No shortage of college achievers from local high schools

It's fall awards time for these local college achievers. Without further adieu ...

Illinois receiver Mikey Dudek (Neuqua Valley) and Northwestern running back Justin Jackson (Glenbard North) each earned all-Big Ten honorable mention by coaches' selection, Dudek second team by the media. They are each freshmen with upperclassman stats. Through 12 games Dudek had 69 receptions for 965 yards, 6 touchdowns. Jackson ran for 1,187 yards and 10 touchdowns, just the second Wildcats frosh back to top 1,000 yards in a season. Dudek's Illini teammate, senior quarterback Reilly O'Toole (Wheaton Warrenville South) was Illinois' honoree for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.

One of the happiest yet most beastly football players to ever patrol area fields, Illinois defensive lineman Austin Teitsma (Glenbard South), a graduate student, was named too the Capitol One Division I Academic All-District Football Team for District 5. He holds a perfect 4.0 graduate-school GPA in sports management while also tying for the Illini lead with 9.5 tackles for loss, including 3 sacks among his 52 tackles.

Michigan State junior center Jack Allen, out of Hinsdale Central, was named all-Big Ten First Team in football by both coaches and media. The 6-foot-2, 299-pounder is on the Outland Award and Rimington Trophy watch lists and as of this writing had knocked down 69 defenders with 14.5 "dominator" blocks according to Michigan State.

Dayton's Soern Osborne (Naperville North), a senior offensive guard, earned first-team honors in the Pioneer League. With Osborne anchoring the Flyers' line Dayton led the league in rushing yards per game. Earning second-team defensive honors was redshirt sophomore defensive end Nate Sudnick (West Chicago), who made 64 tackles, 11.5 for loss with 5.5 sacks.

Former Wheaton North student Anthony Louis, a 2013 draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks and a sophomore at Miami (Ohio), has been invited to the U.S. National Junior Team Training Camp Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Montreal and Toronto. In his Miami career the 5-foot-7 left winger has 15 goals and 21 assists in 50 games.

St. Ambrose University senior forward Teri Novak (Naperville North) earned first-team honors in Midwest Collegiate Conference in women's soccer. She led the Fighting Bees in scoring by far, with 13 goals and 4 assists for 30 points, scoring 7 game-winning goals.

Southern Illinois sophomore setter Hannah Kaminsky earned Missouri Valley Conference Volleyball Scholar-Athlete honorable mention merit. She recorded 208 digs and 659 assists while earning a 3.61 grade-point average in marketing.

Lewis University senior defender David Pyle (Glenbard South) was selected to the Daktronics all-Midwest Region Men's Soccer First Team. Also earning all-Great Lakes Conference First-Team honors, Pyle helped the Flyers hold opponents to 0.74 goals per game with 8 shutouts.

Pyle's classmate at Lewis, swimmer Cindy Jezuit (Wheaton North), helped the Flyers set program records in the 200 and 400 medley relays at the House of Champions Meet in Indianapolis Nov. 21-22. As a junior, Jezuit sent Lewis records in the 50 and 400 freestyle events.

Benedictine University senior running back Artie Monaco (Lake Park) and Concordia University junior offensive lineman Angelo Turco (Metea Valley) each were Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference First-Team picks. Turco was among three juniors on First-Team Offense. Monaco led the Eagles in all-purpose yardage, averaging 154 yards a game rushing, receiving and returning punts and kickoffs.

Sophomore Kimber Meyer (Naperville North) became Macalester's second two-time All-American with her seventh-place finish in the Division III Women's Cross Country Championships in Ohio. She finished 22nd as a freshman. She's earned All-America finishes in cross country and both indoor and outdoor track.

Butler senior defensive back JoJo Ciancio (Downers Grove South) joined Illinois football player Teitsma by earning that same Capitol One honor. He led the Bulldogs in tackles with 84 and in interceptions with 3. A two-time first-team Academic all-Pioneer Football League pick, on Wednesday Ciancio was named a co-recipient of the first PFL Scholar-Athlete of the year award. He's an honors student with a 3.83 GPA majoring in economics and finance.

Meanwhile, one of Ciancio's former teammates at Downers South, Dayton junior defensive back Danny Leach, also earned his second straight Academic all-PFL honor. He's got a 3.80 GPA in education with a minor in business education. On the field he finished his season with 67 tackles and 2 interceptions.

Loras College senior midfielder Mike Pizzello (Timothy Christian) was named the Iowa Conference defensive most valuable player, as well as a first-team all-conference selection. Pizzello, who played on Timothy's 2010 state-championship team, registered 28 points on the strength of 14 goals, which led both the Duhawks and all of the Iowa Conference. At Loras he played on three straight conference champions and Division III Final Four teams in 2013 and 2012.

In the Midwest Conference South Division, Monmouth College senior defensive end Jack Porter (St. Francis) earned First-Team Defense honors, his second all-conference season. Porter made 44 tackles and broke up 4 passes, tops among Scots linemen, and made 13.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks. Porter's 38 career tackles for loss and 19.5 sacks both rank fifth all-time for Monmouth.

Joining Porter on that all-conference team was Lake Forest junior defensive back Pat Clark (Naperville Central). Already a three-year starter for the Foresters, Clark finished second on his team with 66 tackles and led them all with 5 interceptions and 10 passes defended.

The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin was full of local representatives on its First-Team all-Conference Football squad. On defense: Wheaton junior linebacker Adam Dansdill and North Central senior linebacker Michael Monterrubio (WW South) and Wheaton junior linebacker Mikey Swider (Wheaton North). And on offense: Elmhurst junior running back Josh Williams (Downers South) and Wheaton senior receiver Luke Thorson (Wheaton Academy).

Michigan State volleyball setter Rachel Minarick (Waubonsie Valley) was named to the Big Ten women's volleyball all-Freshman Team. Playing in 105 of the Spartans' 111 sets this season she recorded a team-high 1,057 assists and was second on the club with 207 digs.

Helping Aurora University to the Division III Sweet Sixteen for a second straight season, sophomore goalkeeper Rachael Warnock (Metea Valley) earned First-Team all-Conference honors in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. She finished with a record of 17-2-2 with 5 shutouts, a goals-against average of 0.70 and a save percentage of .854.

On the men's side of the NACC, two Aurora University players earned first-team honors: senior midfielder Jason O'Brien (Waubonsie Valley) and sophomore forward Jacob Goehring (Metea Valley). They tied for the Spartans lead with 7 goals, O'Brien scoring 4 game winners and dishing out a team-high 6 assists.

Our pal Al Carius, 49-year coach of North Central College men's track and field, was named NCAA Division III national coach of the year by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for the ninth time in the 22 years the award's been handed out. Carius' Cardinals won their 16th national championship in November; since the NCAA was split into three in 1973 his teams have made the national finals all 42 years. This fall North Central won its 41st straight title in the CCIW, and its seventh straight regional.

doberhelman@dailyherald.com

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