Fillies and Broncos End Spring Sports on High And Low Notes

In what is always a very busy spring schedule, here is just a quick glimpse on how some of the Broncos and Fillies sports teams did this spring.

Boys’ Tennis: The Broncos, who won the Schaumburg Sectional, had two doubles teams advance to the state finals held in Arlington Heights. Sophomore Ben Adams and junior Greg Baker kicked off the three-day tournament for Barrington with a victory in their first match (6-3, 6-0 to Carbondale High School), but would lose their next match, an intense battle to Oak Park (Fenwick) 7-5, 7-5. The doubles tandem would rebound to win their next match over Chicago Latin before losing in the third round of the consolation bracket to Naperville North (6-2, 6-3).

Barrington’s other pairing to make the finals was their No. 1 doubles team comprised of junior Greg Coll and senior Ben Knuckles. Coll and Knuckles, who didn’t drop a set during the sectional tournament, continued that trend by not dropping a set during the first three rounds of the state meet. After defeating Morton (6-0, 6-0), MSL W rival Fremd (6-2, 6-3) and Downers Grove South (6-2, 7-6(1)), Coll and Knuckles would lose in straight sets to Winnetka’s Drew Campbell and Thomas Fawcett, the eventual runner ups in the state for the doubles competition. 

Coll and Knuckles would win their next match in the consolation bracket against Bloomington, earning Barrington its 10th team point, before losing in the seventh round of the consolation bracket to Deerfield.

The team effort earned Barrington a 20th place finish (10 team points) at the state tournament. New Trier would take the top spot at the state meet with 55 team points, a remarkable 19 points ahead of second-place finisher Deerfield (36 points).

Girls’ Track: The Fillies had a rough run through the Huntley Sectional as only two participants qualified for the state meet held at O’Brien Stadium (Eastern Illinois) in Charleston, Ill. Sophomore Rachel Simon, running in the 3,200-meter run, finished second at the sectional (11:24.87) but against the state’s elite runners completed the race in 27th place (11:53.63). 

Barrington’s other qualifier for the state meet was 300-meter low hurdler Melissa Madden. The junior finished second at the Huntley Sectional with a time of 47.44, and despite shaving nearly a second off her time for the preliminaries (46.57), Madden failed to advance to the finals. Last qualifying time was 45.06.

Boys’ Volleyball: The Broncos, who seemed poised for a long stretch run into the playoffs after racking up an undefeated record in MSL conference play (8-0) and a strong regular season, started off on a sour note in the conference championship by losing to Buffalo Grove. 

After losing to host Buffalo Grove in the MSL Conference Championship (25-21, 29-27), the Broncos were able to get back in the win department with a victory over Lake Zurich (25-17, 25-17) to open IHSA regional action but would lose to Libertyville in the Mundelein Regional Championship match (22-25, 25-17, 25-22).

Girls’ Softball: Being led by a savvy core of seasoned senior veterans (Kiersten Tinkoff, Colleen Shandley-ninth on the all-time hits list for Illinois, Kristin Kuhn and Kiley Dolezal), and the power-hitting sophomore Loren Krzysko (set Barrington’s single season homerun record with 12), the Fillies captured their 10th consecutive regional crown and 12th under Coach Perry Peterson. 

Barrington’s 15th championship in school history came with their 4-0 win over hosts Zion-Benton and set up their third battle of the year with tough MSL-W opponent Fremd. Barrington had won both earlier contests 8-2 and 3-0. Unfortunately, the Fillies were unable to pull off the difficult task of beating the same team three times in a season and lost their Gurnee sectional semifinal matchup 4-1.

Boys’ Water Polo: Even though Barrington’s start to the season had not gone as coach Adam Steffen had expected with his returning experienced players, hopes were high for the Broncos entering the playoffs, especially since they were competitive in most of their games throughout the season. But Barrington wasn’t able to capitalize on their home pool advantage and lost to MSL-W rival Conant. The Cougars, averaging more than 12 goals per game during the playoffs, were able to get on the board early against the Broncos, and cruised to a 15-3 decision.

Girls’ Lacrosse: After sweeping through the MSL-W undefeated (6-0), the Fillies earned the No. 1 seed in the IHSWLA Schaumburg Sectional. Facing the hosts for the sectional, the Saxons, Barrington’s junior Christa Madden (ranked eighth in the state for goal scoring with 54, chipped nine assists for 63 points on the season) scored four goals in their 12-8 victory. Senior MacKenzie McPike, normally a defensive menace with her 28 caused turnovers, 67 draw controls and state leading 117 groundball controls (44 more than second place) added a goal over Schaumburg and in Barrington’s 11-8 loss to Palatine in Sectional Championship.

Barrington already had beaten Palatine twice this season and like so many other good teams was unable to find an answer for their third matchup. Senior midfielder Jacqueline Holdsberg scored three goals while senior midfielder/attacker Maryann Thompson scored a goal (ended with a 1.25 assists per game average for the season) in the 11-8 loss.