Two golfers represented Oak Park high schools at the IHSA state girls golf individual finals held in Decatur, Oct. 10-11. Oak Park and River Forest High School junior Nadia Vattana, who tied for 55th last year, finished in a tie for 52nd place. She shot an 84 on Friday and followed up on Saturday with a 79 for a two-day score of 163 strokes.
“She struggled the middle stretch of the first round,” said OPRF coach Matt McMurray, “but steadied the ship at the end to make the cut and then played more like herself on Saturday. It was a pretty good weekend and I’m proud of the gutsy golf she played. She’ll get back in the lab soon and start working on some of the things that will get her to that next level this offseason.”
Fenwick High School junior Mairin Sweeney, who tied for 77th last fall, also improved on her state finish, tying for 59th. She shot a 79 on Friday and an 85 on Saturday for a two-day total of 164.
“She had a great first round,” said Fenwick coach Mike Trankina. “And while the second round was better than last year, she was hoping for a repeat of round one. But all in all, she did great.”
Girls conference tennis
OPRF hosted the West Suburban Silver meet, Oct. 10-11. The Huskies finished fourth in the team standings with 11 points.
At #1 singles, junior Lucy Stein (28-2) reached the final. She blanked Damara Cid of Proviso West 6-0, 6-0 in the first round, then defeated Lyons Township’s Abby Sullivan in the semifinals 6-2, 6-4 before losing the final to York’s CJ Coan 1-6, 2-6.
Sophomore Ella Rangsithienchai reached the #2 singles final, defeating Genesis M. of Proviso West 6-0, 6-1 and York’s Rosie DeCristofaro 6-3, 6-4 before Jordan Baker of Hinsdale Central defeated her in the final, 4-6, 2-6.
Junior Sonia Gupta finished fourth in #3 singles. She defeated Annalise Ricci of Glenbard West in the first round 6-4, 6-3 before losing in the semifinals to Hinsdale Central’s Arya Gupta 0-6, 0-6 and 3-6, 3-6 in the third-place match to Violette Ries of York.
In #1 doubles, senior Clara Lau and junior Ava Lebovitz blanked Leah Bell and Meghan Greer of Proviso West 6-0, 6-0, but lost the semifinal 1-6, 2-6 to York’s Olivia Allen and Evelyn Kahl, then the third-place match 4-6, 0-6 to Rhia Nagale and Elise Novey of LT.
At #2 doubles, seniors Tess Cronin and Zoe Panton also went 1-2, winning their first-round match 6-1, 6-7, 10-6 over Glenbard West’s Mia Fanter and Victoria Creswell, before losing to Samantha Bhagavan and Ainsley William of York 4-6, 2-6 in the semifinals and 0-6, 0-6 to Erin Hanzlik and Sophia Dalgety of York in the third-place match.
Seniors Mia Kircher and Caitlin Ladesich won their first-round #3 doubles match 6-1, 6-3 over Maya Rana and Fiona Leion of Downers Grove North. The duo lost in the semifinals 1-6, 1-6 against LT’s Abby Cox and Cora Haussermann before winning the third-place match 6-2, 6-2 over Evelyn Carle and Maddie Dohman of Glenbard West.
OPRF hosts an IHSA Class 2A sectional, Oct. 17-18. Among the teams competing at the sectional is Fenwick. At the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference meet held Oct. 10, the Friars finished third with 26 points, two behind runner-up St. Ignatius and five behind champion Loyola Academy.
Junior Emma Louderback finished second at #1 singles. She defeated Grace Milas of Providence Catholic 8-1 in the first round, then edged past Caroline Hewitt of Loyola 5-7, 7-3, 10-7, before losing the final 0-6, 0-6 to Kate Gibble of St. Ignatius.
Senior Katie McCarthy took third at #2 singles. She beat Lilly Pietryzk of Providence before losing to Emilia Nelson of Loyola 6-7 (4), 6-7 (3) in the semifinals. McCarthy rebounded to win the third-place match 6-1, 6-7 (2), 10-8 over Leana Phocas of St. Ignatius.
Juniors Lucy Gruber and Coco Braithwaite finished second in #2 doubles, losing the final 2-6, 1-6 to Loyola. Junior Maeve Bonakdar and senior Olivia Perez-Zuleta finished third at #3 doubles, and seniors Maddie Cheronis and Sydney Woitel placed fourth at #1 doubles.