Ridley, Strath Haven,Upper Darby cited for sportsmanship

   It’s been a couple of weeks, but the last post had the All-Central selections, but failed to include an item under the final standings on the second page of that report.

   That would be the sportsmanship winners, which were Ridley, Strath Haven and Upper Darby. That’s a credit to their coaches, Jeff Lubas, Kevin Kochersperger and Jon McGarry, respectively, and to the players. Sportsmanship is important in every sport, but maybe even a little more so on the golf course, where it’s impossible for the coach to keep an eye on all his players at the same time.

   In case followers of scholastic golf were looking for an All-Delco team, they will have to wait until the spring. Although, the vast majority of the teams play in the fall now – it wasn’t all that long ago that the Catholic League and the Inter-Ac League boys teams still teed it up in the spring – but the Inter-Ac girls still play in the spring. Since the All-Delco golf team has always included boys and girls, it’s only fair that we wait until the spring to make sure the Inter-Ac girls get their due.

   There will be a couple of interesting story lines for the Inter-Ac girls in the spring, too. The Notre Dame girls will carry a 32-match Inter-Ac League unbeaten streak into the campaign as the Irish have swept their league competition in each of the last four seasons. And Agnes Irwin eighth-grader Kaitlyn Lees, the individual Inter-Ac champion as a seventh-grader last spring, continued to show improvement all last summer and into the fall. 

Purdue’s Hernandez, Reto headed for LPGA Tour

   In following the progress of Aurora Kan, Chichester’s 2010 PIAA champion, at Purdue, you can’t help but notice some of her talented teammates that helped the Boilermakers finish third at last spring’s NCAA Tournament.

   Three members of that team were competing in the final stage of the LPGA’s Q-School, a 90-hole marathon held at two courses in Daytona Beach, Fla., although two of them maintained their amateur status.

   In addition, two members of Purdue’s 2010 NCAA championship team – that was the season before Kan arrived in West Lafayette, Ind. – Maria Hernandez, who led the Boilermakers to that NCAA title by winning the individual crown, and Maude-Aimee LeBlanc, also had strong showings in Daytona Beach.

   Hernandez, a native of Spain, had the best finish of all of the former Boilermakers in the field as she had rounds of 71, 71, 72, 67 and 71 for a 352 total that left her in a tie for eighth and enabled her to retain her full playing privileges on the LPGA Tour in 2014.

   She’ll be joined on the tour by Paula Reto, a veteran of the 2010 NCAA title team and a teammate of Kan’s for two years. A native of South Africa, Reto had steady rounds of 72, 71, 72, 67 and 70 for a 353 total that left her in a tie for 12^th.

   LeBlanc, a native of Canada, had rounds of 71, 73, 73, 71 and 71 and earned limited status on the LPGA Tour as she finished in a tie for 31^st. The top 19 earned full playing privileges.

   Laura Gonzalez-Escallon, a native of Belgium, retained her amateur status while playing the full five rounds of Q-School. Gonzalez-Escallon had rounds of 76, 70, 76, 69 and 76. I’m not sure how it works for her, but she likely earned status on the developmental Symetra Tour if she decides to play professionally next year.

   Another teammate of Kan’s last spring, Kishi Sinha, of India, also competed in the Q-School, but failed to make the cut for the final round. Like Gonzalez-Escallon, Sinha retained her amateur status.

Numa Gulyanamitta of Thailand, another veteran of Purdue’s 2010 NCAA title team, also competed in the Q-School, but, like Sinha, failed to make the cut for the final round.

   That makes six members of Purdue teams from 2009-10 to 2012-13 who reached the final stage of LPGA Q-School. That’s a pretty strong showing.