Red Devil golf teams open season with wins, first girls swim/dive meet is next week
As the fall sports season begins at Hinsdale Central, the boys and girls golf teams already have faced their first opponents, and the girls swim team will do so at the Kendall Pickering Invite Aug. 31. (file photos)
With the start of classes at Hinsdale Central High School last week came the start of the Red Devils sports season.
The addition of girls flag football this year brings the number of fall sports teams to 10.
In this, the first of a three-part season preview series, coaches for the boys and girls golf teams and girls swim/dive team share insights on their teams and the athletes they hope will take them into the postseason.
Boys golf
First meet: Aug. 15 @ Edwardsville Invite (V placed 1st with 293 strokes)
Last year: second at state, first in conference, regionals and sectionals
Head coach: Serge Penksik
Seasons as head coach: third (15th year coaching)
No. varsity team members: 14
Strengths: I think we are a multi-dimensional team now. We have a couple of veterans that have been downstate for the last two years, three years, so they have been in the thick of it at the state tournament. We have a couple of younger kids who are very experienced in tournament golf, so they are not new to competing. Maybe they're new to high school golf competing, but they have usually seen the kids they are competing with in high school golf tournaments in the summer. We're kind of a mixed bag, but I do like the chemistry of the team a lot.
Challenges: For me, the challenge is to make sure that once we get to the postseason, to get the right six kids to try and do the job. Last year, it was pretty evident who the top six players were going to be right off the bat. This year, yes I have the two returners that are going to be on that team, and I have one superstar freshman who most likely also will be a lock, but that's only three out of six. It creates kind of an exciting moment figuring out who can jump into those final three spots. You have to know which kids are able to play well on which course, who can withstand the pressure, who are the consistent ones. As school ramps up, trying not to get fatigued throughout the season is important. These guys play a long year of golf. They start playing tournament golf in April and they play in high school through October. Now with school work, you have to manage your time well.
Who to watch: we have Dru Devata and Kevin Wesolowski, those are the two seniors who have been our go-to guys. Michael Jorski, he's the freshman who has been playing pretty well at the start of the high school season.
Outlook: I try to focus and really emphasize the process of preparing for (state), and trying to become more efficient in preparation as the season goes on. Our goal is to win the state tournament. It's kind of an unspoken goal every time - or has been as long as I've been with the Hinsdale golf program, which is now 10 years. Of course, you're thinking about being the top team at the state tournament. Being there many times, it kind of doesn't matter if you think you're the top team or not. Anything can happen. We've been on the winning side of things. We've been on the losing side of things. The coaches who have won, I've seen them prepare the teams correctly and allow the teams to peak at the right time in the season.
Furthermore: I always am cautiously optimistic. I have a lot of trust and faith in the guys we coach. I know they want to compete hard and do well. It makes my job rewarding and enjoyable. I'm excited to see what they can do.
Girls golf
First meet: Aug. 17 @ Midlothian Challenge (V placed 1st in weather-shortened round)
Last year: second at state, won conference, regionals and sectionals
Head coach: Nick Latorre
Seasons as head coach: 12th
No. varsity team members: 12
Strengths: We have two returning four-year players in Toral Bhatt and Elyssa Abdullah. We've got a bunch of talented younger girls that have great potential and have shown the ability to put up some pretty good scores last season and this summer.
Challenges: For some of our younger girls, consistency will be something that will be a focus for us. Some of our younger players (need) to get comfortable in the team golf environment and playing consistently. Our conference is always solid.
Who to watch: Elyssa Abdullah and Toral Bhatt are two lead players in the state. Returning from last year's team, Sara Han played a round downstate last year and played well. Olivia Zhang also played a round downstate and played really well. I think those four girls will be, hopefully, the backbone of the team. We've got some really good young players, Anika Danda, a sophomore, she's had some really good rounds. Amelia Gambla, she's a freshman who has shown some early potential. We've got a couple other sophomores and juniors that really could contribute.
Outlook: I think there's potential, and I'm hoping that we improve and are playing our best in October.
Girls swimming & diving
First meet: Kendall Pickering Invite Aug. 31
Last year: fifth at state, 7-2 duel meets
Head coach: Bob Barber
Seasons as head coach: 25th
No. varsity team members: 20 swimmers, 3 divers
Strengths: We have a lot of returning state qualifiers. The majority of our relays are coming back. We're hoping to build on our experience and use our current pool situation (closed until Oct. 7 at the earliest) as motivation.
Challenges: I think the biggest challenge for the girls is finding time to interact with each group. In one way it's positive. The swimmers all got to practice together for the first two weeks, and we found homes for both swimming and diving that find us most of our needed practice time. In another way, it's negative, because we don't have a home base where a lot of their camaraderie and time together is built around waiting in the locker room, waiting for a bus, some stuff that is being removed from our season. The challenge is finding new things. We had our car wash on Saturday. It was very successful. When you're doing something like that, it feels more social. The seniors put together a trip to the beach this past weekend. Those activities, we need to find more of them so the kids find time to bond with new people.
Who to watch: I'm excited to see so many of our returning state qualifiers who were first-timers last year - Meghan Martell, Siena Allegra, Vija Barber, Lilia Barber, Kamile Zinis, Karina Miller. I'm excited to see how their experience at the meet will help them excel as athletes.
Outlook: I think it's going to have a lot of similar feelings to last season. I think the dual meets we can win are the ones we won last year. The dual meets we'll have a tough time winning are the ones we lost last year. We're going to be pretty close on dual meets, conference and sectionals. In terms of the state meet, there has been some shuffling of athletes as families have moved to new school districts. We lost a big piece from our state seniors last year. I think we'll be a top 10 team. Our challenge right now is our depth. We do have - I believe the magic number is - 79 girls out for the program. The varsity program is going to be pretty young.
Furthermore: I'm really proud of the girls after week one and handling the start of a new season outside of the house and the start of the school year at the same time.
