Quenan leads Libertyville to invitational crown

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Libertyville's Alex Quenan, seen here hitting out of a sand trap during the Hawthorn Woods Invite last week, took medalist honors at the Antioch Invitational on Saturday. | Rob Dicker~Sun-Times Media

Updated: November 14, 2011 12:19AM

A summer of success has translated into a season of spectacular golf for Alex Quenan.

The Libertyville High School senior continued his dominance by grabbing medalist honors at the Antioch Invitational on Saturday. Quenan fired a 2-over-par 72 at Spring Valley.

“Alex played in a lot of tournaments over the summer and did very well,” said Wildcats coach Sean Matthews, whose team finished with 304 to claim the championship. “He’s really been working hard on his game.”

A simple plan helps the Wildcat fire low scores.

“He has a nice all-around game,” Matthews said. “He’s not super long off the tee, but he’s very accurate. His irons are outstanding and his putting is good. It’s not just one aspect (that is strong). When you score like that, everything has to be pretty good.”

The Wildcats were solid from top to bottom at Antioch. John Cordan shot 74 to grab second place, while Ryan McGuire (79, 14th place) and Mike Mudd (79, 15th place) also contributed to the three-shot victory over Mundelein.

“Before that 74, John’s best this season was a 79,” Matthews noted. “I was kind of expecting more from him earlier in the season. It’s a good time for him to be putting it all together.”

Libertyville has plenty of depth, as evidenced by the work of McGuire, Mudd and sophomore Billy Knutson.

“Billy has been playing in a lot of tournaments and doing well,” Matthews said. “If we can get him going, that will be great for us.”

The Wildcats, who earned dual-meet wins over Zion-Benton and Lake Zurich last week, return to action at Lake Forest, beginning at 4 p.m. Sept. 19.

Libertyville girls

The Wildcats bumped their dual-meet record to 7-0 by claiming a trio of victories last week.

As expected, Camilla Ou continues to lead the way.

“She has worked very hard on her game,” said Libertyville coach Greg Pedersen. “She puts in hours of practice time, and worked on everything from her long game to her short game.”

Ou picked up medalist honors in two meets last week, firing a 40 against Lake Zurich on Sept. 7 and a 38 against Deerfield on Sept. 9.

The Cats began the busy stretch by beating Vernon Hills 182-186 on Sept. 6. Scorers were Lauren Dohse (42), Darinka Sutic (45), Ou (47) and Emilie Teitz (48).

“Lauren didn’t hit the ball a long way, but she was incredibly accurate,” Pedersen said. “At Vernon Hills, that (accuracy) is what counts.”

In the 178-222 win over Lake Zurich, Ou led the charge with a 40. She was followed by Darinka (42), Dohse (48) and Teitz (48). The Cats completed the 3-0 streatch by defeating Deerfield 172-192. Ou’s 38 by was backed by Dohse (44), Paige Webb (44) and Sutic (46).

Libertyville finished off the busy week by placing eighth out of 12 teams in the Waukegan Invitational.

Pedersen has no complaints with how the season has unfolded.

“We had one round where nine girls shot in the 40s,” the coach said. “We’ve seen so much improvement all around.”