Beecher wins Bill Breeden All-Area Classic for 5th straight year

Forecasted rain that had a chance to interrupt the end of the fifth annual Bill Breeden All-Area Classic on Monday ended up staying away from the Kankakee Elks Country Club, but the reign of Beecher as All-Area champs continued.

The Bobcats remain the only team to win an All-Area crown after their fifth straight win in the event. Their score of 340 gave them a four-stroke edge over host Bradley-Bourbonnais.

Beecher senior Peyton Serafin earned his first individual first-place medal at All-Area, shooting a 78 to clear Bishop McNamara’s Nolan Andrews by two strokes. Beecher’s Ben Anaclerio shot an 83, placing fourth, while Chuck Nowak and Jacob Benck shot an 89 and a 90 respectively to propel the Bobcats to the five-peat.

“I had a pretty good front nine,” Serafin said. “That kind of held it together, and then I let a couple things slip on the back side. I kind of had to just piece everything together on the back side and work my way in. My teammates contributed and stepped in for the team score, so we got to take the win there.”

Head coach David Serafin said that the bond this year’s team has on the course, with four of the top five returning from last year, has really grown over time. He believes that it can take them far again this season.

“From the summer to this point, like a group I can’t remember in 15 years, they enjoy playing golf and being together,” he said. “That shows me that our upside is quite a bit higher than where we are right now, and I’m excited to watch them grow.”

Bradley-Bourbonnais also has an experienced group back this season, led by seniors Max LaMore, Jake Kehoe and Kaden Davis and junior Sam LaMore.

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Bradley-Bourbonnais' Max LaMore watches his drive during the Bill Breeden All-Area Classic at the Kankakee Elks on Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. LaMore would score the team low of 84 to earn fifth place individually to help the Boilermakers take second place overall. (Tiffany Blanchette)

Max LaMore led the way with an 84 on Monday, placing fifth individually, while Kehoe shot an 86 and Davis and Sam LaMore each shot 87.

“I’ve really got like four No. 1’s,” coach John Klimchuk said. “On any given day, those three seniors and junior can shoot a score that’s legit and lead our team. ... They do what’s needed to help us hopefully get into a sectional again this year, and hopefully something beyond if things work out.”

Placing third as a team Monday was Herscher with a 355, completing in its first All-Area tournament as a standalone program after ending its co-op with Kankakee prior to the season.

Kankakee took a hit as a program, as a bulk of its players were from Herscher, but had a handful of golfers on hand to compete Monday. They only played part of the event, focusing on getting their feet wet in their first action of the season.

Herscher head coach Shane Altizer, the assistant golf professional at the Kankakee Country Club and a Florida native who served as an assistant high school golf coach back in the Sunshine State, said the team is happy to be representing their home town this year.

“They went to a different high school, called themselves the Kankakee golf team, wore a different logo, so they’re just happy to finally be the Tigers,” he said. “We’re really just looking forward to a young, promising team the next three, four years.”

Parker Mullady paced Herscher with an 85 while Parker Murray shot an 87, Jamie Warner shot a 91 and Cooper Meredith shot a 92.

Bishop McNamara finished fourth for the second year in a row, just two strokes behind Herscher at 357. They had three sophomores in Andrews, Griffin Meier and Gavin Jones, two juniors in Preston Payne and Braylon Ricketts and senior Trevor Torres compete on Monday.

“We’re still relatively young,” coach Wes Andrews said. “A lot of our guys played baseball all summer, so we’re just getting into the swing of golf come fall. Hopefully with a little more practice and experience this fall, we can get out of regionals again like we did last fall.”

Meier shot a 91 to finish second on team behind Andrews’ 80, while Ricketts shot a 92 and Torres finished with a 94.

Rounding out the final standings Monday was Coal City in fifth (383), Manteno in sixth (427), Peotone in seventh (436), Momence in eighth (443) and Grant Park in ninth (481).