advertisement

IBCA Hall of Famers prepare for new Pontiac home

Over the years, this column, which was started by former Daily Herald sports editor Bob Frisk, has included countless mentions of individuals who are in the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association.

The plaques of those individuals, including Frisk, were near a banquet room in the Holiday Inn in Normal.

When that hotel closed its doors about six years ago, there was no longer a site where high school enthusiasts could visit and see the IBCA plaques of all the greats involved in high school basketball.

But that will be changing in about 14 months.

The IBCA Hall of Fame and Museum is slated to open in Pontiac in June of 2016.

Daily Herald sports writer Jerry Fitzpatrick wrote in March about former Westminster Christian basketball coach Bruce Firchau announcing his retirement from coaching to concentrate on his role as director of the Pontiac facility.

The veteran coach has been a driving force behind the museum project for several years.

A 2007 inductee to the IBCA Hall of Fame, Firchau called it a career after 40 years in coaching, 37 as a head coach. He retired as a history teacher from Hampshire High School in 2005.

In 10 seasons under Firchau, Westminster Christian won 174 games and lost 112 (.608). The Warriors won 3 regional titles, including back-to-back plaques in 2014 and 2015. His final team went 22-7 before bowing out in a Class 1A sectional semifinal against St. Francis de Sales, the high school Firchau grew up across the street from when he was a boy.

He is looking forward to seeing a new home for the IBCA Hall of Fame.

Coincidentally, former Hersey boys coach Don Rowley, who still has a great passion and energy for the sport, is also a 2007 HOF inductee and is excited to see the new facility.

It is expected to include a tribute to the boys and girls teams with the longest IHSA winning streaks. The girls record of 65 wins in a row is held by Maine West Hall of Fame coach Derril Kipp's 1987-88 and 88-89 teams.

"It's great to see others get the opportunity to visit and experience the Hall of Fame," said Rowley, who is in his 44th consecutive year of coaching boys high school basketball.

He now serves as a varsity assistant at Lake Zurich.

"After a long hiatus, it will be great for fans, friends of the game, and former players and coaches of Illinois high school basketball to have a museum which commemorates not only the Basketball Hall of Fame Members, but also traces the history of high school basketball in the state. It has been so much a fabric of Illinois life."

Girls water polo

Palatine senior Caroline Wojtas will sign to play Division 1 water polo at Virginia Military Institute on Wednesday morning at the high school.

She will be the first water polo player in Palatine history to sign for a Division I scholarship. Caroline's sister Agnes Wojtas played the sport at Carthage.

Caroline plans to major in psychology with a focus in PTSD. As of now, she is planning to go into the army and to work with soldiers at different bases.

Softball

Northwestern senior Andrea DiPrima (Buffalo Grove) is on a 17-game hitting streak and has reached base in 26 straight games. During the stretch she is hitting .481 with 6 home runs and 18 RBI.

Currently, she ranks 49th in walks per game (0.74), 47th in batting average (. 441), and 25th in on-base percentage (. 555) in the NCAA.

• Missouri-St. Louis sophomore Sara Kern (Wheeling) belted 3 home runs in the Tritons' 9-0 and 7-3 doubleheader sweep of Drury. She had two in Game 2 and now has 4 for the season.

As a team, the Tritons had 7 homers in the twin bill and ranks 13th in NCAA D-II single-season history with 89 so far. St. Louis (34-3) has won a program-record 17 straight games.

• Winona State junior Hanna Lythberg (Prospect) gave up just a pair of earned runs while striking out four and scattering 6 hits in a 6-4 win over Minnesota Duluth.

After pitching a perfect seventh inning in relief to earn the save against St. Cloud State, Lythberg tossed a 6-inning complete game in Game 2 against the Huskies, giving up just 1 earned run while scattering 4 hits and striking out three in the 9-1 win.

Lythberg (14-3) currently has the lowest ERA in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (1.53) in 105.1 innings pitched.

