Reali leads Chaminade's champions
As good as Chaminade senior John Reali is, he's just one of the pistons in the powerful engine that drives the Flyers golf team.
Reali won Thursday's NSCHSAA title with a 4-under-68 at Eisenhower Red. Reali is part of an eight-man varsity squad, each one capable of shooting under par.
Fellow senior Griffin McQuilling finished fourth (74) and is the defending CHSAA state champion.
The team went 14-0 in the CHSAA and shut out St. Anthony's, 7-0, on May 24 to win its fourth straight league title. Six of the eight varsity players are seniors and have been on the team since their freshman years, compiling a 56-0 league record.
"This is by far the best team we've had, and I've been coaching for 32 years," Flyers coach James Hock said. "To be honest with you, it's the best high school team I have seen."
Led by the Reali/McQuilling one-two punch, the Flyers scored a team-average 38 over nine holes during league play.
"This year, John has performed slightly better, and Griffin didn't mind that at all," Hock said. "All they were concerned about was the team's progress."
They play practice rounds on weekends, and a friendly competition has formed.
"We're best friends on the team," Reali said. "But we want to beat each other pretty badly."
Juniors Luke Koskovolis and Jack Williams and seniors Nick Capozzi, Chris Bleck, Mike Hanley and Ian Serko round out the Flyers roster.
As for the six seniors, 56-0 sounds awful nice.
"After freshman year, we realized we could do it again," Reali said. "Every match we had was a true test, and fortunately, we won every single one."
