Boys golf
Lake Forest won the Class AA team championship by four strokes over New Trier, the Scouts firing a two-day total of 631 strokes to New Trier’s 635. Freeport finished third at 641, and defending champion St. Charles was fourth.
New Trier’s Michael Slaven won the individual state title with a 36-hole total of 148, edging Naperville Central’s Mike Baldwin by three strokes. Slaven’s final-round score of 70 was the fourth-best single-round score in Class AA history.
Fairbury Prairie Central won the Class A title, and Brian Anderson of Rochester won the individual crown.
Mike Pankow.
Girls golf
St. Charles made up for finishing second in 1998 with an easy state-title victory in 1999.
On a cool, dark, blustery day, St. Charles breezed to the state championship by 15 strokes, scoring a two-day total of 664, compared with runner-up New Trier’s 679. St. Charles led New Trier by just three strokes after the first day but shot 328 on the final day to clinch the crown.
Sterling Newman’s Beth Hermes won her second straight individual state title by carding a 153, five shots better than New Trier’s Alexis Wooster.
Mike Pankow.
Girls tennis
Glenbrook South’s Chrissie Nolan capped her remarkable career with her third straight state singles title, beating Margaret Purcell 6-1, 6-0–her second consecutive championship-match victory over the Lake Forest standout. Nolan became only the second player to win three straight titles, following Stevenson’s Suzy Jaeger, who won from 1976 to 1978.
In an all-twins doubles final, Barrington’s Ashley and Karlyn Martin defeated Stephanie and Natalie Matko of West Aurora 6-0, 6-2, denying the Matkos’ bid to become the first duo to win three state titles.
Hinsdale Central won its first team title since 1983 as both its singles players–juniors Kate Williams and Shawna Zuccarini–reached the semifinals.
Pat Rooney.
Boys soccer
Prairie Ridge, in only its third year of existence, won what many other older high schools are still striving for–a state championship. The Wolves defeated defending Class A champ Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 2-0 in the title match at Edwardsville.
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Tribune All-State pick Ryan Zoellick and Spencer Kemmeling scored in the final to lead Prairie Ridge to a 29-0-1 finish. Dave O’Leary’s team is 55-2-1 over the last two seasons–one of those losses in the 1998 state final.
In Class AA, East Moline stunned favored New Trier 4-1 in the semifinals–the Trevians were ranked No. 1 in the Chicago area, and New Trier’s Greg Badger and Bill Metzger both were on the Tribune’s All-State team. Then East Moline became the first Downstate team to win a Class AA title by knocking off Lincoln-Way 2-1 in the title game at Rockford. The last single-class boys soccer champ from Downstate was Collinsville in 1992.
Alan Sutton.
Boys cross country
Before the 1999 season, York coach Joe Newton hinted he would postpone his retirement. He made it official after the Dukes won their 20th state title powered by Donald Sage’s individual championship. Sage, who had finished second the previous two seasons, won the Class AA 3-mile race in 14 minutes 3 seconds. West Chicago’s Tim Keller was second in 14:24. York had six runners in the top 25 and scored 24 points, the second-best total in state history. Adam Palumbo ran fifth, Pete Cioni sixth, Adam Roche eighth, Peter Stasiulis 12th and John Janulis 24th. Schaumburg was second with 139 points.
In Class A, Eureka turned in a York-like performance to win with 32 points to Kaneland’s 155.
Marlen Garcia.
Girls cross country
A week before the state meet, Woodstock’s Katie Hartmann left her sectional race on the verge of tears. A preseason favorite to win a state title, she had trouble hiding her disappointment from a runner-up sectional finish. Hartmann redeemed herself in the Class AA state final, however, leading from the start to win the 2.5-mile race in 13:55. Delilah DiCrescenzo of Queen of Peace ran second in 14:06. Schaumburg’s runners also were motivated by a disappointing sectional, in which the Saxons had finished third. Sparked by Lana Macnider’s eighth-place finish at state, Schaumburg scored 154 points for its first state title since 1982. York scored 167 for second.
