St. Edward alum Kruk making the best of two sports
St. Edward graduate Allison Kruk is not one to let chunks of free time go unoccupied.
So, she added another college sport to her schedule. Kruk now plays soccer and softball at Concordia University in River Grove.
"Long story, short - I had too much free time on my hands. It was driving me nuts. I absolutely like to keep busy," said Kruk, who left coach Tim Brieger's St. Edward program as its second all-time leading scorer. "I was debating changing schools and living at home but our soccer coach here said why not take a look at doing something else. So I dove headfirst into it and came up with softball and within the first few days I settled in with the program."
Kruk's softball debut was a smash hit. The freshman utility-outfielder finished fourth on the team in hitting with a .337 batting average. In 36 games (30 starts), Kruk had 35 hits in 104 at-bats and scored 28 runs to go with 9 RBI. She also finished second on the team in stolen bases with 13 and made only 2 errors in the field.
"The group of girls already on the team were supercool about this," said Kruk. "They took me for what I was and it became normal fairly quickly, which was nice."
The concept of softball was not completely foreign to Kruk. She played baseball - not softball - up until her sophomore year of high school through the Elgin National Little League program.
"I did a little bit of everything except play short or third," she said. "My dad always has been supportive of me with baseball. He always told me how good I was and how I could compete with the guys. I think if I would have switched over to softball I would have lost my edge and probably would have quit when I was young."
Kruk said playing with boys was never an issue.
"I found it very easy to connect with the guys," she said. "I made all my childhood friendships through baseball. The guys always treated me like a player and not a girl. I developed some great friendships whether it was playing baseball or just hanging out at the house. The only time you could tell was with the other team. They were always kind of shocked that a girl was on the team, but our guys always had my back. There was one girl (Ryann Scully) who played baseball when I did, but she switched to softball."
Kruk noted she did go through an adjustment period at Concordia with softball.
"It was a lot more complex than I remember baseball being," she said. "It's a lot more technical and there were a lot more fundamentals that I needed to brush up on. I think I adjusted pretty well to seeing an underhand pitch."
Kruk even developed a slap-hitting game. "I did a little slap-hitting and regular swinging," she said. "The slap hitting was hard to pick up."
Kruk has no regrets about adding another sport to her schedule. "I am so glad I made the decision," she said. "One, I've made a lot of new friends and two it helps me stay in shape for soccer which is the main reason I'm here at Concordia. I'm playing a game I love again. My dad loves watching me play and my family has been very supportive."
Kruk's strong softball debut came on the heels of a productive fall season on the soccer pitch. Kruk made the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference all-freshman team after leading the Cougars in goals with 10. She finished second on the team in points with 22 and was third in shots on goal with 21. Four of Kruk's goals were game-winners, which topped the Cougars charts and was the third-highest total in the conference. Kruk helped Concordia finish 11-7 in soccer.
Kruk, who is studying sports management, said free time will be at a premium this summer as well. She's planning on playing on a couple of soccer teams and will be helping Brieger out with his camps.
Burke named student-athlete of the year: In keeping with the two-sport theme, Bartlett graduate Tori Burke was recently named Cardinal Stritch University female student-athlete of the year.
Burke, a 2014-2015 NAIA scholar-athlete, helped the Stritch volleyball team win the CCAC regular-season and tournament titles. She ranked second on the team with 214 assists and third with 378 digs.
Burke also has been a key cog for the Stritch softball team this spring where she has ranked among the conference and national leaders with 18 wins and an ERA of 1.45. She led the team to 43 wins in 2015 and has struck out more than 100 batters in each of her three years at the school. Burke recently earned all-CCAC first-team accolades.
Burke is a biology major with a 3.88 grade-point average.
Skonieczny at Illinois: Huntley graduate Mark Skonieczny is a freshman catcher-outfielder on the University of Illinois baseball team that was 40-6-1 overall and 16-1 in Big Ten Conference play through midweek. Illinois currently is ranked as high at No. 3 in the country in one national poll. Skonieczny has played in 12 games this season and has 1 hit and 2 RBI.
Angelo named coach of the year: Longtime Elgin Community College baseball coach Bill Angelo recently was named the Illinois Skyway Community College coach of the year. Angelo directed ECC to a conference co-championship this spring.
In addition to Angelo's honor, ECC placed six players on the all-conference first team. That group includes Blake Alexander (3B), Kurt Barbeau (OF), Troy Dykhuis (P), Brandon Larkin-Guilfoyle (2B), Sean Dunne (OF) and Matt Starai (P).
Anthony Bragg, Mike Hazlehurst, Tyler Kalusa and Ryan Thomas were named to the all-conference second team.
Judson baseball update: The Judson baseball team won its third CCAC tournament title in a row recently. The host Eagles opened tournament play with 3-2 win in 11 innings against Purdue-Calumet. Judson then downed Holy Cross 14-5 and notched another 3-2 11-inning win over Purdue-North Central. Judson faced the same Purdue-North Central team in the championship game and won 9-3.
Judson will find out who it will be playing in the NAIA tournament Friday at 6 p.m. when the NAIA opening round selection show is held.
Off at College wants your help: Send information and/or statistics on Fox Valley area athletes playing collegiately to Mike Miazga at mjm890@gmail.com.