Cyclones blow away JHS

SPRINGFIELD — Everybody ate Sacred Heart-Griffin’s dust Tuesday at the Lincoln Greens Golf Club. With two of their players shooting under par, the Cyclones easily captured the 2007 regional crown with a cumulative score of 292, finishing a full nine strokes ahead of second-place Quincy Notre Dame.

And there was Jacksonville High head coach Perry Crowley a few days ago, figuring that with Lincoln Greens’ October lake breezes and deceptive bunkers, a score of 320 might be good enough to advance his Crimsons to Monday’s sectional round in Quincy.

But five teams did better than that Tuesday, while the Crimsons came in sixth at, you guessed it, 320. The consolation for Crowley and crew was that senior teammates John Honnen and Sam Lee did qualify for the next round as individuals.

“The scores were a lot lower than what I was expecting,” Crowley said. “I was thinking that a 320 score is usually good enough to get a team out.”

292? That’s just ridiculous, according to Crowley. It’s the mark of a very special golf squad.

“I’ve seen some Quincy scores that are that good, but I’ve never seen that from a Springfield area school,” said Crowley of SHG’s performance. “They’ve got a heck of a good team this year.”

Led by freshman and newly minted CS8 golf champion Josh Edison’s 3-under-par 69, the Cyclones made Lincoln Greens look easy. SHG’s Will Putman shot a 71 Tuesday, finishing second only to his teammate for the regional’s individual championship.

Macomb (307), Chatham Glenwood (317) and Springfield High (318) all finished ahead of Jacksonville. Besides Honnen’s 76 and Lee’s 79, nobody else shot under 80 for the Crimsons. Jake Mann and Taylor Kirchhofer finished at 92 and 91, respectively, while Taylor Pettit and Nick Cisne came in at 82 and 83.

Cisne, said Crowley, was not at full strength Tuesday.

“Nick’s been fighting a little illness,” Crowley said. “He’s been a trooper for us, showing up and playing as much as he has. He’s got a little bit of tonsillitis and maybe mono. He’s been struggling a bit because he’s not able to concentrate fully.”

Honnen won the Decatur Junior Invitational over the summer, so Crowley knew that he was capable of advancing to sectionals. Lee has been the Crimsons’ most consistent golfer all autumn. Despite having his struggles Tuesday, Lee still qualified with a 79.

“We were glad that Sam was able to hang in there and make it out,” Crowley said.

Monday’s Class AA sectionals will be held in Quincy at the Westview golf course. Fortunately, it is not as strange a locale for the Crimsons as Lincoln Greens was.

“We play an invite (at Westview) every year,” Crowley said. “These guys, being seniors, they’ve seen the course a couple of times. They should be pretty familiar with the course.”