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WW South coach Todd remembered as 'a great guy'

They were two tall, young men in 1987, standing on bleachers at the Oak Park-River Forest field house, checking their stop watches and marking down times like track coaches do.

They struck up a conversation. One of them, Ken Helberg, told the other he'd just interviewed for the Naperville North boys track coaching job but was told he was too young.

The other man suggested he apply at Wheaton Central, which could also use a new teacher in the science department, Helberg's field.

Helberg applied and was rewarded with both the teaching and coaching positions.

Months passed, the two young teachers went their separate ways, until ...

“I went to the first science department meeting, and there he was,” Helberg recalled.

He being Tom Todd, the former Wheaton Central and Wheaton Warrenville South track and cross country coach, science teacher, Illinois High School Association track official and father of three boys.

Todd died of cancer Dec. 9 at age 61. The Daily Herald's Jessica Cilella wrote his passing in a story last Friday.

“Tom was a great guy,” said Helberg, who became a boys track coach the same year Todd took over the girls, 1988. “I'm going to miss him. He's one my best friends here at school.”

Recollections of Todd, who possessed an equal capacity to be gentle and calmly authoritative all while flashing a smile, will fly in the WW South auditorium at 2 p.m. Sunday. In lieu of a funeral or visitation, Todd's sons, Brandon, Jason and Erik, requested a memorial to their father be held there, and WW South Principal David Claypool agreed.

Helberg coached track athletes Brandon and Jason — youngest son Erik, born with spina bifida, went on to Missouri to play wheelchair basketball on scholarship — and at that point Todd left the girls program to watch them run.

Helberg called Todd a cerebral person, quick-witted, a good sounding board for ideas and training techniques but also fun to be around.

“His mind was all over the place,” Helberg said.

“He was a good one,” Helberg said. “A good, young man.”

Smash hit

On Dec. 11 Molly Haggerty was in a hallway at St. Francis when she started getting text messages from her parents, Jerry and Stacy, about an award she'd won. Molly's volleyball coach at St. Francis, Peg Kopec, had the scoop.

Haggerty, an outside hitter, had been selected as the Gatorade Illinois volleyball player of the year. The 6-foot-2 junior from Glen Ellyn, already committed to Nebraska where older sisters Meghan and Maddie play, is St. Francis' first Gatorade selection, believe it or not.

“My parents are really happy for me. They know how hard I worked. Just to achieve this award is very humbling, and they're very proud,” Haggerty said.

The Champaign News-Gazette player of the year while leading 38-4 St. Francis to an 11th state championship, Haggerty recorded 381 kills, 53 blocks, 152 digs and 20 service aces.

The Gatorade award is based on more than volleyball statistics. Haggerty has a 3.31 grade-point average while also volunteering for Feed My Starving Children, the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation and a holiday toy drive at St. Francis.

It's a little daunting to claim such an honor with a year of high school remaining. Good thing there's another level for Haggerty to aspire to.

“Obviously, winning Gatorade state player of the year is awesome, but next year, winning national player of the year would be a dream come true,” she said.

Rams Sky-high

On Wednesday the Chicago Sky women's professional basketball team selected Glenbard East's girls basketball team as the third weekly recipient of its “High School Team of the Week.”

Off to a 4-4 start that is their best in recent years, the Rams were cited by the Sky for unselfish play that had four players lead the team in scoring.

The Sky also appreciates what goes on off the court, In addition to hosting a Toys for Tots drive, the Sky noted an abundance of Rams basketball players named to the 2013-14 DuPage Valley Conference All-Academic Team, and their daily study table for anyone who might need help with schoolwork.

Now eligible for the Sky's High School Team of the Year, the Rams will be invited to a Sky game and acknowledged on the court during halftime.

Go west

Naperville Central senior linebacker Bobby McMillen has been chosen by USA Football to the U.S. Under-19 National Team. That team will face Team Canada in the sixth International Bowl on Feb. 7 at the University of Texas-Arlington.

The 6-foot-2, 225-pound McMillen, headed for Iowa State, was among seven linebackers added to the U19 squad on Dec. 3. This fall McMillen made 101 solo tackles, 140 total, with 9 tackles for loss. Redhawks coach Mike Stine said the DuPage Valley Conference defensive captain was like a coach on the field.

In 2013 Naperville North offensive lineman Colin Goebel, now at Iowa, was chosen to the U19 team.

Knights on the pitch

In a decision made last week, IC Catholic Prep will add boys soccer to its athletic lineup starting Fall 2015. Boys soccer will join 12 other sports offered at the Elmhurst school.

The Metro Suburban Conference affiliate has an enrollment of 310, according to the school's page on the IHSA website, but beginning a soccer program wasn't seen as a detriment to the football, cross country and golf programs IC offers in the fall. IC is the last of the 14 Metro Suburban Conference programs to add boys soccer.

IC Catholic director of public relations and communications Nancy D'Amore said administrators checked the interest of current and potential incoming students and concluded “the numbers are there.”

Being a preliminary announcement, information on aspects such as number of levels and the Knights soccer coaching staff is yet to come.

Hurryin' Hannah

There's not a typical cross country all-state team. That's handled by the runners themselves, the first 25 through the chute in each of the Class 1A-3A finals, boys and girls.

A Champaign-based organization, Better Prep Success, does put out an Illinois Christian School Cross Country Team and other awards. There were 55 schools eligible to nominate athletes this year. Timothy Christian's Hannah Bosman earned first-team selection to the girls team. A junior, she's qualified for the Class 1A finals each of her first three years in high school.

That makes sense

When we saw Frank Kaminsky will be honored as part of Lewis University's All-Decades Men's Basketball Team, representing the 1970s, we went, Huh?

It's not Frank Kaminsky the Benet graduate and Wisconsin senior forward who graced the cover of Sports Illustrated's basketball preview, Midwest edition. It's his father.

A 1992 Lewis Hall of Fame inductee who played professionally in Europe and South America, the senior Kaminsky was his team and conference MVP in 1976 and 1977, scoring 1,521 points to rank fourth all-time at Lewis.

He and other all-'70s Flyers will be honored Jan. 31 at halftime of Lewis University's game against Indianapolis in Romeoville.

doberhelman@dailyherald.com

Follow Dave on Twitter @doberhelman1

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