LT Sports Roundup: Strong Play From Girls Golf, Volleyball, Tennis and More

The Lyons Township girls golf team qualified for Monday’s Class AA Marist Sectional by taking second at the Hinsdale Central Regional at Seven Bridges.

The Lions (345), champion Hinsdale Central (319) and third-place Downers Grove South (367) were the three advancing teams.  

LT sophomore Ciara Rattana (81) finished third individually on the par-73 course, five strokes behind medalist Rosanna Lederhausen of Hinsdale Central.

Other counting scores for LT came from seniors Katie Ellis (86) and Jamie Blechschmidt (87) and junior Rachael Johnson (91), followed by sophomore Jameson Mitchell (101) and senior Emma Pasquinelli (102).

The success continues a season in which the Lions went 9-1 in duals and finished third or better in every invitational. The Lions will need a top-three finish at the sectional, played at Old Oak Country Club in Homer Glen, to return as a team to the state meet. The Lions were 10th in Class AA in 2010.

“The girls have confidence that should propel them to some great scores at sectionals,” LT coach Brad Anderson said.

“We are also very happy about the progress of sophomore Ciara Rattana.  Finishing third at regionals on a very difficult track is impressive.  What's even more impressive is that she shot a better score on the back nine than the front nine.  There were very few girls within the top group of scorers who can say that.  And I believe that shows great potential for the years to come.”

LT Girls Volleyball

The Lyons Township girls volleyball team’s return to action Tuesday (Oct. 11) in La Grange against rival Hinsdale Central will be a special match.

Not only is it Senior Night for the Lions (16-5) but they also will honor former player Erin Potts immediately after the sophomore match.

Potts died from sarcoma cancer Dec. 18. 2009 at the age of 18. T-shirts will be sold and donations will be accepted at the match on behalf of the Sarcoma Foundation.

LT hasn’t played since Sept. 27, defeating Downers Grove North 25-17, 25-10 to improve to 3-1 in the West Suburban Conference Silver Division.  

Alyssa Keeve (4 aces, 4 kills, 5 digs), Alexis Viliunas (14 assists, 5 kills, 4 digs), Laura Williams (6 kills, 7 digs) and Megan Miller (12 digs) paced the victory.

LT Girls Tennis

The Lyons Township girls tennis team is in third place entering the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet Saturday (Oct. 8) based at Oak Park-River Forest High School.

The overall Silver title is based on points for matches won in duals and the conference tournament. LT was 4-2 in Silver duals and won 26 matches to trail Hinsdale Central (41) and Glenbard West (30) and lead York (22), OPRF (21), Downers Grove North (7) and Proviso West (0).

In Silver duals, the Lions defeated York 4-3 Monday, OPRF 5-2 and Downers North and Proviso West 7-0 while losing to Hinsdale Central 6-1 and Glenbard West 4-3.

The Lions got the only victory this season against Hinsdale Central and it was an impressive one. On Sept. 6, sophomore Alex Chatt and freshman Kristen Thoms defeated the defending state doubles champions, juniors Caroline Lorenzini and Marika Cusick 2-6, 6-2, 6-1. Thoms, however, currently is sidelined by a stress fracture in her right foot and probably won't return to the lineup.

LT Girls Swimming and Diving

The Lyons Township girls swimming and diving team moved to 2-1 in West Suburban Conference Silver Division duals with a 106-80 victory over York Sept. 29.

Jennifer Weigand won the 200-yard individual medley (2:16.46) and 500 freestyle (5:13.74) and was part of the victorious 200 free relay with Elly Vitek, Kristine Rosenberger and Katherine McGill (1:42.82).

Lizzy Kosin (100 butterfly in 1:01.86), Maddie Naughton (100 breaststroke in 1:12.57), diver Kelly Riser (167.05 points) and Rosenberger (50 free in 25.73) also were individual event winners.

LT previously defeated Proviso West 128-25 Sept. 15 and lost to Hinsdale Central 113-73 Sept. 22.

The LT junior varsity team defeated York 120-60 and the freshmen prevailed 122-61.

LT Boys Cross-Country

The Lyons Township boys cross country team finished fourth at the 39th annual Loyola Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational Saturday (Oct. 1) at Montrose Beach Park.

The Lions (194 points), who entered last week tied for 25th in the Class 3A DyeStat Illinois rankings, finished behind No. 5 New Trier (128 points), No. 7 Niles North (151) and No. 24 Glenbard West (179) and just ahead of No. 19 Minooka (198) in the 40-team field.

Junior Michael Matusiak (16:24) and sophomore James Ryan (16:25) were 24th and 26th on the 3.1-mile/5,000-meter course.

“All of our varsity kids ran well,” LT coach Mike Danner said. “We ran three of our top sophomores up on varsity (Ryan, Ed McCarter and Daniel Lupano) as you are allowed 12 varsity entries at Loyola.”

LT’s other finishers were McCarter (40th, 16:39), Ryan Speir (48th, 16:48), Grant Smith (56th, 16:52), Jonathan Dombro (65th, 16:59) and Ben Groya (69th, 16:59). Michael Accettura (78th, 17:06), Liam Callahan (17:12), Lupano (17:12) and Mark Lefevour (17:13) in 83rd through 85th and Zach Carlson (96th, 17:18).

LT Girls Cross-Country

The Lyons Township girls cross country team, No. 17 in this week’s Class 3A DyeStat Illinois rankings, took 10th at Wheaton North’s Falcon Classic Saturday (Oct. 1) at St. James Farm.

Unlike most meets, where each team’s top five runners are scored within one race, the Falcon Classic combines results from seven flight races in which each team has one entry.

Junior Haley Prokaski had the team’s fastest time on the 3.0-mile course to finish third in the No. 3 flight (18:11.7). Senior Alex Daemicke was 11th in the No. 2 flight (18:27.8), followed by Katie Hamor (3rd at No. 5 flight, 18:52.7), Lexy Rudofski (13th at No. 4, 19:17.6), Randie Speir (7th at No. 6, 19:12.10) and Tess Saibert (7th at No. 7, 19:28.0).

In the No. 1 (top) flight, senior Lisa Gordon was running well but then slipped during the first mile along the horse trails and tweaked her hamstring and LT coach Stetson Steele opted to pull her out of the race. As a result, the Lions were given last place (26th) for the flight, giving them 70 points.

“(Gordon) is doing fine now,” Steele said. “We ran really well. We’re very happy with the ways the girls compete, especially happy with Haley Prokaski's and Katie Hamor's performances."

If your LT team is not listed, please contact Bill Stone to be included in our wrap-ups.