Garritson lifts Lockport fortunes

LOCKPORT -- Broken Arrow is not necessarily the type of golf course where young ladies tend to shoot low scores.

Not on a chilly day when the wind is whipping.

So from that standpoint, the relatively high numbers posted in Wednesday's Class AA Lockport Sectional did not come as a huge surprise.

But then there's Lockport 16-year-old sophomore Krystal Garritson. Seemingly immune to the conditions, she shot a 12-over-par 84 to win medalist honors by 10 strokes over runnerup Hinsdale South's Angela DiFiglio.

"I missed eight birdie putts, but everything else went pretty well," Garritson said.

Just another day at the office.

Though Garritson's effort was not enough to power the Porters to the team title, it did help guarantee a spot in next week's sectional at Coyote Run in Flossmoor.

Hinsdale South came away with the regional title with a 406 total for its four counting scores. Lockport finished second with 412 and Lemont also advanced with a 432 total.

The rest of the team finishers were Plainfield South 468, Plainfield North 475, Joliet Catholic Academy 482, Plainfield Central 494, Bolingbrook 518, Sandwich 575, Romeoville 597, Mt. Assisi 610 and Plainfield East 656.

Eight individuals not on qualifying teams also advanced, and the Joliet area struck gold there, claiming seven of the eight spots. Plainfield North will send junior Jessica Rinehart (104) and junior Kelsey Marshall (110) to the sectional, junior Sam Cichy (108) and senior Jordan Bishop (108) will represent Plainfield South, freshman Claire O'Conner advanced from JCA and senior Alexis King (115) and sophomore Cailey Baker (118) will go from Plainfield Central.

The rest of the medal winners behind Garritson and DiFiglio for their top-five finishes were Danielle Bavcevic of Hinsdale South (97), Emily Lejman of Lemont (101) and No. 1 individual qualifier Katie Anderson of Yorkville (102).

The other counting scores for Lockport besides Garritson's were senior Allie Burek at 103, junior Taylor Thompson at 111 and junior Kristy Mahal at 114. Junior Natalie Sopiarz shot 119 and senior Megan Alano had a 122.

"A lot of teams shot higher than they are used to," Lockport coach Dan Samuilis noted. "I don't know if it was the winds, the fast greens, or what, but the scores were high."

"We've been getting better every tournament until today," Lemont coach Bill Mondrella said. "We had 414, 411, 402, 383 and now today we went back up.

"There are narrow fairways out here, they slope to the water, and there is a lot of water. It was tough to make my girls pretend it wasn't there."

Lemont was led by sophomore Lejman at 101. The Indians' other counting scores were senior Ashley Brandt at 106, junior Lisa Laloian at 108 and Megan DeVries at 117. DeVries stepped in because Nadya Cortes, normally the No. 2 player in Mondrella's lineup, was not available.

"Nadya should be there Monday," Mondrella said. "She shot a 91 last week at Rosary."

As the only senior in the Lemont lineup, Brandt stepped up Wednesday.

"All the way through today, Ashley played consistent," Mondrella said. "I heard of scores likes 13, 15, 16 on single holes from a lot of girls out here, and she stayed away from that."

Samuilis was hoping for better scores up and down the Lockport lineup, but the Porters are in the sectional regardless, ready to start from square 1 Monday.

With a weapon such as Garritson in their arsenal, they may have a leg up despite the cold, wind, rain or whatever else Mother Nature has up her sleeve.

"The weather really doesn't affect me at all," Garritson said. "I am so into it that I don't notice anything around me when I'm out there."

"Krystal is a golf fanatic," Samuilis said. "She loves the game and works harder than anyone I have ever seen.

"She travels around to tournaments all summer because she loves the game, and it shows in how she shoots. All the accolades she gets, she deserves. And with her only a sophomore, she is going to get that much better the next two years."

Garritson, who played No. 2 for Lockport last year as a freshman but did not qualify for the sectional, finished fifth in the recent Southwest Suburban Blue meet, shooting an 83 with eight 3-putts. That was at Coyote Run, the sectional venue.

"I've shot in the 70s three times this season, and I think that's a realistic goal, to shoot in the 70s and go to state," said Garritson, who has been playing golf since she was 4 years old. "I know one thing, I'm really going to work hard, work hard on my putting, this weekend."

Once next week is in the books, Garritson said she plans to work on getting stronger.

"She will work on her stregnth in the winter, she will hit it farther and that will make her approach shots that much easier," Samuilis said.

"I'm going to get right into a workout plan at Cardinal Fitness when our season ends," Garritson said. "In November, I'm going to play on the Plantations (Junior) Tour, and that will go on until the spring."

Competing as an individual has its merits, but for right now, Garritson is glad to have her fellow Porters involved as well.

"My team is like my family," she said.