Gibault golfer Sam Range capped off an impressive high school golf career this past weekend with an eighth place finish at Prairie Vista Golf Course in Bloomington.

It was a crowning achievement for Range in what has been an amazing senior season with the Hawks. He posted the overall low score in the Monroe County Golf Tournament as well as at both regional and sectional tournaments.

Range shot under par six times during the fall with a low round of 32. His average for the season was 74.7.

This success comes on the heels of a summer in which Range won two tourneys and was awarded a spot on the MAJGT All-Midwest Team.

He is currently ranked the 19th best golfer in Illinois for the Class of 2015.

“I played pretty much how I wanted to,” Range said of his performance at state. “I knew the course really well and was prepared.”

The eighth place finish comes after Range placed 55th at state last year, 17th the year before that and 36th as a freshman.

The key moment of the weekend came on the fourth hole at Prairie Vista on Friday. Range shot his ball into a hazard area consisting of rocks, water and mud, but went against conventional wisdom and played through rather than taking a penalty.

“It’s not in Sam’s vocabulary to take an unplayable lie,” Gibault head coach Steve Bergheger said.

Using his pitching wedge, Range somehow advanced the ball 115 yards out of the muck.

“It was unbelievable,” Bergheger said.

Range admitted that he doesn’t like taking penalty strokes.

“I like the thrill of doing shots like that,” he said. “Some

how, it worked.”

Bergheger said Range has set the bar high for the younger golfers at Gibault and has a bright future ahead of him.

“The best days of golf for Sam are definitely in front of him,” Bergheger said.

Range said he will look back fondly on his high school golf career and cherish the moments as he sets out to hopefully sign with a college to play golf next fall and beyond.

“There are a lot of memories, tons of changes over the years,” Range said. “It was cool to be a part of and I’ll miss it. I hope to start the whole thing over again in college.”

Faus places 16th at state

Waterloo High School girls golfer Haley Faus, a junior, also advanced to last weekend’s state golf tourney by shooting a 76 at last Tuesday’s Class A Zeigler Sectional.

Faus improved on her 84-shot first round on Friday at state by shooting an 80 on Saturday — good for a three-way tie for 16th place to finish the Class 1A IHSA state tournament.

Faus placed first at the regional tournament and then third at sectional to earn her trip to state.

“She performed really well at the state tournament,” Waterloo girls golf head coach Katie Mitchel said. “She had some pretty brutal wind to battle against on Friday, but she managed.”

There were 114 girls competing at state, so finishing in the top 16 is quite an accomplishment.

“Overall, she played very well and I was really impressed and happy with her performance,” Mitchel said.