• North Central junior pitcher Andrea Starr (Elk Grove) has an 8-1 overall record with 47 strikeouts. She also leads the team with a .531 batting average in 32 at-bats, recording 17 hits, 5 doubles, 1 home run and 10 RBI.

North Central College is 15-1 and 2-0 in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin. The Cardinals are ranked 10th in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll.

Baseball

Lewis junior Kurt Becker (Palatine) belted a bases-loaded triple and freshman teammate Ethan Bloom (Hoffman Estates) had a RBI single to score Becker in the Flyers' 5-3 win over Springfield. Bloom also had a RBI when the Flyers scored 3 runs in the first inning of a 7-1 nonconference victory over Saint Xavier. Lewis improves to 11-16 with the win.

Lacrosse

Augustana junior Jonathan Bryk (Fremd) has a team-high 32 ground balls through 12 games for the Vikings (9-3).

Men's track

North Central senior Travis Morrison (Schaumburg) ranks first among all Division III competitors in the 10,000-meter run.

Morrison won the 10,000-meter run at the Wheaton Invitational, clocking a personal best time of 30:10.62. His time ranks first in both the CCIW and on the NCAA Division III national list.

Women's tennis

Augustana sophomore Lauren Goggin (Buffalo Grove) and her teammate Mollie Magee (from Kansas) came up with an 8-3 victory at No. 1 doubles in a victory over Dension, which is ranked 30th in NCAA Division III and seventh in the Central Region. The Vikings' No. 2 team of sophomore Dana Goggin (Buffalo Grove) and junior Aileen MacDonald (Mundelein) won 8-6 over Denison.

Rugby

The Sister Cities Associations of Palatine, Fontenay-le-Comte, France and the Palatine Rugby Club, an affiliate of the Palatine Park District, have coordinated an international exchange from April 10 through April 16.

French Mayor Jean-Michel Lalère, his Deputy Mayor, and 15 Fontenay delegates are visiting the Palatine Park District, Palatine Opportunity Center, District 15 and District 211 schools, the Village of Palatine and Harper College.

During the visit, they will also attend several rugby matches.

In addition to these dignitaries, the Fontenay-Luçon Rugby Sud Vendée rugby club has four coaches and 40 players ages 16 to 20 who will be staying with families from the Palatine Rugby Club and the Sister Cities Association of Palatine.

Several rugby matches are planned between the two organizations during the visit. The teams played on Sunday at Fremd High School and are playing two matches at Harper College today at 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. .

The Palatine Baseball Association will also be hosting 14-inch softball games at Community Park in Palatine on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Throughout the visit, the group will be touring various locations throughout Palatine and the city of Chicago.

All of these events are free and open to the public.

The goal for everyone through this opportunity is to foster an international sports exchange with rugby matches and increase human enrichment through discovery of oneself and others.

The Sister Cities Association of Palatine was founded in 1990 and established a friendship agreement with Fontenay-le-Comte, France, in 1995.

The Sister Cities Association of Palatine is open to anyone interested in French culture and always welcomes new members.

Founded in 2008, the Palatine Rugby Club is a member of Rugby Illinois (formerly the Illinois Youth Rugby Association) and USA Rugby which is a member of the United States Olympic Committee and World Rugby (formerly the International Rugby Board.

They are affiliated with the Palatine Park District and the Salt Creek Park District.

For more information, visit www.palatinerugby.com.

Rugby
On the strength of the pace and passing of their outside backs, the Arlington Stallions defeated the Lake Forest Harriers 79-5 Saturday at the Busse Woods Forest Preserve.

The Stallions were led by senior outside center Zach Kaminski (Prospect), who passed off for two early tries and finished his day with a 50-meter sprint to score under the posts after splitting

the Harriers defense.

"This was a big improvement over last week," said first-year Stallions back line coach Nick Tojaga. "Our care of the ball in contact, passing and lines of run were executed just as we practiced and very effective in creating tries. The challenge now is to play this way on a regular basis."

The Stallions travel to Northfield on Sunday to take on undefeated New Trier in a match that already has conference championship and state playoff implications.

• Please email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.