Cornell quartet has strong MSL East flavor

Over the years, it's highly unlikely that four players who received Daily Herald all-area recognition were on the same collegiate women's basketball team.

But that is exactly the case at Cornell College in Iowa this winter.

The quartet includes senior Kellie Kuzmanic (Wheeling), senior Maggie Hogen (Hersey), junior Diamond Boyd (Elk Grove) and sophomore Renee Poulos (Hersey).

And all four helped the Rams get off to a winning start in the 2016 portion of their schedule when Cornell defeated Illinois Tech 69-24 following a 13-day holiday layoff.

The Rams (6-4) scored 17 unanswered points to start the contest and led 47-6 at intermission.

During the 17-0 run, Boyd scored 6 of her 10 points. Poulos hit a 3-pointer in the first quarter as the Rams built a 22-2 lead.

Hogen became the ninth Ram in program history to register 500 rebounds in a career. She collected 4 rebounds in the game to raise her career total to 502.

Boyd also had 8 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 blocked shots in an efficient 12 minutes of court time, while Kuzmanic pulled down 7 rebounds.

• St. Louis sophomore guard Jackie Kemph played all 45 minutes in a 73-63 overtime loss to George Mason.

She narrowly missed a triple-double, collecting 9 points, a career-high 9 rebounds and 8 assists. Classmate Jenny Vliet (Rolling Meadows) handed out 4 assists for the Billikins (10-4) and 0-1 in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

• Lake Forest College junior forward Brie Majkowski (Wheeling) collected 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 assist in an 81-74 victory at Beloit College.

• Millikin senior Alyssa Saklak (Scahumburg) had 18 points and 4 rebounds when the Big Blue lost to Elmhurst College 88-73 at the Griswold Center in Decatur.

• Duke freshman Haley Gorecki (Fremd) is expected to miss the rest of the 2015-16 campaign with a right hip injury that was diagnosed Jan. 4, according to notes on the Duke athletics website. Gorecki, the 2015 Daily Herald Northwest all-area team captain, had appeared in 14 games averaging 4.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.1 steals.

Men's basketball

Winthrop's Jimmy Gavin (Prospect) scored 17 points when the Eagles fell 85-84 at UNC-Asheville in a Big South Conference matchup. Winthrop is 9-6 and 2-3 in the Big South while Asheville improved to 11-5 and 4-0.

Girls volleyball

Palatine junior Sydney Christiansen attended the American Volleyball Coaches Association Phenom College Prep Program and NCAA women's volleyball Final Four last month in Omaha.

The program is an invitation-only event with the athletes included on the 2015 Phenom List. Hickey has been identified by the AVCA as an elite rising high school volleyball student-athlete and will be recognized on the 2015 AVCA Phenom List that will be released on Aug. 31 on the AVCA website.

Christiansen broke her own school record for assists (773 as a sophomore) with 786 this past fall.

The all-area setter is on pace to finish her high school career with more than 2,450 assists, which would rank 14th in state history.

The Pirates went 10-0 in the Mid-Suburban West this fall; Christiansen had 42 assists in the MSL title match against Hersey.

Christiansen, who plays for Sky High, plans to make a verbal commitment for college this spring.

Men's swimming

Lewis freshman Colin Williams (Elk Grove) finished second in the 100 fly (52.25) at the University of Chicago double-dual meet against the host Maroons and Olivet Nazarene. Lewis fell to Chicago 162-117 and lost to Olivet Nazarene 187.5-92.5.

Men's track and field

Lewis' indoor season is under way, and one of its returning All-Americans is senior Andre Barnes (Prospect).

Barnes placed eighth overall in the 400-meter dash (48.29) to earn All-America accolades at the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships. He also took home the 400-meter dash title at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Indoor Championships.

"Andre broke through last year and it has really motivated him to take his skills to the next level," said Flyers coach Dana Schwarting. "If he can qualify nationally in the 200-meter dash as well as the 400-meter dash, our team goals get a whole lot more realistic."

Subway special

Many future collegiate athletes will be competing at the 26th annual Subway Classic this Saturday and Monday at Willowbrook High School in Villa Park.

Here is the schedule designed by the tournament's founder, Jim O'Boye.

Saturday: Wheaton Warrenville South vs St. Ignatius, 8 a.m.; Riverside-Brookfield vs. Wheaton North, 9:30 a.m.; Mother McAuley vs. Downers Grove North, 11 a.m.; Hillcrest vs. Maine West, 12:30 p.m.; Prospect vs Geneva, 2 p.m.; St. Thomas More (Champaign), vs Oswego East 3:30 p.m.; Marist vs New Trier, 5 p.m.; Homestead, Ft. Wayne, Ind. vs. Benet, 6:30 p.m.; Burlington Central vs. Hersey 8 p.m.

Monday: Providence vs. Willowbrook, 8 a.m., Brooks (Chicago) vs. Fenwick, 9:30 a.m.; Morgan Park vs. Homestead (Ft. Wayne, Ind), 11 a.m.; Lincoln-Way North vs. Plainfield North, 12:30 p.m.; Naperville North vs. Marian Catholic 2 p.m.; Rolling Meadows vs. Bogan, 3:30 p.m.; Batavia vs. Fremd, 5 p.m.; Joliet Catholic vs. Montini, 6:30 p.m.; Homewood-Flossmoor vs. Benet, 8 p.m.

Please email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com