Sonny and Cher. Simon and Garfunkel. Lincoln-Way East and winning.

Some pairings are so well-known they need no explanation.

Just for the sake of clarity, though, in the Griffins’ case the latest pairing comes in girls golf.

Lincoln-Way East left Deer Creek Golf Course on Tuesday with the IHSA Class 2A Rich Township Regional championship, first overall with a 296 as a team led by individual champion Sophia Klapper.

“We just have a bunch of great players who all love each other and are willing to sacrifice for each other,” Griffins coach Brian Shannon. “It’s awesome to see their success come together.”

Lincoln-Way East finished with four golfers in the top five. Bella Versetto (fifth place with a score of 77), Hannah Brown (fourth, 75) and Grace Zhang (third, 74) all excelled in addition to Klapper. The junior medalist ended the day with a score of 70, two under par – the only golfer at the event to finish under par.

“(It feels) amazing,” Klapper said. “I’ve never won anything like this before, so it feels pretty incredible.”

Senior Julianna Barajas finished tied for 11th with an 83, and junior Maggie Fagan tied for sixth at 79 to wrap a dominant day for Lincoln-Way East.

It was also a banner day for Taylor Bush of Lincoln-Way Central. She finished the day even at 72, good for second place, and led the Knights to a second-place, advancing finish as a team with 317. Kristin Kroll (tied for sixth, 79), Charlotte Majewski (T-11th, 83), Sophie Devries (T-11th, 83), Grace Chandler (14th, 85), and Ava Blum (T-15th, 87) all had fantastic days too.

Bush expressed excitement at making it to sectionals, but was far more pleased to be taking her teammates with her.

“It’s especially nice that we get to go on as a team,” she said. “All of the stuff we get to do together is going to be really fun. It’s exciting, especially being the third year I’m moving on.”

The final team to qualify for sectionals was third-place Lincoln-Way West. The Warriors carded a 346, with Reily Carlson leading the effort at 79, tying her for sixth. Sydney Pohlmann (T-ninth, 80), Juliana Deboer (T-18, 92), Molly Hogan (T-22, 95), Gabriella Griffith (T-25, 99) and Raegan Sayskongkham (T-33, 106) rounded out the effort.

The lone top-10 finisher not from one of the top three teams was Joliet Township senior Sophia Podmolik, who tied for ninth with an 80. She’ll be heading to sectionals as an individual alongside her teammates Leah Duensing (T-18, 92) and Liliana Gomez (20, 93).

“I feel like I had a standard for myself, because I did go (to sectionals) last year,” Podmolik said. “I would’ve been sad if I didn’t go this year, so I’m very happy.

“If I don’t go on (to state) I’m OK, because I know I made it. The goal is always to move on, though, so I want to go to state.”

Joliet Township finished tied for fourth with a team 368.

The team JT tied with was the Minooka Indians, who have four golfers advancing to sectionals. Avery Selk and Laney Przybyla tied for 15th place with 87s to lead the way.

“I so excited,” Przybyla said. “My season ended kind of rough last year, so to be able to move on my final season makes me really happy.”

Grace Mangun (21, 94) and Hallie Defisher (27, 100) will also be moving on with Przybyla and Selk.

“I’m really happy with how I did,” Selk said. “I didn’t have any expectations coming in, but I was happy with how the day worked out.”

The other three golfers advancing to state all hailed from La Salle-Peru. Sophia Chiu made it by tying for 22nd with a 95, Quinn Mertes advanced with a 97 to place 24th, and Mary Craven was tied for 25th with a 99. La Salle-Peru was sixth as team with a 392.

Bradley-Bourbonnais was seventh with a 432, led by Liv Contreras (103). Ottawa was eighth at 474, with Bella Borowski scoring 108.

Southland College Prep Charter, Rich Township and Kankakee all participated too. Kankakee’s three golfers (Kaleah Jackson, Shayla Jordan, Lillian Landis) all placed in the top 50.