Wallace finishing standout college hockey career with flair
Kelly Wallace, a forward for Northeastern's women's hockey team in Boston, is wrapping up her career in style.
The native of Libertyville has been selected to the Hockey East second team of all stars.
Wallace, the leading scorer for Northeastern with 31 points, has pieced together a career season in her final year on Huntington Ave. She paces the squad with 18 goals and has points in 18 of her last 21 games overall.
She scored overtime game-winners against Dartmouth and Maine during the regular season and notched short-handed goals against Union and Providence.
Wallace, who was the runner up for WHEA Player of the Year, was also honored as one of 18 nominees for the prestigious Hockey Humanitarian Award in January.
Men's track
Illinois redshirt freshman Will Brewster (Grayslake Central) ran an 8:11:43 in the 3,000-meter final of the Big Ten Conference Meet on Feb. 28, finishing 13th.
• Arkansas State freshman Brandon Lombardino (Grant) earned all-conference honors by placing eighth in the shot put with a throw of 15.96 meters at the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships (Division I) in Birmingham, Ala.
• Grand Valley State sophomore Sean Wells (Grant) set the school record, the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Conference record and the Biermann Center record (in Hillsdale, Mich.) at the GLIAC Indoor Meet.
His record-setting performance came in the 60-meter high hurdles with a time of 7.87 (third best in Division II this season).
That earned him conference championship honors and helped GVSU to consecutive Men's GLIAC Indoor Track and Field championships. Wells also earned All-America honors by placing sixth in the 60 high hurdles while competing at the Division II Indoor Track and Field Nationals in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Baseball
Concordia-Chicago senior Ryan Thorsen (Grant) was in complete control on the mound, going 8 innings and striking out nine in a 7-2 win over Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind.
The left-hander allowed just 5 singles and 1 walk in notching his first win of 2014.
The Engineers had only one solid scoring chance against Thorsen, and that came in the fifth when the home team loaded the bases. But Thorsen got out of it by getting the No. 3 batter on a pop-up to first base.
Thorsen went on to retire nine of the next 10 batters before giving way to Steve Cox, who pitched the ninth inning.
Girls basketball
Grant Suprenant, a former all-conference basketball player at Palatine, is still enjoying success at the high school level.
Now as a coach.
In only his second season as the Illini West High School girls basketball coach, Suprenant guided the Chargers to a 28-3 record and a Class 2A regional championship.
For his efforts, Suprenant earned the 2013-2014 Illinois Basketball Coaches Association District 16 "Co-Coach of the Year."
His team was also the West Central Conference champion and won the Beardstown and Camp Point Central tournaments this season.
In his rookie season at the high school located in downstate Carthage, the Chargers complied a record of 20-11 and also won a regional crown.
Suprenant, a social worker, is 48-13 in his two seasons as the head coach.
He was a three-year starter for coach Ed Molitor and he was a two-time finalist for the IHSA three-point showdown.
Suprenant went on to play at Division I St. Francis University in Loretto, Pa., where he majored in social work.
Women's water polo
Villanova goalkeeper Julie Conrath (Fremd) was named the AAC 'Defensive Player of the Week' as she made 12 saves and recorded 2 steals against Whittier.
Conrath also made 18 saves, leading the team to a 7-5 victory over Chapman. Villanova went into halftime down 3-2, but Conrath kept her team in the game as the Wildcats made a comeback in the second half and took the lead.
Conrath has played in 11 games this season, making 105 total saves.
She currently leads the MAAC conference (among goalies with 5 or more games this season) with an average of 9.55 saves per game.
The Wildcats recently completed a California trip where they were 4-4 and were 4-2 with Conrath in goal.
Conrath was Fremd's MVP and an all-stater for two years and all-Mid Suburban League three years.
The Vikings never lost a conference match in her four years and were sectional champs each year.
Athletes of the Week
Washington University in St. Louis picked up five University Athletic Association 'Athlete of the Week' accolades, including senior guard Alan Aboona (St. Viator) of the basketball team and senior Anna Etherington (Barrington) of the women's indoor track and field team.
Aboona earned his honors after averaging 26.5 points per game in a pair of NCAA Tournament games. He had 27 points on 8-of-12 shooting in a 100-69 win over Wilmington College Friday in the First Round. Aboona followed that up with 26 points in an 83-75 loss to No. 24 Calvin College in the Second Round Saturday. He hit 12 three-pointers in the two games. Aboona earned the honor for the third time this season and fourth in his career.
Etherington received her award for the third time this season and eighth in her career.
She equaled her season-best to win the women's pole vault at the Point National Qualifier in Stevens Point, Wis. Etherington cleared a height of 3.91 meters at the meet, which ranks second in NCAA Division III this season.
Bandits hire Winkler
Charleston Southern University head softball coach Shane Winkler has been named the head coach of the Chicago Bandits professional softball team whose home field sits in Rosemont.
Winkler knows one area softball player quite well.
Former Fremd standout Mandi Matsumoto is a freshman on Winkler's SCU team this spring.
Matsumoto is off to a fast start in her rookie season in South Carolina. She leads the team in runs (14) and stolen bases (8) while batting .306 with 17 hits in 62 at-bats.
• Please email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com.