Hey, IHSA, coaches say it's too crowded at Mill Creek

The current school year promises to be a watershed year for prep sports in Illinois as class expansion in a host of activities has become reality.

The first sport affected, in terms of the calendar, is boys golf, and the new three-class alignment has produced a situation for some of the elite programs in DuPage and Kane counties that already has coaches calling for reform.

The Class 3A regional at Mill Creek in Geneva has a field that encompasses the spectrum of local excellence: the tradition-rich versus programs in the midst of storybook campaigns.

"It's the regional of death, without a doubt," said Naperville Central coach Barry Baldwin. "It's a travesty. I even wrote a letter to the IHSA about it. Some of the best golfers in the state are not even going to get to the (Naperville Central) sectional. That's not right for the kids."

The lineup at Mill Creek is a 10-team field of powerhouses: Marmion, Waubonsie Valley, West Aurora, Batavia, Geneva, Benet, Naperville Central, Naperville North, Neuqua Valley and Wheaton Warrenville South.

"There are no weak sisters," said West Aurora coach Jay Bauer. "I can't imagine there being any other regional tougher than ours."

Neuqua Valley coach Spike Grossheusch has been a head coach for a quarter-century between his combined tenures in south Naperville and Waubonsie Valley before that.

"In all my years I've never seen anything like it," Grossheusch said. "We've gone from a really good chance of making it to the sectional (as a team) to who knows what's going to happen. The three-class system has not helped the larger schools."

The recent invitational at Batavia was emblematic of the strength of the competition that will assemble at Mill Creek on Oct. 2.

Naperville North and Marmion eclipsed the 300 barrier, while Benet, West Aurora, Batavia and WW South were only a handful of shots behind them.

The three regional members not at Fox Valley that day -- Naperville Central, Neuqua Valley and Geneva -- have all posted collective efforts in the 300 range.

Waubonsie Valley was at 312 and could not even crack the top 10 in the team standings.

To exacerbate the situation, the regional was shrouded in mystery for weeks because the IHSA did not name a host location until Monday.

"They settled on Mill Creek because no one else would host it," said Geneva athletic director Jim Kafer. "When it kept being up there (on the IHSA Web site) that no one would host it, we checked and got the approval (from Mill Creek). I called the IHSA and told them that if they were still in a bind to call us. That's how it ended up being at Mill Creek."

With the ever-important conference tournaments next week, securing practice times at Mill Creek over the next 10 days will be of paramount importance.

"Trying to get your team on there is going to be a challenge," said Marmion coach Jen Konen.

The DuPage Valley Conference tournament is Thursday at Orchard Valley in Aurora, and a sneak preview of the Geneva regional is in the cards because a three-way tie between Naperville Central, WW South and West Aurora is possible.

Naperville North could very well be the spoiler to that scenario.

"We're always in a difficult regional," said WW South coach Jimmy Selleck. "I don't really think about (the teams in the field). I just try to get prepared for it. What can you do?"

Baldwin is hopeful he has a solution to avoid dog-eat-dog attrition for the future.

"I am going to be writing a proposal to seed the state tournament," Baldwin said. "The IHSA said they do not look at scores when (determining the regional configurations). It's all about geographical representation. There needs to be a seeding process. Other sports do it, and golf should be no different."

Conference countdowns:ŒThe conference tournaments for boys and girls programs highlight the local sports lineup for next week.

The Batavia and Geneva girls lock heads with former members of the defunct Suburban Prairie Conference on Monday, and Tuesday promises to be an interesting day: the Upstate Eight and DuPage Valley female programs will both be at St. Andrews in West Chicago, playing different courses.

The Suburban Catholic Conference is at Mill Creek on Wednesday, and the Western Sun boys do battle at Fox Bend in Oswego.

"This is a pivotal match for us tonight," Batavia coach Tim DeBruycker said of the Batavia-Geneva match Wednesday. "With Rochelle being undefeated, we both have one loss. Whoever loses is going to be in trouble (in the conference race)."

The Upstate Eight boys and their DuPage Valley counterparts have their conference showdowns next Thursday; the Private School League is slated for Saturday at Fox Valley.

A record-setting year:ŒSchool records have fallen by the wayside in droves this year for the West Aurora boys squad.

"It's been an unbelievable high for about the last week and a half," Bauer said. "It seems like every match there's a surprise."

On Tuesday the Blackhawks and West Chicago tied on their four cards with a scintillating 148, only to have Jeff Etter and Mark Torres turn in 39s to tip the balance on the tiebreaker.