GET. IT. DONE.
IHSA needs to do everything in its power to stage a state meet in boys, girls golf
Todd Allen is trying to remain hopeful.
The Sandburg girls golf coach wants the Illinois High School Association to give the green light to a state meet.
He’s not alone. “There’s some buzz the state is considering it,” Allen said. “We’ve gotten this far. Itwould be nice to finish things off with a state championship at stake.”
As it stands now, Tuesday’s upcoming Class 2A Sandburg Sectional is the finish line to the 2020 season.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the IHSA adopted an abbreviated schedule that limited the state series for fall sports to localized regional and sectional competitions.
Up until twoweeks ago, the girls golf season was scheduled to end after the regional, which was Wednesday.
Twoweeks ago, however, the IHSA announced a plan to extend the season and offer a sectional round. Great decision.
There haven’t been any major COVID-19 outbreaks reported among participating teams, either on the boys or girls side.
Now, Allen wants the IHSA to extend the season to include a state meet.
I’m with him.
With one of the state’s top players in senior Athena Kwon and a superb supporting cast of Jenna James, Katie Mikso and Jillian Cosler, Sandburg is a legit contender if a Class 2A state meet were held.
If last season’s host sites— Decatur’s Red Tail Run in 1A and Hickory Creek in 2A for girls; Bloomington’s Prairie Vista in 1A, Normal’s Weibring Golf Club in 2A and Bloomington’s The Den at Fox Creek in 3A for boys— can’t accommodate at such late notice?
The IHSA should scour the state to find courses willing to roll out the red carpet.
“We knew what type of team we had coming into the season,” Allen said. “We would love an opportunity.”
So would Lockport boys golf coach Matt Eber.
The Porters, like Sandburg on the girls side, are remarkably skilled.
Led by reigning two-time state champion Ben Sluzas, Lockport has the depth to be the first Southland team since Homewood-Flossmoor in 1969 to win a state title in boys golf.
The host Porters earned a 3A regional title Tuesday.
“Coming into the season, we believed we had a team that could compete with anyone,” Eber said. “From what we’ve done this season, we still believe that. We’d love to have a shot at it.”
And howabout Sluzas? He has a chance to become only the second player in state history to win three straight state titles.
To be denied that chance is a tough pill to swallow.
And howabout Lincoln-Way Central’s Sean Curran and Juney Bai?
Curran, a Clemson commit who hits the ball a country mile, and Bai, the Lockport Regional champion who possesses pinpoint accuracy, would be denied the chance to unseat Sluzas.
Talk about taking the pulp out of one’s competitive juices.
I recently spoke with Craig Anderson, the IHSA’s executive director. And while he didn’t put the kibosh on a state meet, he wasn’t optimistic.
“Wewere able to extend the season and offer a sectional,” Anderson said. “At this time, it would be very hard to put a state finals together. There is a lot thatwould have to be done. I don’t knowif that’s possible.” Anything is possible. I know this much. If there’s anyway for it to happen, Anderson will get it done, so I wouldn’t slam the door entirely on a last-minute change.
Kwon, who carded a 3-under 67Wednesday at the Hinsdale South Regional, is holding out hope.
“Itwould be great if it did happen,” she said.“We have a very good team and we’re very close. Itwould be wonderful to share that experience if we were able to qualify after sectionals. It’s something you never forget.”