Finding something else Boswell does very well

Abbie Boswell is no one-note performer.

Naperville North's third all-time goal scorer in girls soccer, the two-time all-state forward is a reachable 25 goals away from program leader Eileen Guiney. A probable four-year starter, Boswell helped the Huskies win Class 3A titles as a freshman and sophomore.

Last fall the 17-year-old senior made her second trip to the state tennis finals in doubles.

She paints, she likes volleyball, but her true third act is as a vocalist.

“I've always loved to sing, then I decided that's what I wanted to do in college,” said Boswell, whose older brother, Chris, was a star Huskies soccer player. “So I'm going to Ball State and playing soccer and I'm going to try to major in music performance or music media production.”

She's got her audition for Ball State's top-flight music performance program Jan. 23 in Muncie, Indiana. The school gave her a list of pieces she could choose from, and Boswell decided upon an Italian opera piece and “If Music Be the Food of Love.”

Boswell, who describes her vocal range as “soprano II” — between alto and soprano — admits she's “kind of nervous for that.”

Showing her range exceeds the baroque, she'll limber up Sunday singing choruses with the band Co-Stanza, headed by Naperville North senior and rapper Jack Costanza and featuring drummer Max Ludake and DJ Peter Kolous. They'll play at 5 p.m. at the House of Blues on a bill headed by South Side rapper Brewski.

“Jack actually thought of it,” said Boswell, whose father, Englander Malcolm, twice tore an ACL playing basketball and soccer; her mother, Lynn, is a triathlete.

“He has this guy who gets us gigs, and this guy just asked us, ‘Hey, want play at the House of Blues?' And we're like, yeah, of course,” Abbie said.

“When you hear her sing it's unbelievable,” said Naperville North girls soccer coach Steve Goletz, who'll attend Sunday's show with some Huskies soccer teammates and such Naperville North glitterati as athletic director Bob Quinn and boys soccer coach Jim Konrad.

“When you look at her and you hear her voice it's two totally different things,” Goletz said. “She's a big, strong girl on the soccer field, and you hear her voice, you're like, that's random.”

Boswell, whose club soccer team, the 18-under NSA Jaguars, took third in a US Youth Soccer National League tournament over Christmas break in Orlando, favors the vocalist Adele and singer-songwriter ZZ Watt.

Her talents obviously range from contemporary music to opera. She's got a vocal coach and was an age-group finalist in the Sinfonietta Bel Canto “The SBC Voice” competition last year in Downers Grove.

Goletz called Boswell a “super-unique” person.

“Everything she touches she does really well,” he said.

Ah, but for the rest of us slugs there's a sliver of hope ...

“I'm terrible at basketball,” she said.

Spartan in the crowd

St. Francis senior volleyball player Mary Boken made the Dec. 29 edition of Sports Illustrated's “Faces in the Crowd” section. The magazine noted the Clemson-bound outside hitter was the first girl volleyball player in Illinois to collect four state medals — third her freshman year, first the next three.

Once were Warriors

Waubonsie Valley football coach Paul Murphy and his staff can take pride knowing they coached two receivers on the field Saturday in Texas at the FCS National Championship between Illinois State and three-time defending champion North Dakota State.

Scott Kuehn is a senior receiver at Illinois State, a Missouri Valley Football Conference President's Council Academic Excellence Award winner with a 3.9 grade-point average in exercise science. Kuehn has caught 7 passes for 96 yards and 2 touchdowns this season and, as the holder for extra points and field goals, has contributed to several crunch-time wins in that manner.

North Dakota State brings sophomore Demetrius Gray, who in 7 games has caught a pass for 14 yards. (Another former Waubonsie receiver, Christian Gibbs, is on Illinois State but like a few other local freshmen has yet to crack the lineup.)

Gray is the Bison's sole DuPage County product while Illinois State has three starting on the offensive line alone. Rocco Ammons of Wheaton Warrenville South and Kyle Avaloy of Glenbard South are a pair of 6-foot-5, 330-pound senior guards. Redbirds senior tight end James O'Shaughnessy, from Naperville North, put up career highs of 27 catches, 500 yards, 7 touchdowns.

Since Kuehn is a senior and Gray a sophomore we're guessing Murphy will be pulling for Illinois State — despite the presence of freshman fullback Bryce Holm, who killed Murphy's Warriors in Oswego's 2013 playoff victory in Aurora.

Football? You bet

For 20 years Paul Connor has assembled high school football coaches clinics in the western suburbs — nine while coaching the Fenwick Friars and, as of Jan. 17, 11 since joining Wheaton North as offensive line coach and history teacher.

“When I got here it was just something I enjoyed doing and a way I could contribute and raise funds for football,” said the old-school gentleman.

This year's clinicians are an interesting lot.

They are: Don Sutherland, who since becoming Cary-Grove's defensive coordinator has helped the Trojans to 20 playoff appearances and a 218-93 record; and Todd Dodge, of Westlake High School in Austin, Texas, a former college head and assistant coach who has won three Texas high school championships.

Also: University of Iowa offensive line coach Brian Ferentz, who also coached with the New England Patriots and is a son of Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz; and, interestingly, Sacred Heart-Griffin coach Ken Leonard, the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association hall of famer who in November beat Montini for a second straight Class 5A title, his fifth overall.

“I try to select both college and high school coaches who I've gotten to know and who I trust and I feel will educate the guys who will attend the clinic,” said Connor, who also will provide a self-described “standup act” based on his 40 years in the game.

There is a $100 preregistration fee by mail for entire coaching staffs, $25 individually in advance or $30 at the door. Connor said on Monday, 28 coaches from one program preregistered. Depending on time, the best bet is to call him at (630) 687-4779 or email Paul.Connor@cusd200.org.

Did we mention the all-you-can-eat pizza buffet?

“I think the guys who come to our clinic get a pretty good bang for the buck,” Connor said.

Congrats

With a 74-53 victory over Boston College on Jan. 4, University of Miami (Florida) women's basketball coach Katie Meier won the 250th game of her 14-year career as a head coach. In 10 years at Miami, the 1985 Wheaton Central graduate has amassed 174 victories, the rest coming at Tulane.

The few, the proud

On Friday Hinsdale Central will be one of 10 high schools nationwide that will be presented the Army National Guard national ranking trophy as part of the MaxPreps Soccer Tour of Champions.

The Class 3A champion, represented by coach Michael Wiggins and athletic director Dan Jones, finished 36th in the final MaxPreps computer rankings out of 15,000 schools the service ranked nationwide this season. (Top Drawer Soccer had the Red Devils No. 17 in the final SIMA Fab 50.)

The presentation to the 19-4-4 state champion — Hinsdale Central's first boys soccer title since 1975 — is scheduled for about 6:45 p.m. Friday in the school gym, before the boys varsity basketball game against Lyons Twp.

Let's hope the weather allows it.

doberhelman@dailyherald.com

Follow Dave on Twitter @doberhelman1