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Lake Zurich's McNair will make a run at Augustana

Senior Laura McNair will take her running shoes to Rock Island this fall.

The standout athlete from Lake Zurich High School announced that she will continue her running career as a member of Augustana coach David Thompson's track and field and cross country teams.

McNair served as the team captain in both cross country and track this past school year at Lake Zurich.

She earned three varsity letters for coach Ian Silverman's Bears in cross country and was a four-year letter winner in coach David Antczak's track and field program.

McNair was a two-year All-North Suburban Conference performer in cross country and earned All-NSC honors three times in track.

She finished 20th at this year's North Suburban Conference cross country meet in Lake Forest and matched that at the regional in Palatine.

At the Schaumburg sectional, she was 41st and followed that up by running a personal 3-mile best of 18:26 at the Class 3A State Championship in Peoria, Illinois. That performance earned her a 128th-place finish. She finished 175th at state as a junior.

McNair's personal cross country best over five kilometers is 20:06. In track, she's logged bests of 5:32 at 1600 meters and 11:42 in the 3200.

She is a member of the Lake Zurich honor roll and was selected as Outstanding German Club student. The NSC all-academic team honoree has had pieces published in the Lake Zurich Literary Magazine in 2013 and 2015 and is planning on a creative writing major at Augustana.

McNair will be joining a Viking track & field program that has won 12 of the 28 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin outdoor championships since the event was first held in 1988. Augustana has won seven CCIW cross country titles, including the 2013 championship.

Women's basketball

Libertyville High School senior center Becky Deichl has committed to Wisconsin-Whitewater. One of the the highlights of Deichl's senior season came when she sank 2 free throws with four seconds left to help the Wildcats to a 58-57 triumph at Lake Forest.

Women's lacrosse

Augustana junior attacker Emily Handrahan (Lake Zurich) was named to the All-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin first team. Handrahan was second on the team and 10th nationally with 49 assists.

Men's lacrosse

Augustana junior Tyler Amidei (Vernon Hills) was a second-team pick for the all-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin team.

Women's tennis

Augustana junior Aileen MacDonald (Mundelein), who missed the fall season because she was on an international team, won a No. 4 singles match 6-0, 6-0 as the Vikings won a spot in the NCAA tournament, The Vikings went 12-2 in the fall and came back in the spring to post a 12-7 mark for the final record of 24-9.

• Augustana sophomore Dana Goggin (Buffalo Grove) claimed the Most Valuable Player award following a historic season for the Augustana women's tennis team. The Vikings set a new school record for victories in a single season and also qualified for the NCAA Division III National Tournament for the first time in school history.

Goggin was named as the team's MVP and the entire squad shared the 'Hardest Worker' award for coach Jon Miedema. Goggin finished the 2014-15 season with a sparkling 29-6 overall record while playing at No. 2 singles. The 29 victories are the second-highest single season in Augustana history. The record was actually set this year by Goggin's freshman teammate Mollie Magee (from Overland Park, Kan.), who went 30-12 at No. 3 singles.

Goggin also went 29-9 in doubles play, giving her a total of 58-15 in combined action this year. She was also a first team all-conference selection in the fall.

She was joined on the first team by her sophomore sister Lauren Goggin (Buffalo Grove) who went 27-10 at number one singles. Dana Goggin has a career record of 44-17 in singles and 44-22 in doubles heading into 2015-16. Her combined career mark is 88-39.

The Vikings finished the season with a 24-9 overall record, breaking the previous school record set in 2010-11.

Softball

After a standout softball career at Northwestern University, former Buffalo Grove standout Andrea DiPrima was invited to try out for the Chicago Bandits professional team.

But with regrets, she declined because she had already been accepted into a graduate program at the University of Illinois where she will begin her studies in Champaign beginning June 14.

"I will forever be indebted to this sport," said DiPrima, who was once again named to the dean's list. "When I reflect on my softball career, the first word that comes to mind is grateful. Grateful for my loving and supportive family, for all the lifelong friendships formed throughout the years, for my coaches and mentors, for the amazing places this sport has taken me and for an incredible education."

DiPrima leaves the Northwestern softball program with her name ranking high in five career offensive categories.

She is tenth in walks, ninth in slugging percentage, fourth in on-base percentage, fourth in batting average and third in doubles.

This spring she enjoyed her best season - .391 batting average, .503 on-base percentage and a .660 slugging percentage.

She also had a career-best 17-game hitting streak with 6 home runs and 18 RBI in that stretch, reaching base safely in 26 straight games.

During the past couple years, the Northwestern softball team has set a number of team offensive records and DiPrima contributed to those team marks as well.

She earned her second All-Big Ten second-team selection and National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Great Lakes Region second-team selection. She also played in the NCAA regional playoffs in three of her four years at Northwestern.

DiPrima has received Academic All-Big Ten honors every year she was eligible to receive them. She also received Big Ten Distinguished Scholar last year. That honor will not be announced until July for this season.

"Softball is challenging because it involves a lot of failure," DiPrima said. "The best hitters in the game will only hit the ball three or four times per 10 at bats. Learning how to handle that failure has without a doubt shaped me into the person I am today. This game has made me a more mentally tough individual - and that's something that carries over into all aspects of life.

"I will always miss putting on the uniform and competing, but I am also excited to start the next chapter of my life."

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

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