Gotlund's got an Excellence medal
Northern Illinois University senior Kim Gotlund, a member of the women's gymnastics team, has been named a recipient of the first Mid-American Conference Medals of Excellence.
The Medal of Excellence is a new award that will be presented annually to one male and one female student-athlete from each league school.
The recipients, who are nominated by the institutions, represent NIU and the athletic department at the highest levels in terms of academics, athletics and community service involvement.
Gotlund, who attended Warren Township High School and recently graduated from NIU in pre-physical therapy with a 3.8 grade-point average, will enter the physical therapy program at the University of Minnesota this fall.
She was a two-time first-team All Mid-American Conference gymnast and twice was selected to compete as an individual at the NCAA Regionals as an all-rounder.
Gotlund competed in every meet as an all-rounder for the Huskies over the last three seasons and performed 147 routines in four seasons for NIU. She served as team captain for the Huskie gymnastics team for the last three years.
Women's lacrosse
Augustana's Emily Handrahan (Lake Zurich) has recorded 73 points on the season off 32 goals and 41 assists.
The Vikings won their second-round NCAA
Division III tournament game at Thorson-Lucken Field on Saturday 22-14 over Adrian to improve 19-0.
On the defensive side, Olivia Mayer (Libertyville) is tied for the team lead with 20 caused turnovers.
Women's track
Southern Illinois sophomore Kelley Gallagher (Vernon Hills) turned in a top performance for the Saluki in the 5,000-meter run at the Missouri Valley Conference championships.
Running strong at the front of the pack throughout the race on her home track, she was clocked in 16:48.26 to take fourth place in a field of 33.
Gallagher's run shattered her previous personal best by 19 seconds and ranks third all-time at SIU.
As a team, the Salukis earned third place honors are looking to defend their MVC Cross Country Championship in the fall.
Baseball
South Division champion Grinnell swept the awards as part of the 2014 Midwest Conference (MWC) All-South Division Baseball team.
Grinnell's Anthony Mack was named the Midwest Conference South Division Player of the Year as the Pioneers advanced to the MWC championship tournament for the sixth consecutive year.
Mack is the first Grinnell positional player to win the 'Player of the Year' award since Mike Nodzenski shared the honor in 2011.
Mack is the fifth player in school history to win the award.
He finished second in the league in average (. 423), slugging percentage (. 613), on base percentage (. 503) while adding 10 doubles, 2 triples and 4 home runs.
He scored 36 runs and had 56 hits while striking out only 14 times in 167 plate appearances.
Women's track
Carthage junior Becca McMullin (Grant) qualified for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championship at Ohio Wesleyan University's Selby Stadium/George Gauthier Track in Delaware, Ohio.
McMullin is ranked 22nd in the discus (142-4). The top-22 individuals qualify for the national championship. The discus gets underway at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Rotunno commits
Lakes High School senior Vinny Rotunno, a multi-sport athlete, has announced his decision to continue his baseball career at Augustana.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound right-handed pitcher sports a 2.00 ERA in 28 innings for coach Ray Gialo's Eagles and has held the opposition to a .210 batting average.
He has averaged 1 strikeout an inning with a 3-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Rotunno, who is in line to earn his second varsity letter this season, was named Lakes' Male Student Athlete of the Month in April.
He also lettered for coaches Chris Snyder and Luke Mertens in basketball and football, respectively.
A four-year honor roll student, he was named to the North Suburban Conference Student Athletic Leadership Team.
He is planning on a pre-medicine major at Augustana.
Rotunno will be joining a Viking program that is currently 29-12 this year and claimed the 2014 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championship. Augustana has reached the 25-win plateau 15 times in the last 16 years.
Women's basketball
Carthage College women's basketball coach Tim Bernero has sent a jersey worn by Stephanie Kuzmanic (Wheeling) to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville Tenn.
Kuzmanic's jersey will be on display until May of 2015 in that organization's Ring of Honor.
The Ring of Honor is one of the most-popular exhibits at the facility in Knoxville.
It provides a colorful backdrop to the facility archives and is used to "honor the past, celebrate the present and promote the future of women's basketball."
Over 100 jerseys from high school and college All-Americans currently hang in the hall.
Kuzmanic was named a 2014 Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-America, the College Conference Illinois and Wisconsin Most Outstanding Player and first-team All-CCIW.
She was also named Capital One® Academic all-American 'Player of the Year' for NCAA Division III.
Softball
Northwestern junior Andrea DiPrima received All-Big Ten second team honors and NFCA All-Great Lakes third team. She batted .393 with a .519 on-base percentage in Big 10 games.
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