Prospect’s Stokes earns his spot in ITCCCA Hall

Michael Stokes’ record as Prospect’s boys cross country coach speaks for itself.

And soon enough, Stokes will speak as a hall of famer.

Stokes will be inducted into the Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame at the ITCCCA Clinic on Jan. 12 at Oak Park-River Forest High School.

“He lives and breathes this sport,” said Peter Wintermute, the assistant girls cross country coach -at Prospect. “He has an unmatched love, passion, and drive for running and this is what perpetuates his teams and his coaching staff.

“Year after year, his runners are in the neck of it come the post season and this ability to reload and continually develop talent is what signifies a great program and a great coach.”

Stokes has been coaching for 25 total years and is currently in his 22nd year at Prospect High School. He has won 153 dual meets and has led 10 qualifying teams to the IHSA cross country state meet with eight top-10 finishes and four top fives. His 1994 squad took second place.

Stokes has coached nine all-state runners and two were runners-up (Lou Petricca in 1995 and Ryan Craven in 2005). Craven went on to place third in the nation at the Footlocker championships.

As a track and field coach, Stoke directed three state champions: Lou Petricca running 4:14.56 (1600 meters) in 1994, Clark Wilson (190 feet, 1 inch discus throw in 2000) and the 4x800 meter relay (Jay Renaud, Mike Murray, John Jenkins, Peter Garde in 7:45.28) in 2004.

He had 28 individual and relays state qualifiers, including 10 straight years qualifying in the 4x800 relay at the state meet.

Nine of the ten years the Knights earned medals with an average time of 7:49 and average place of 3.3.

This weekend, Stokes will be in Peoria as his top runner, senior Quentin Shaffer aims for an all-state finish after winning titles at the recent Mid-Suburban League, regional and sectional meets.

Women’s volleyball

University of Memphis outside hitter Altrese Hawkins (Hoffman Estates)has been named one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award.

Hawkins is the first volleyball player to be named a finalist for the award and third Memphis student-athlete to be named a finalist in the last two years.

“It is an honor for Altrese to be named a finalist. This is a remarkable accomplishment already. I want to encourage everyone in Tiger Nation to get online and vote often,” said ach April Jauregui said.

Fans can vote for Hawkins once every day.

The finalists were chosen by a media committee from the list of 30 candidates announced in September. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner. Fans are encouraged to vote on the Senior CLASS Award website through Nov. 26. Fan votes will be combined with media and Division I head coaches’ votes to determine the winner.

Hawkins leads the Tigers with 328 kills this season, and her 3.77 kills per set average ranks fifth in Conference USA. She currently ranks second in school history with 1,678 career kills. This season, Hawkins also ranks second on the team with 229 digs and has recorded 13 double-doubles.

Hawkins is a two-time first team All-Conference USA performer and was also named to the C-USA All-Freshman team in 2009. She was named to the COBRA Magazine Second Team All-National in 2009 before being named All-Southwest Region Performer in both 2010 and 2011. She has also won four tournament MVP awards.

For more information on the finalists, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.

Women’s soccer

Ÿ Wisconsin-Whitewater senior forward Christina Tooren (Hoffman Estates) was named Walmart “Athlete of the Week.”

She scored 2 goals in a 5-1 win over Oshkosh on Wednesday. including the game winner at 44:56, and an unassisted goal at 58:18 to give her team a 3-1 lead.

In a 4-0 win over Stevens Point, Tooren assisted the third and fourth goals. She keyed the Warhawks’ offense, which doubled Steven Point’s shots on goal (12-6).

With the 2 goals and 2 assists, Tooren moved into third place on the UW-W career goals list (35) and third place in career points (92).

Women’s basketball

Anna Kirchoff (Barrington), who had a game-high 23 points, led Judson University in a season-opening 87-43 victory over Silver Lake College (Wis.).

Women’s volleyball

Augustana sophomore outside hitter Emily Leazer (St. Viator) was named tournament MVP at the Pumpkin Bash. The host Vikings (20-10) won all 12 sets in their four matches and finished the tournament in second place, losing out to also-undefeated Wartburg on tiebreaker criteria.

Leazer leads the Vikings in kills this season with 376 as well as aces with 100. She was third in the nation in aces per set as of the most recent NCAA statistics report. She also ranked 24th nationally in points per set and will hold the school’s single-season record for aces per set when the season ends. In addition, she leads Augustana in solo blocks with 16 and is second on the team with 293 digs.

Football

MIT sophomore Justin Wallace (Fremd) had 23 carries for 139 yards and the winning touchdown in a 34-27 victory over Nichols College. MIT is now 5-3.

Ÿ North Central freshman safety Richard Zirngibl (Buffalo Grove) recorded his first collegiate interception to preserve the No. 9-ranked Cardinals’ shutout against Illinois Wesleyan.

Wrestling

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Youth Wrestling Clinic will be held at Fremd High School on Nov. 18.

The clinic will cover all areas of wrestling from the neutral position including takedowns, setups and finishes.

Many MSL wrestlers will be back to serve as clinicians, including Ronny Hauser, a Fremd graduate who took fourth place in the state meet.

Cost is $30 and open to all youth club wrestlers.

For more information contact: Michelle Hauser (847) 254-6397 or mhauser19@comcast.net.

Wheeling feeder basketball

The Wheeling Jr. Wildcats Boys Feeder Basketball program will hold team tryouts on Nov. 4 in the high school’s main gym. Any boy living in the Wheeling High School attendance area is welcome to try out. Times are eighth grade (9 a.m.) seventh grade (10:15 a.m.), sixth grade (11:30 a.m.) and fifth grade (12:45 p.m.). Please arrive 15 minutes early to check in.

Any questions please contact B.J. Jordan at WHSBOYSFEEDER@yahoo.com.

Kessel Heat

The Kessel Heat 2012/2013 AAU winter season starts the week of November 12 and runs through March 1 at the Libertyville Sports Complex and Falcon Park Palatine. Practices are held three times a week along with seven local tournaments on weekends.

For more information on tournament dates and practice times, visit www.kesselstraining.com

TEAMMSL Night

Harper College basketball’s team presents TEAMMSL NIGHT on Thursday, Nov. 15 when the Hawks host McHenry Junior College. Tip off is at 7 p.m. and all current and former TEAMMSL participants and their families get in free.

In addition, ALL Teammsl players are invited to hear Harper coach Tony Amarino address his team at halftime.

Ÿ Please email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com or FAX to (847) 427-1173.