Stevenson sophomore Allyson Duan had quite an exciting year in 2021, to say the least.
In addition to her studies and getting acclimated to high school as a freshman, Duan excelled on the links as well.
Her 2-day total of 151 saw her finish tied for 17th overall individually at the Class 2A state tournament, and the superb effort helped lead the Patriots to a second place trophy.
Now it looks to be more of the same this season.
Duan shot 74 Saturday, good for fourth place at the 43rd annual Waukegan Girls Invitational at Bonnie Brook Golf Course, pacing her team to the invite win.
Stevenson, with a score of 303, bested runner-up Glenbrook North (314), with Hinsdale Central, Loyola, New Trier and Barrington finishing in positions three through six.
“It was great to be on a team,” said Duan of her freshman campaign. “Before that, I only really played for myself, so it was very different playing for other people, and getting to experience the state with your friends.”
Duan had 3 birdies on the day, including one on the difficult par-5 fifth hole, where she drained a 20-foot putt.
“It was really nice out here,” said Duan of Bonnie Brook. “Perfect weather conditions, and I really liked my playing partner. It was a fun round.”
Another sophomore who is continuing her success from last season is Alexis Myers of Glenbrook North.
Myers, who also finished her freshman year with a 151 at state to tie for 17th overall, shot a 75 at Waukegan to lead the Spartans to a second place finish.
She also plays point guard on the varsity basketball team that went 19-11 last year, and added that “it was difficult to balance my time, with homework (her favorite subjects are math, geometry and algebra) and studying for tests, but I feel like I used my time well.”
Myers said that going to the state golf tournament as a frosh “was really cool, and I was really looking forward to this year — as a team hopefully we’ll do well at state again. We have team meetings, and we talk about how we want to improve.”
Kacie Moon had the top score for Glenbrook North, a 73, while Eva Greenberg from Rockford Boylan earned medalist honors with an even-par 71.
Sydney Terada of Barrington carded a 77.
Lakes has quite a one-two punch this season in sophomore Maia Becker and senior McKenna Sosnowski, and coach Jennifer Schoon said that she is looking forward to even more success.
“Maia (who fired an outstanding 80 at Bonnie Brook) is really coming on strong and having a great season,” said Schoon, “and we’re showing a lot of promise as a team.”
“We have just one loss in conference, and we have hopes to possibly win conference, and also place as a team at regionals and sectionals. Those are our goals, but we are in a very tough sectional.”
Chelsea She (75), Ellie Choe (77) and Sophia Joeng (77) all contributed to Stevenson’s win Saturday in a tourney that featured six of the top eight teams from last year’s state meet.
Allie Santos, a senior, has been on the Patriots varsity since day one of her career, and she’s experienced the thrill of being on a state championship team (her freshman season), and last year’s runner-up squad.
She’s hoping to get back in 2022, and says that nothing can compare to the team camaraderie she’s experienced on the girls golf squad.
“It’s always been an amazing experience,” Santos said of her state final trips. “Just being in a hotel together, going out to dinner together, the team bonding things that we do are so memorable.”
“I’ll always value them,” she said of her teammates. “It’s bittersweet for the season to be ending, but it’s so much fun to play with these girls and they always teach me a lot about my game.”
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