Sandburg senior Ellie Driscoll has been impressive scoring on long-range shots on the basketball court and picking up goals and assists on the soccer field.
However, one of her most impressive accomplishments flew under the radar when she was a member of the golf team.
As the four-sport athlete — she also swam for a year — closes her prep and competitive sports career to study kinesiology at Illinois, her major improvement as a golfer showed her mettle.
Eagles girls golf coach Todd Allen said Driscoll averaged a 107 for 18 holes as a junior and whittled it down to 96 as a senior and carded an 86 in the SouthWest Suburban Conference Tournament to earn all-conference.
“That’s a pretty amazing improvement,” Allen said. “That was impressive.
“I believe golf was her third sport, but she worked with her dad (Rich) over the summer. She’s just a great athlete and it translated to the golf swing, being able to make solid contact and hit it far. We needed her and she scored in a lot of tournaments.”
It was an interesting dynamic that Driscoll her to golf. Her mother, Donna is the Sandburg swimming coach and Ellie said she was burned out with swimming and wanted a change.
“Playing golf was my best decision,” Ellie said. “It was something new to work on and it was something I needed at that time.”
Even though she had a heavy load with her bread-and-butter sports, she took golf seriously with daily work at Silver Lake Country Club near her house to go from a JV player as a sophomore to all-conference as a senior.
“Practice makes perfect,” she said of golf. “So, I needed to get those reps in practice and at the end of the day when I came down to playing, I performed well.”
In basketball, Driscoll scored more than 1,000 points for her career. But coach Nick Fotopoulos was more impressed with her leadership abilities.
She earned the school’s Erin E. Olmstead Scholarship and the Athletic Booster Club scholarship for athletic excellence and leadership.
“Ellie earned … countless life lessons on how to handle situations, people, heartbreak, success etc.,” Fotopoulos said. “I am so proud of the person that Ellie has become and the kind and caring human being that she is. That is what is most important.
“Being a three-sport athlete is very difficult in today’s athletic climate, but she did it and did it well.”
As for soccer, Driscoll hopes she can extend her career after this week. The Eagles (7-7-3) were scheduled to face Stagg (6-11) on May 20 at the Class 3A Marist Regional and a win would have put them in the regional final on May 22.
Driscoll said she is happy to help the Eagles, who haven’t had a winning season since 2022, “turn the corner.” She has four goals this season.
Tom Kubowicz said he’s been happy to coach Driscoll for four seasons.
“Her positivity and selflessness have had a tremendous impact on our program,” he said of Driscoll. “No matter what is asked of her, playing defense, forward, or marking a player for an entire game, she never complains or questions it. She simply does her job and does it exceptionally well.”