Fremd’s girls, Barrington’s boys take Frisk/Paddock honors
There were no major surprises in the battles for varsity sports supremacy in the Mid-Suburban League for the 2012-13 school year.
The usual suspects jockeyed for No. 1 in girls and boys sports throughout the fall, winter and spring seasons, and the two races were as close at the wire as a photo finish in the 100-meter dash.
Fremd’s program won the Bob Frisk Paddock Trophy for girls for the fifth straight year, and Barrington edged defending champion Fremd for the Bob Frisk Paddock Cup for boys. Palatine and Prospect came in a solid 3-4 in both competitions.
How close was it at the top?
Fremd’s girls averaged 10.6 points per varsity sport (14 is maximum), and Barrington was right there at 10.5 Barrington’s boys averaged 9.9 per sport, and Fremd chased them to the finish at 9.7.
Fremd or Barrington have been in the top spot in the girls’ competition for 19 straight school years. The same two schools have alternated at the No. 1 position in the boys for the past four years after Prospect’s two straight Cup triumphs in 2008 and 2009.
Points are awarded for each school’s finish in Mid-Suburban League varsity only competition, and every sport is treated the same way. There are no so-called minor sports. They are all considered major at the varsity level in the Trophy and Cup battles. Success in state tournaments is not a factor.
Conference champions receive 14 points, an important plus in the standings, and the runner-up earns 12. Points then are distributed down the line (11, 10, 9, etc.) according to the final position. There is a formula that determines points for varsity sports that do not have overall standings but only divisions.
The key to winning the awards or even being in title contention is to avoid as many second-division finishes as possible in the final standings.
In June of 2009 the two Mid-Suburban varsity sports awards given by Paddock Publications officially added the name of Bob Frisk, who retired from the Daily Herald in 2008 after 50 years with the newspaper as an enthusiastic supporter of the high schools.
With the cooperation of the Mid-Suburban League Board of Control, Frisk had originated both the Paddock Cup for boys (first awarded in 1968) and the Paddock Trophy for girls (1976) for the newspaper.
Through a 1997 agreement with the MSL Board of Control, complete standings of Nos. 1 through 12 are not published. Only first-division schools are announced. The publication of 1-12 put too much negative emphasis on some schools when the awards were initiated to emphasize overall success.
Cup and Trophy standings
Bob Frisk Paddock Cup
Mid-Suburban League boys sports, 2012-13
Maximum points per sport: 14
Final standings: 1. Barrington 9.9, 2. Fremd 9.7, 3. Palatine 9.6, 4. Prospect 9.5, 5. Hersey 8.2, 6. Conant 8.1
Bob Frisk Paddock Trophy
Mid-Suburban League girls sports, 2012-13
Maximum points per sport: 14
Final standings: 1. Fremd 10.6, 2. Barrington 10.5, 3. Palatine 9.2, 4. Prospect 9.1, 5. Buffalo Grove 8.5, 6. Hersey 8.1