The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

mtfTinN 2. PAGE 16 - PLA1NPEALER-HER AU>. WE»!\ESI>A^ . APRIL 24.19B5 Sports 2= * •« Chris Juzwik |p+ Wore! Season opener rates a triple bogey "> it was the year's first venture into that mysterious unknown. ->It was a tortuous journey, filled with sandy deserts, winding ~€teeks, imposing trees and a pock-marked turf. It was a trek I must make once every year, no matter how towering and gargantuan it may seem. Friday was the day that I hud apparently been predestined to be that initial embarkation. -I- It was the first tee time of 1985. The first round of golf in a new year is always the worst ex­ perience of the season. It's like going to the dentist - just do it, set it out of the way, and write it off for another year. You may jolf more poorly many times afterwards in a particular year, ~$ut nothing is as draining emotionally as that first round. Friday was my turn to get the darn thing underway. If the first 1-round is the worst thing a golfer can face, the first shot of the first round is like a death of sorts. It certainly is the preferable choice to go to a driving range first to get the kinks out. But all the practice in the world isn't first shot. The optimist said, "C'mon, make this a good season. You've all the tools." The jerky pessimist said, "Why do you try this year in and jar out? You're going to botch this shot and most of the other jousands you'll hit this year. You haven't got any tools. The - only thing you've got going for you is that you had enough money 4br the greens fee." > I teed up the first ball of 1985, a yellow one with XXXXXXXX written over it. Must be a new brand. I took my usual two practice swings, got set, and hit a pretty fair drive. My grin went Jrom one side of my mouth all the way to Toledo. The rest of the round went pretty well, as I floated on to the .round of the year, an 80 degree day, and I was off to a good start. . The first mistake: trying to unify reason and golf. It's like . "inviting Orson Welles to a donut shop - something has to give. My first ball must have been parched, because it got into the water faster than you can say "three off the tee." Ball No. 2 suffered much the same fate, although it went for a jswim with a much more casual approach. * * As I teed up my third ball, I simultaneously began to figure my .j score. A decent opening round of 52 or 53 suddenly was out of the * question. Two penalty strokes times two is four, emc2, and I was * hitting five off the tee. I'd nave trouble breaking 60! This was a definite disaster, quite possibly the straw that would break my spirit, sending my clubs, tees and coordinated outfits to Goodwill. I persevered, however, and putted out for a 59, one of the most * pitiful rounds I have suffered in recent memo The back nine was much moi^ lcincr to my golf j5syeM, £Sl came in with a 51, thereby renewing my confidence in myself and my 10-year-old clubs, which still refuse to take the blame for my shoddy performances over the years. I don't know what went wrong on my 'opening day,' except for a few minor flaws. I stood too close to the ball -- after I hit it. I know my short game was okay, excepting that it was off the tee. Three-putts were as common as broken tees. I read greens about as well as I read Swahili. But, that first round is done, and the other golfers on the course that day are perhaps the most thankful for that fact. I'm ready to give myself a break, another chance to prove I break that elusive 50 mark. Without cheating. If not, the clubs go out with the trash. can Plaindealer-Herald photos by Chris Juzwik Terry Harth battles it out with Cary-Grove's Dennis Cook in the mates won the event by almost a full 10 seconds over CL Central, first leg of the 3200 meter relay Saturday. Harth and his team- Warriors surprise coach, D-C, Woodstock CARPENTERSVILLE - Dan Boland was concerned. His top sprinter, junior Curt Justen, was out with a strained hamstring. Boland's McHenry boys' track team was running an important double dual against Dundee-Crown and Woodstock. The Warriors had already lost to Crystal Lakes Central and South in the Fox Valley Conference. Two more lossesNwould negate Kjjjgg B > TJi SK ib ~ gig* K \'VV\ v x \ \ \ V * \ - fe \ s V ' --1 •t v vV-yc V f - \ V. Ax -,f\ \ * s '•> V * 1 ' \ * . «- •, s \ :•> 'Sm « ..iris •. . ^l< JOT: v. '>•:> .v y V-W * McHenry's h hopes of a lofty conference rating. But Boland didn't have to worry after all. Buoyed by a superb per­ formance from sophomore Keith Losch, the Warriors rolled over Dundee-Crown and Woodstock, 70-68-41. The Warriors are now 2-2 in the FVC, 6-2 overall. "Yeah, I was surprised," gushed Boland. "I thought we could take Woodstock, but I didn't know about Dundee- Crown." Ldsch made up foir Justen's absence with wins in the 100 and 200 dashes, as McHenry grabbed the double win. Other winners for McHenry FVC Boys' Track included senior Chris Creutz, who won the two-mile; senior Jeff Szamlewski who continued his long jump supremacy with a leap o of 20'3"; junior J.R. Wright, who nailed a 38'8" long jump. The 400 and 800 relay teams also captured first places for McHenry. "The kids performed real well," said Boland. "I didn't even know how close the meet was until I saw the score sheet. It was'a nice effort." McHenry will now set its sights on the McHenry Relays, to be held Friday at McCracken Field, beginning at 