clinched the final individual qualifying spot with an over-par score of 88. Regina sophomore Abby Thiel had a tough section, shooting 56-61 — 117 to tie for 94th out of 106 golfers.
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