Fourth place not a first for Naperville North at nationals

Naperville North's girls cross country team wouldn't normally fly to a meet.

Then again the Nike Team Nationals, run Dec. 6 in Portland, Oregon, is like Huskies coach Dan Iverson said, "kind of a different thing."

Naperville North's fourth-place finish out of 22 teams was not necessarily different, though. It matched its fourth-place finish of 2004. Both then and now the Huskies won their state meet before going national. It's Naperville North's third straight year attending the national meet; last year it finished 13th.

Running what Iverson called the race of her life, junior Judy Pendergast finished in 22nd place, one slot off the top-21 deemed "All-Americans." Following were freshman Sarah Schmitt, seniors Elly DeTurris and Emily Hamilton, sophomore Claire Hamilton (Emily's sister), freshman Natalie Dunnett and junior Jenny Gibson.

"Overall they ran a nice team race," Iverson said. "Judy's race was the highlight of the whole thing, but overall it takes seven people going out there and getting after it."

Palatine's girls placed 12th, Sandburg's boys 15th. Individually, Downers Grove North senior Ryan Clevenger placed 81st out of 199 male runners. McHenry's Jesse Reiser finished sixth.

Iverson said Naperville North's pattern of success results from a "culture of doing the right stuff." Programs like Naperville North, Downers North and Palatine obviously have that down.

"It certainly does continue some success," Iverson said, "but whenever you have those opportunities I think it sets the bar really high for future years, and that's never a bad thing."

Little big man

At the end of the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life," Harry Bailey salutes his older brother, George, as the richest man in town. Saturday in Elmhurst, little Payton O'Brien may feel the same.

Each of the past six years York's boys and girls basketball programs have joined Relay For Life of Elmhurst to organize an event called Paint the Gym Purple to raise money for the American Cancer Society. This year's emphasis is to honor Payton, a first-grader at Hawthorne Elementary School who last February was diagnosed with bone cancer.

"He's like every other 6-year-old boy, but he's been through quite a bit," said York boys basketball coach Vince Doran, who has one of Payton's older brothers on the varsity team, junior Walker O'Brien. Another brother, Bennett, plays on the sophomore team.

According to Payton's entry on the CaringBridge website he has three more chemotherapy treatments remaining; parents Brian and Laura are planning a "No-mo chemo" party in late January. Payton had a leg amputated, which Doran said has created a bond with Payton's grandfather, who lost a leg long ago due to an automobile accident.

Payton's case has struck a chord.

"The community has really rallied behind him," Doran said. "There are a lot of 'We Love Payton' signs spread out through the community."

It embraces more than one community. Brian O'Brien is a 1986 Benet graduate, and the family had hoped the annual event could include York and Benet. Over the summer Doran called Brian O'Brien as well as Benet boys coach Gene Heidkamp, who relinquished a home game to help celebrate Payton.

"Of course we were happy to do it," Heidkamp said. "I think it should be a great event for Payton, first and foremost, and the cause is a great one."

Asked what he might wish for as part of his big night, Payton said he'd like to ride in a fire truck. So Doran arranged with the Elmhurst Fire Department to give him a ride, arriving at the school at about 6:45.

After visiting York and Benet locker rooms Payton will join his brothers Bret, Walker and Bennett and sisters Briley and Avery as he's introduced on the court before the boys varsity game starts around 7:30 p.m. (The girls host Lyons Twp. at 6; from freshmen on up, eight games spanning both gyms begin at 3 p.m.) He'll be guest of honor with some buddies on "The Dukes Couch" behind the home team's bench.

"There are many cool things planned for the night," Doran said.

They include a visit by Ronald McDonald, special T-shirt sales, raffle items and extended concessions. Proceeds will be donated to Relay For Life of Elmhurst. It's best to wear something purple.

"We expect our gym to be as full as it's ever been on a Saturday night, and we hope it's a great night to raise funds for the American Cancer Society," Doran said.

Mrs. Official

We ran into Laurie Jordan in Champaign as she and a couple other football officials charted interesting plays and penalty calls from the eight state championship games for future educational purposes.

"We check the officials' mechanics," she said. "Are they in the right position, are they giving the right signals, are they aware of what's going on, do they see the whole play, are they making sure they don't get run over, are they working with the players?

"Most people watch the ball and where it's going. We look at the five officials and what they're doing."

She was a month into a yearlong term as the first female president of the Athletic Officials Association football division. She's also a vice chairman on the AOA Executive Board, which has divisions serving football, basketball, baseball and softball in Illinois.

"This is huge," said Jordan, a Warrenville resident who sent five children to Wheaton Warrenville South and two of them, Will and Andrew, to John Thorne's North Central College football program.

"This is probably second in line to being able to do a state-final game," she said of her election. "It's very important to me because it really is affirmation from other officials in the division. It was an elected position. There's a lot of age range - we have about 60 members in the football division, from people who were just licensed to do it to people who've been doing it for 40 years. It's a huge honor and a huge responsibility."

She needs to recruit speakers to address situations on topics ranging from rules to concussions; keep current on National Federation of State High School Associations rule changing; work with the Illinois High School Association; conduct pre- and midseason meetings as well as six summer meetings held at Fenton. Jordan also is AOA Hall of Fame Committee chairwoman.

In her 13th year as a "patched" football official, last season Jordan worked about 35 varsity games. She never heeded dire warnings of being a female in a male-dominated world. She said coaches and other officials have been "such gentlemen" and encouraged other women to give officiating a shot in any sport.

"It's a great way to give back to a sport that's probably given your child a lot," she said.

doberhelman@dailyherald.com

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