Grant's Helmich turning heads with baseball excellence at Carthage
While at Grant High School, Jared Helmich was well-known in Lake County as a first-team All-North Suburban Conference and Daily Herald all-area baseball player.
Now, as a senior in college, he is becoming known at a much wider level.
The Carthage College first baseman/pitcher has been named a D3baseball.com preseason All-America.
Helmich was a 2015 D3baseball.com third-team all-American. He was also first-team All-Central Region by both the American Baseball Coaches Association and D3baseball.com.
The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin's Player of the Year started all 45 games last spring.
He started 32 at first base and 13 as a designated hitter while batting .354 with 11 doubles, 6 home runs and 33 RBI.
Helmich set a Carthage season record with a 30-game hitting streak to start the season.
He compiled a 4-1 pitching mark with a 2.21 ERA over 9 starts and 61 innings. Opponents batted just .234 against him.
Helmich transferred to Carthage prior to his junior year after attending the College of Lake County his freshman and sophomore years.
Men's track and field
Augustana sophomore Kevin Barbian (Libertyville) tossed the shot 47 feet, 6inchs to place third at the Sol Butler Invitational in Dubuque, Iowa. The Vikings easily won the invite with 150.5 points to defeat second place Dubuque (109) by 41.5 points.
Barbian, a member of the school's dean list, is majoring in applied mathematics and economics.
• Vikings senior Hans Hunecke (Lakes) cleared 12-11 in the pole vault for fifth place.
Men's basketball
Augustana senior Brandon Motzel (Carmel) grabbed a game-high 10 boards and scored 7 points in a 76-49 win over 25th-ranked North Central. Motzel (7.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg, .591 field goal percentage) is the Vikings' leader with 16 blocked shots. He is third in the CCIW in rebounding with 9.4 per game.
Motzel also contributed a career-high 17 points and 9 boards when third-ranked Vikings improve to 15-1 overall and 4-1 in the CCIW with a 71-63 victory over Carthage.
In that game, senior Griffin Pils (Libertyville) converted a pair of free throws in the final 39 seconds to keep Carthage at bay.
Women's basketball
Augustana junior Olivia Mayer (Libertyville) is leading the Vikings with 50 assists.
She also knows how to put the ball in the basket.
Mayer's field goal half way through the first quarter gave the Vikings their third 5-point lead of the period at 14-9 during a 56-51 triumph over Carthage.
It was Augustana's first win over the Lady Reds since 2005 and first in Kenosha since 2002.
Women's track
Augustana freshman Laura McNair (Lake Zurich) was eighth in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 11:24.08 at the Sol Butler Invitational in Dubuque, Iowa. The Vikings scored a total of 71.5 points and placed fourth in the 11-team meet.
Lacrosse
The Arlington Falcons Lacrosse Club is looking for experienced and new players for the 2016 season.
The club will field both varsity and junior varsity teams. Teams are group by both age and ability level. The majority of the players are from District 214 but all high school-aged players are welcome.
Last season, the first working in partnership with the Arlington Heights Park District, the club was provided a new home field at Hersey High School.
The Falcons are an independent club and will be competing against other high school boy's lacrosse clubs throughout the state.
An informational meeting will be held Saturday, Feb. 6 at 3 p.m. in the meeting room at Pioneer Park (500 S. Fernandez Ave., Arlington Heights).
Check out the Falcons' website www.arlingtonfalconslacrosse.com or contact Matt Healy at the AHPD (847-506-7133, or mhealy@ahpd.org) for more details.
Softball
Loyola Academy is looking for a junior varsity softball head coach.
The applicant should have coaching or playing experience in softball at the high school level or higher.
The applicant should have a bachelor's degree, and either be a certified teacher or ASEP certified.
Please send a resume and letter of interest to Patrick Mahoney, Director of Athletics, Loyola Academy, 1100 Laramie Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091 or to pmahoney@loy.org.
• Please email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com