3:30 p.m. Warriors take two Jeff Szamlewski soars toward the pit at Saturday's county meet. Szamlewski won the event for the McHenry boys, who finished third. Jacobs edges McHenry : It was a rough day for McHenry's shotpufters at the McHenry County Meet Saturday. Neither Warrior Michelle Druml nor S teammate Lora Mroz were able to place. The McHenry girls ^finished in a tie for seventh. The common denominator was running. For McHenry's girls, it was the relays and the sprints. For the girls of Jacobs High School, it was the distances. And again, longevity won over haste, as the Golden Eagle distance runners led their team to a 77-51 win over McHenry in a Fox Valley Conference dual meet at McCracken Field Monday. ' > McHenry took six firsts, led by three relay teams. The 400 unit of Lisa Lucarz, Pam Bradley, Trudy Milstein and Toni Reteck was one win­ ner. The 800 medley relay, com­ prised of Jennifer Dunne, Yvette Fuiava, Salena John and Cheryl Anderson also took a first. The 800 relay team of Lucarz, Milstein, John and Reteck was another winner. Lucarz won the 100 meters, while Bradley again was the FVC Girls' Track Warriors' top point-getter, winning the 100 and 200 hurdles. But Jacobs' distance trio of Kelly Edwards and sisters Kate and Kim Kelly proved to be too much for McHenry to handle. The Eagles were able to sweep four events - the 440, discus, shot and two-mile, which led to the win. "They (Jacobs) have four or five girls who get a lot of points for them," said McHenry coach Dan Boland. "Our distance corps is very young, and our girls a aren't physically strong enough to keep up with them," he added. McHenry was scheduled to travel to Round Lake Tuesday for a double dual with the Panthers and Grant, and then will have a lengthy rest before returning to action Monday against Cary-Grove. Weekends were made for many things. For McHenry's baseball team, weekends seem to be made for winning. McHenry's record for Friday and Saturday games is now an impressive 5-1 after the Warriors walloped Lake Zurich on Friday and then split a Fox Valley Conference doubleheader with Crystal Lake South Saturday afternoon. The Warriors are now 6-5-1 overall, 2-4 in the FVC, prior to a scheduled date with Jacobs Tuesday afternoon. The Golden Eagles will be at McCracken Field Thursday. Friday's win over LZ was a relief of sorts for sophomore pitcher Matt Roy. The left­ hander had struggled in the early going, but he checked the Bears on three hits, striking out seven and walking four. "It was a nice outing," said McHenry coach Brian Wilson. "He had a real good per­ formance." McCracken Field's baseball diamond was graced with a home run fence Friday morning, and j junior third baseman Bob Nolan found it to his liking, ripping a two-run homer in the Warriors' four-run fourth. Senior co-captain Steve Cunningham wp.O the other Warrior hitting star, going 3-for- 4 with four RBI, including two two-run doubles. McHenry 7-7, CL South 5-9 The Warriors opened Saturday morning's twinbill with a 7-5, eight-inning victory over the Gators, and again it was the long ball which provided the locals with a 'W.' Catcher Brad Snyder ripped a two-run homer to left center with one out in the eighth, giving McHenry the win in dramatic fashion. "He hit about 360 feet," said Wilson. "It was a pretty good poke." Jeff Schuster - was the recipient of Snyder's heroics, picking up the win in relief, his first triumph of the year. Steve Hutt made the start for the Warriors, and was touched for three hits and three runs before giving way to Steve "enbrrper in the third. Katzenberger pitched through the fifth, holding the Gators Baseball hitless, and Schuster relieved his teammate in the sixth, and allowed two runs in the eighth. Sophomore Merrick Steiffer, who had two hits in the game, lashed a double in the bottom of the frame, scoring Tom Budreck and Pat Dunne with the tying runs, and then Steiffer waltzed home on Snyder's blast. In game two, Steiffer suffered some arm problems and was hit for six runs in the second. Katzenberger came on to put out that fire, before Schuster pit­ ched 2 2-3 innings. Craig Hill tossed the final two stanzas for McHenry. ~ The Warriors came back from an 8-2 deficit to score five in the fifth. "We made a run at 'em," said Wilson, "but it fell a little short." Schuster tagged a two-run ible in the inning, and Hill had a run-scoring single. South walked in a pair of runs, but that was all the Warriors could get. Wilson said he hopes he has his pitching roles filled at roughly the mid-way point of the season. "I've got the numbers as far as pitching goes. I'd like to use Dunne, Steiffer and Roy to start, have Katzenberger as my long relief man, and have Hill and Schuster as my stoppers. "As long as I've got the numbers, I can make some changes. I told them they're going to call me 'Dr. Hook' pretty soon. But if they're doing badly, I'm going to take 'em out," Wilson said. "I hope we're getting settled in now. When you score seven runs, you figure to win the game," Wilson said. "But that hasn't been the case for us." The Warriors' four conference losses puts them by no means out of the FVC race, which is led by CL Central at 6-2 on the season prior to Tuesday's games. "We've got four losses, but we're not far out of it. We've got a legitimate chance. But we've got to win this week," Wilson said Monday. "We'll have to take 'em both at Central Saturday." y