Winnebago won the Class A title with 98 points to Eureka’s 171.
Marlen Garcia.
Girls volleyball
Things didn’t look bright for the Downers Grove South volleyball team when practice started in August. All-State pick Chantel Reedus was coming off ACL surgery, and senior setter Kelly West hadn’t recovered from a shoulder operation.
The season ended on a much higher note. The Mustangs won their second Class AA state championship with a 15-8, 15-5 victory over Belleville Althoff.
All-Stater Lindsey Filkins led Downers with nine kills in the first game against Althoff, when Downers South rallied from a 7-3 deficit. Filkens had 11 kills in the second game as Downers (36-5) wrapped up the title. Normal University High won the Class A title, defeating Quincy Notre Dame.
Reid Hanley.
Girls swimming
St. Charles closed the 1990s in dramatic fashion with its sixth consecutive state team championship, rallying to beat New Trier with a victory in the meet’s final event. The 4×100-yard freestyle relay team of Ashley Seymour, Christine Anderson, Laura Lipskis and Kristen Brennan finished with a state record time of 3 minutes 26.01 seconds.
St. Charles closed with 186 team points and four state champions, including a pair of individual gold medals from Brennan as well as two relay triumphs. Brennan capped a stellar individual career with victories in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle races and also swam on a championship 4×50 freestyle relay with Anderson, Lipskis and Seymour that finished in 1:35.27. The previous day that group set a national record of 1:34.54 in the 4×50.
The architect of the Saints’ success–head coach Jennifer Heyer–resigned after the season.
Neuqua Valley’s Jessica Wagner won her fourth straight 100-yard breaststroke title while Hinsdale Central’s Jessica Roberts also made it 4 for 4 with her 100 backstroke victory.
Jack McCarthy.
Football
Ryan Clifford went from an anonymous running back in the preseason to the best football player in the state. The 5-11, 180-pound Eastern Michigan recruit rushed for 2,670 yards and a state-record 51 touchdowns in leading Naperville Central to the Class 6A championship.
The title-game showdown between Clifford and Schaumburg All-State running back Jason Hawkins never materialized as Hawkins was slowed by an ankle injury. Naperville Central (14-0) won 56-31 as Hawkins finished his senior season with 2,748 yards rushing and 41 TDs. Clifford stole the show in the finale, played for the first time at Champaign’s Memorial Stadium. He scored on a 58-yard TD catch and three short runs and also contributed a 53-yard run and a 59-yard kickoff return. His 401 all-purpose yards included 249 rushing.
After upsetting preseason No. 1 Mt. Carmel on opening night, Joliet Catholic (14-0) went on to capture the 4A crown with a 48-13 rout of Metamora. Leading the way was 6-5, 260-pound All-State defensive lineman Mike Maloney, who returned an interception 39 yards for a score. Linebacker Lee Sicinski had a record-setting 18 total tackles and 10 assists as the Hilltoppers defense made 10 tackles behind the line. Joliet Catholic became the first school to win eight state football titles.
Several hours later, Joliet had to share that distinction with Mt. Carmel (13-1), which handled Marian Catholic 31-7 for the 5A title. That was the fifth championship for the Caravan in the 1990s. Mt. Carmel, Joliet Catholic and Marian Catholic all compete in the Catholic Metro Conference. Jim Letz recovered a mishandled punt in the end zone for Mt. Carmel’s first touchdown, and 54 seconds later Chad Dickerson returned an interception for a TD. .
In 3A, Byron (14-0) cruised to the state title with a 41-8 victory over St. Joseph-Ogden. Stillman Valley (12-2) captured ultimate bragging rights in 2A with a 28-0 triumph over Macon Meridian. The only competitive final was in 1A, where Carthage (14-0) edged Galena 14-12.
Bob Sakamoto.