CHATTER: FAMILY TIES FOR DILGER AT ILLINOIS.

Byline: -- Erik Boal

Based on her results in Junior Amateur Golf Scholars and Toyota Tour Cup events, Quartz Hill golfer Katie Dilger has been on the national radar for the past few years, attracting attention from several Division I college programs.

But when it came time for one of the area's top seniors to plan her future, following in her father Tony's footsteps at Illinois was an opportunity that was too good to pass up.

Dilger, a two-time Golden League champion who reached the CIF/WSCGA regional championship Nov. 12 in Murrieta, recently signed her national letter of intent to compete for the Illini, contributing to one of the nation's deepest recruiting classes.

"Playing in JAGS and Toyota Tour Cup (events) was huge. If I hadn't been nationally ranked, I wouldn't have gotten the attention that I did," said Dilger, who chose Illinois over nearby Loyola (Chicago).

"My first contact from a college was Illinois when they sent me an e-mail a year ago. But what made the difference was that Illinois would (regularly) contact me, keeping up on what I was doing."

Dilger, who also had two cousins attend Illinois, is one of five student- athletes in the Class of 2008 signed to compete for the Illini. She is the only one from California and one of the few in program history recruited to play golf in Champaign from outside the greater Midwest area.

"After I made my unofficial visit in the spring, Illinois became my main priority," Dilger said. "There are fivecourses within 15 minutes of the school, so I can practice as much as I want. And they have a great indoor practice facility, which is the best in the country. Loyola's academics are better than Illinois, but Illinois is a lot more balanced and it has everything I want. Plus, Illinois' golf team is better, which will challenge me more."

Dilger, who secured medalist honors in all 17 regular-season rounds this year, follows Jennifer O'Neill, Ali Erdman and close friend Ayla Friga as Quartz Hill standouts who have secured college scholarships.

She also joins Crescenta Valley of La Crescenta's Christine Cho (Harvard) and Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks' Sarah Salvo (New Mexico) among the local seniors who have decided to take their talents to the next level.

"When I turned in my scorecard at (Southern Section team qualifying in Chino), they asked me 'Where's Quartz Hill' or 'Where's Palmdale?'," Dilger said. "By the time I got to WSCGA, they knew where Palmdale was. (Teammates) Carolyn (Kendall) and Jenn (Dilger) helped me a lot by advancing to the CIF finals. But now they know it's possible to play golf in the Big Ten or the Pac-10."

Campbell Hall, Taft to go prime time

Campbell Hall of North Hollywood and Taft of Woodland Hills are two of the 24 teams selected by ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU to compete this winter in the ESPNU Old Spice High School Showcase.

Campbell Hall, ranked No. 25 nationally in the ESPN High Elite 25, will kick off the 15-game schedule Dec. 6 when the Jrue Holiday-led Vikings take on No. 11 St. Edward (Ohio) at 6 p.m. PST on ESPN2.

Taft, ranked 20th nationally by ESPN, is scheduled to face St. Raymond (N.Y.) on Jan. 21 on ESPNU. The Toreadors feature North Carolina-bound guard Larry Drew Jr.

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Photo:

Quartz Hill golfer Katie Dilger, center, signs her letter of intent to play at Illinois, surrounded by family members.

Jeff Goldwater/Special to the Daily News