Eisenhower golf highlights, season awards

Eisenhower High School asked coaches to share highlights, personal achievements, and anything else about their teams that made them feel proud. Here's coach Ray Vicario with the season summary for Eisenhower golf:

The 2020 golf season was one like no other with daily challenges, but we made it through the season with so much to be thankful for. Being in the middle of a pandemic, the human interaction that we all need so badly, had been lost leading up to our golf season.

While we started the school year with kids at home, we were able to start the golf season as a group and we made it all the way through without interruption. I want to thank everyone who made sacrifices to socially distance, for wearing a mask at all times, and taking extra precautions to clean and sanitize all equipment all season long.

With all of this going on, I was worried that the game of golf would suffer but that was far from the case. There was so much growth from our seniors all the way down to our freshmen from day 1 to the end of the season.

The varsity and JV golf team played a modified schedule only playing SSC Red opponents along with Lemont High School. The varsity was led by our captains Khari Barnes and Carson Chavez. Khari really put the work in necessary to take the next step in his golf game.

He improved a whopping 10.2 strokes in his 9-hole scoring average from his 2019 season. Khari led the varsity golf team at the SSC Golf Tournament shooting an 84 at Stoney Creek Golf Course. He finished 7th overall and was named to the SSC All Conference team. Carson was a positive influence at practice every day and we expect big things from him next season.

Senior, Tony Pacetti, came out for the golf team this season after the football season was delayed. It was a pleasure to work with Tony on a daily basis and I can see why he has had so much success on the wrestling mat and baseball and football fields. A gifted athlete, he picked up the game quickly and showed a lot of growth in such a short time. We will really miss Tony next season.

Akanji Solomon also showed real growth from start to finish as well. He had his low round in the last match of the season v Richards shooting a 47. Anthony Rice was unable to compete the last half of the season but, in the matches he played in, Anthony was one of the biggest contributors to the varsity team. Anthony improved 6.7 strokes from 2019. He will be a big contributor moving forward to 2021.

Vince Jalomo improved over 7 strokes from his 2019 season and was a very reliable golfer for the Cardinals this season. His natural baseball swing has translated well into his golf game. Vince has so much potential and we are really looking forward to seeing what 2021 will bring for Vince.

Freshmen, Ayipey Salinas, showed a ton of growth from the start of the season to the end. After starting the season playing JV, he performed so well he played with the varsity in the IHSA Regional and the varsity SSC Golf Tournament. The sky's the limit for Ayipey. Eddie Torres was our most improved golfer after playing JV last season, Eddie took the next step this year playing in several varsity matches and the SSC varsity tournament. He improved his 9-hole average just under 7 strokes from last season.

Our JV team was mostly golfers that were new to the game of golf. Golf is a game that can be frustrating, especially learning initially. I give all of our JV golfers a lot of credit for getting better throughout the season.

There is no secret of how many of our golfers showed this much growth from their previous season. You need to put in the time and effort, nothing will come without work. We need everyone to get practice in during the spring and summer so we can take that next step. It is on everyone to step up! The 2021 season will be here before you know it. Make it a great one starting now!

Congratulations to all of the award winners:

MVP
Khari Barnes

Most Improved
Eddie Torres

Sportsmanship
Anthony Rice