Nazareth's Pelino, Lozier make history

Sophomore Kathryn Pelino and junior Alex Lozier entered the St. Ignatius Regional Oct. 3 at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in Lemont hoping to make history.

They didn't leave disappointed.

Pelino shot an 89 and Lozier a 92 to earn individual berths in the St. Ignatius Sectional Tuesday by being among the top eight individuals not on the advancing teams.

"It's special," Lozier said. "It's exciting to make history at Naz. It was really important to me. The whole time I just kept thinking about how bad I wanted to make it, and I think that's why I did so well."

Pelino tied for fifth place and tied Payton's Blake Murphy for the best score among individuals not on one of the three advancing teams.

"It's just great that I could do it for the school," said Pelino, who was playing just her second 18-hole round since the summer. "If it's something good for the school, then I'm happy. I didn't expect to do that well. I've played Cog Hill before and really liked the course. I just wanted to go out there and have fun, and if I played well, great. I didn't have the best day. I was kind of lucky, but I was fortunate that it was good enough."

Nazareth (401), which also received contributions from seniors Sarah Copeland and Kathleen Lucas and freshmen Megan Pelino and Megan Rowley, finished fourth behind Lyons Township (351), Fenwick (360) and St. Ignatius (381).

"It was a great day for the girls and the program," Nazareth coach Charlie Rohlf said. "The girls played great and I'm happy for them."

At the sectional Tuesday, Pelino shot a 96, including a 43 on the back nine, while Lozier finished with a 114.

Nazareth senior John Romanelli and freshman Patrick Mullaney each missed the state cut by three strokes Monday at the Class 2A Lemont Sectional at Broken Arrow Golf Course.

Both golfers shot 40 on the front nine before finishing with 84s to pace the Roadrunners (344), who finished sixth.

Senior Alex Pecenka and junior Chris Gray both shot 88 to round out the scoring for Nazareth, while junior Ryan Mullaney (91) and freshman Peter Schink (97) also competed.

"I felt bad for John because he's a senior and really wanted to get downstate, but Patrick will be back the next three years," Nazareth coach Jim Danko said. "Overall it was a successful and enjoyable season. We have four of our six starters back and we're looking forward to next season."