South Cook News

* Release, photo attached - view this release online at: www.lhs210.net/about-us/news-releases *

For the first time since 2017, Lemont High School’s boys’ golf team is headed to the state finals. Head coach Mark Hollatz’s squad placed third at the IHSA Brother Rice Sectional on October 4 to secure the program’s 11th team state finals berth. Lemont will participate in the 2021 IHSA Boys’ Golf Class 2A State Finals on Friday, October 8, and Saturday, October 9, at the par-71 Weibring Golf Club at Illinois State University in Normal.

Lemont posted a team score of 306 in sectional competition at The Sanctuary Golf Course in New Lenox, trailing sectional champion St. Ignatius and runner-up Wheaton Academy. The top three teams from each of the IHSA’s four Class 2A Sectionals advanced to state finals competition, along with the top 10 individuals from schools that did not qualify for state finals team competition.

Junior Jack Crispo and sophomore Eddie Scott led the squad, posting scores of +1 73 to tie for fifth individually. Lemont’s sectional contingent also included seniors Austin Belsan (+17 89), Paulius Malcius (+6 78) and Ryan Tracy (+10 82), and junior Daniel Stood (+11 83).

Lemont outlasted Providence Catholic and Morris to win the IHSA Lemont Regional on September 29 at Wedgewood Golf Course in Plainfield. Malcius earned medalist honors by firing a -5 67, while Scott (4th, +3 75), Tracy (5th, +4 76) and Crispo (t-8th, +7 79) joined him in placing among the top 10 individuals. The regional crown was the program’s 12th.

Lemont captured its 16th consecutive South Suburban Conference title earlier this season.

Malcius will make his third state finals appearance. He became the first freshman in program history to qualify for the state finals as an individual in 2018, and earned all-state accolades by placing fifth individually at the 2019 IHSA State Finals.

Lemont’s first team state finals berth came in 2005, when the squad qualified for the IHSA Class AA State Finals. It advanced to the IHSA Class 2A State Finals each season from 2007-11, and again annually from 2014-17. Its best team state finals finish came in 2011, when it earned a third-place trophy.

Five individuals have earned medals in state finals competition, including Shane Purtle ‘12, whose third-place tie in 2011 remains the best finish in program history. Other medal winners have included Dave Lucheon ‘77 (t-7th, 1976), Tom Lynn ‘07 (t-8th, 2005), Raymond Sullivan ‘18 (t-12th, 2015), and Malcius (5th, 2019). Sullivan is the only player in school history to compete in four state finals.