National honors for Marmion’s Whitford; catching up with Hannah Schweigert
Marmion sophomore Ben Whitford, the Class 2A state champion wrestler at 130 pounds, was honored as the National High School Coaches Association January athlete of the month in a March 3 presentation at the Aurora school.
Whitford, who went 41-1 and ended the season ranked No. 1 by the Illinois Matmen website at 130 pound, will also have his accomplishment entered into the National High School Sports Hall of Fame Museum in Easton, Pa.
“I think it’s a great distinction to have any organization recognize one of your athletes on a national basis,” said Marmion athletic director Joe Chivari, who helped welcome representatives from the NHSCA and GTM Sportswear to Marmion’s daily morning assembly where the presentation was made.
“It’s always nice to be recognized on a state level, which Ben did by winning his weight division, but it’s icing on the cake when people recognize you nationally,” Chivari said.
Along with his 2A title, Whitford won his division in many high profile events — the Cheesehead in Wisconsin, the Ironman in Ohio, and the Dvorak Memorial at Machesny Park-Harlem. He swept IHSA regional and sectional meets and took his only loss to Brother Rice 135-pounder Mike Avelar, the fifth-place finisher in 3A.
“Ben’s a hard worker. He’s been wrestling since he was 5, 6 years old, and he has a passion for the sport,” Chivari said. “This is something he’ll cherish for the rest of his life, this recognition.”
Catching up with... Hannah Schweigert
Todd Schweigert, a scholarship football player at Northern Michigan, avidly supports the athletic pursuits of his children, former Batavia 2006 all-state football player Colin and senior soccer player Hannah. Yet even Todd Schweigert concedes Hannah’s center-defense position on the Bulldogs’ soccer team is less than glamorous. Regardless, she’s started every game at “sweeper” all four years on varsity, switching from the midfield years ago when the sweeper on her club team, Strikers Fox Valley, got injured. Born to Todd and Fran Schweigert in Grand Rapids, Mich., Hannah was voted a team captain last year as a junior; she’s a six-year captain on the Strikers team she shares with Batavia teammates Kara Rush and Haley O’Neil. She certainly has one captain’s requirement: smarts. Tied atop her senior class academically, Schweigert has been accepted by the University of Chicago, Marquette, Wisconsin and Drake and is waiting to hear from Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Washington University and Brown, from which Colin graduated. Her college choice will determine whether she continues in soccer, but in the meantime she’ll finish strong in the classroom and on the soccer pitch, where she attributes much of her success to Batavia coach Jim McAlpin and Strikers coach Jim Winslow.
Q: Being a sweeper, do you favor defense over offense?
A: Actually, I like them both equally. It’s not a very glorified position, I guess you could say. ... I always like the chance to score, I’ve always been very competitive and have that drive toward the goal. But once in awhile coach gives me that chance to take a corner kick, a free kick, make a run or something.
Q: What are the sweeper’s responsibilities?
A: Probably the number one responsibility is communication on the field. Aside from the goalie, I’m the one who sees the entire field. I direct people where to go, to make sure they’re in the right places, and I’m almost like a goalie. I’m like the last resort, I guess you could say, so they count on me to make sure nothing gets past.
Q: You have a 4.0 grade-point average and have yet to receive a grade lower than an A in high school. Your brother shared No. 2 class standing. Are you under any pressure to perform?
A: My parents don’t pressure me at all. If anything, I put more pressure on myself. They always say do the best I can and if the best I can would be a B, that’d be fine with them. I’m the one pushing myself.
Q: Any competition academically with Colin?
A: In the back of my mind, kind of. I think his only Bs in high school were in Advanced Placement American government and calculus, so I’m trying my best to get an A. But I think it’s to my benefit to keep my 4.0.
Q: How many hours do you spend studying?
A: It depends on the semester. I’ve never been a huge studier. Maybe a couple hours a week.
Q: Wow. So this comes naturally.
A: Since I was little, I don’t know if it started with us reading, but we got our brains from our mom (a former substitute mainly at Louise White Elementary School in Batavia) and our athletics from our dad.
Q: Sounds like my children. What kind of books do you like to read?
A: I guess all sorts. I try to read (books on) the Abraham Lincoln Award list every year, because the teen top choices are in there. It ranges from mystery to science fiction to romance. I read all of it.
Q: Any favorites?
A: That’s tough. I like this book called “Perfect Chemistry,” it’s like a teen love story. And then I always love the “Harry Potter” books. I always reread them whenever I get the chance.
Q: You work in a chocolate shop. How do you stay fit?
A: It’s not without its difficulties. Luckily I have soccer, which there’s a lot of running involved in soccer, obviously. I go for a run every once in awhile, and we have an elliptical machine, so I did that and some abs tonight. But my main form of exercise is definitely soccer.
Q: You stopped playing basketball to focus on soccer. What makes soccer so special?
A: I guess everything. My favorite part is the team. So many of my closest friends come from my club team or my high school team. I also love the game because it’s a chance to get active and a chance to get lost in the game. It’s stress free.
College achievers
Kaneland graduate Dave Dudzinski, the honorary captain of the Daily Herald’s 2009-10 Tri-Cities All-Area Boys Basketball Team, celebrated his freshman season at Holy Cross by being named to the Patriot League All-Rookie Team.
The 6-foot-9 freshman, who set Kaneland’s record for blocked shots with 287, played in 27 of Holy Cross’ 29 games, averaging 4.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in 14 minutes per game. Dudzinski was second on the Crusaders in field goal percentage, at .548.
Another Kaneland graduate, Carroll University (Wis.) sophomore Lindsay Gruenke, is the sixth-seeded women’s 400-meter runner in this weekend’s NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. As a freshman, she earned All-American status with a seventh-place finish.
Gruenke earned the high seed after clocking a school-record time of 57.15 seconds last Saturday at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Gruenke shared the honor of Midwest Conference women’s indoor track performer of the year with none other than Illinois’ College’s Melissa Norville, the sophomore out of Batavia. While Gruenke won the MWC 200- and 400-meter races, Norville won the 55 hurdles as well as long jump and triple jump.
In winning those events, Norville was then honored as one of two MWC women’s field event athletes of the year sharing the award with — yes — St. Charles East graduate Allison Devor! Devor helped Monmouth cruise to the MWC championship by winning both shot put and the weight throw.
Norville and Devor will both join Gruenke at nationals this weekend in Ohio.
Finally, another former All-Area selection, Geneva graduate Brandon D’Amico, saw his college basketball career come to an end when Oregon Tech defeated Cardinal Stritch University 76-61 on Wednesday in the first round of the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball National Championship at Point Lookout, Mo.
The Stritch Wolves reached the national tournament after beating Trinity Christian to win the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament. Also on the squad is sophomore Jeremy D’Amico, Brandon’s younger brother and a former All-Area captain.
Brandon D’Amico, a 6-foot-5 senior forward who joined Cardinal Stritch after transferring from Eastern Illinois, earned his third straight CCAC First-Team All-Conference selection. He led the Wolves with 15.6 points per game, 66 3-pointers, a sky-high .810 free throw percentage on 174 attempts, and was second in rebounding in a team-high 30.4 minutes per game.