Officially, Huster family is calling the game well

While in high school, Gail Miloch Huster was one of the top runners in Illinois.

Little did she know, nearly 40 years later she'd be running up and down basketball floors as one of the top officials in Illinois.

The 1975 MSL cross country champion from Wheeling High School and her husband Tom were named the Illinois High School Association 'Officials of the Year' for girls and boys basketball, respectively.

The Elmhurst residents will be recognized at a banquet during the 2016 IHSA Officials Conference, which will be held on July 23 at the Embassy Suites in East Peoria.

"The IHSA Officials of the Year are some of the best officials we have to offer, yet, no matter how well they do their jobs, they will still be questioned by coaches, fans and players. It takes a special kind of dedication and personal integrity to excel in this vocation," said IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman. "I have routinely said that one of the great highlights of my 25 years at the IHSA has been having the opportunity to work closely with officials."

Gail was on Wheeling's first cross-country team and was the IHSA state runner-up in 1976, when she was also the MSL champion.

Inducted into Wheeling's Hall of Fame in 2013, Huster also was voted the most outstanding female athlete - she also played tennis, basketball and participated in track and field - at the high school in 1977.

"Officiating was never on my radar while in high school," said Huster, a four-year, three-sport athlete at Wheeling. "I guess I would say officials were considered the 'dark side' when I was a player and then later when I was a coach."

It wasn't until she began officiating that she understood which side was the dark side.

"Now I can see the stripes as the good guys and gals," Huster said. "Understanding the important role that officials have in each game is special.

"Everyone other than the officials on the floor sees the game with their own school-colored glasses."

Huster knows that comes with the territory.

"We as officials are wrong according to 50 percent of all crowds." she said. "We know that going into each game and that is just a fact that you live with and call the game to the best of your ability each night.

"People would have to try officiating just a couple of games at any level to appreciate the abilities of all officials."

Huster sees officiating as a rewarding process.

"Being able to walk off the court and know you did your best for the game is very rewarding," she said. "It has been very special whenever a parent or coach even from a losing team stops you as an official and says you did a good job. There are some people out there who can still appreciate all parts of the game."

Gail's husband Tom is a York High School graduate.

He is in his 35th year of working IHSA basketball and officiated the Class 3A and 4A boys basketball finals in 2012 and 2013.

The Husters have a son, Eric, who is in his third year of officiating and is now a college freshman.

He worked games this past holiday season when he was home for Christmas.

"Tom and I used to work together more when he was still working on the girls' side for the IHSA", Gail said. "But now he is focusing on his boys schedule and looking to go downstate on the boys side one more time."

Tom and Gail do work some college women's games together.

"That is always enjoyable," Gail said. "Tom has been a great mentor to me as well as many other officials in the Chicagoland area. He is a well-respected clinician, mentor and official.

"I am proud to say that Tom is my mentor in basketball and much-loved husband. He is still my mentor even when we are not working together. There are still many times during a game that I can hear this little voice whispering 'stronger calls from center, or use your left hand!' He challenges me to be my best."

The Husters are proud of their 19-year-old son.

"I know we are both very proud that Eric has started his officiating career," Gail said. "He has been coming to games with us his whole life."

Eric used to draw the court and keep score while sitting in the bleachers at his parent's games.

Now he has an officiating schedule of his own.

"He will make a name for himself as an official," Gail said. "We look forward to his bright future. I know right now he is 'Tom and Gail's son,' but many officials already have told us that he is doing a great job for only his third year."

Just like his parents have done for many years.

Women's softball

Missouri-St. Louis junior center fielder Sara Kern had 6 hits, including 2 home runs and 4 RBI to help the No. 7-ranked Tritons to a pair of shutouts at Christian Brothers.

St. Louis posted a 5-0 victory in the opener before taking the nightcap, 14-0, in five innings.

Kern had 3 hits and 3 RBI in the opener, including a 2-run homer that gave St. Louis an early 2-0 lead.

Tritons junior first baseman Ryan Logan (Palatine) delivered a 2-run double to send junior Alex Stupek across the plate.

Kern has 3 more hits in Game 2 while delivering her second homer of the day in that frame.

This past weekend, UMSL went 4-0 with all shutout wins to improve to 10-0.

Kern added 2 more home runs, giving her 5 in 10 games and she leads the team with a .441 batting average (15-for-34) and 16 RBI.

Logan is batting .370 and tied for the team lead in doubles with 3.

Women's basketball

It was a night of milestones for Cornell seniors Maggie Hogen (Hersey) and Kellie Kuzmanic (Wheeling) as the Rams won their 11th straight game, 76-51 over visiting Monmouth.

Hogen (10 points, 6 rebounds) became the program's all-time leader for blocked shots, recording her 110th career rejection in the second quarter. The 5-foot-10 forward broke the record of 109 - shared by Camille Marie (2009-13) and Cara Hegner (2001-03) - in her 92nd career game.

Kuzmanic joined an exclusive group of Cornell players to register 100 3-pointers in a career.

She sank 4 of 6 shots from beyond the arc, giving her 103 triples over four seasons.

The Rams are 16-4 and 13-2 in the Midwest Conference.

Kuzmanic caught fire in the second quarter, scoring 13 of her game-high 18 points. She accounted for 8 points during a 20-4 spurt to start the period that extended Cornell's lead to 40-18 with 2:48 remaining in the half.'

Junior Diamond Boyd (Elk Grove) collected 14 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals. Sophomore Renee Poulos (Hersey) added 9 points.

Hogen also had 18 points and 13 rebounds in the Rams' 67-50 Midwest Conference victory over Ripon.

• Saint Louis University sophomore guard Jackie Kemph (Rolling Meadows) has been selected to the women's basketball Academic All-District 6 team.

A business administration major with concentration in accounting, Kemph carries a 3.947 grade-point average. She has made the Atlantic 10 Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll (minimum 3.5 grade-point average) in each of her first three semesters.

Kemph leads the Billikens in scoring (15.8 ppg), assists (6.7 apg), 3-point field goals (32), free throws made (92) and free throw attempts (119). She has a 2.08-to-1 assist-turnover ratio and 21 steals.

Kemph ranks second in the Atlantic 10 and 10th nationally in assists.

She also ranks among the A-10 leaders in scoring (fourth), assist-turnover ratio (fourth), 3-point field goal percentage (10th, .364), free throw percentage (12th, .773), field goal percentage (14th, .454) and 3-point field goals per game (15th, 1.3).

With 160 assists, Kemph owns the single-season record for a Billiken sophomore and is on pace to set Saint Louis' overall single-season mark. She stands seventh on SLU's career assists list with 334, almost two-thirds of the way to the school record of 520.

She will appear on the ballot for Academic All-America voting later this month.

• Oakton College captain Mallory Gonzalez (Prospect) led the Owls with a game-high 24 points in a 58-56 win in an Illinois Skyway Conference win over Elgin Community College. The freshman guard also grabbed 8 rebounds and handed out 4 assists.

• Old Dominion junior forward Destiny Young (Hoffman Estates) is the second-leading scorer (10.5 points) and rebounder (8.8) for the Monarchs.

• Jacksonville State (Alabama) junior guard Kelly Naughton, coming off a foot injury, is averaging 5.5 points, 2.7 assists and 1.9 rebounds for the Gamecocks, including a season-high 16 points at Purdue early in the season.

• Millikin senior Alyssa Saklak (Schaumburg) scored a game-high 29 points in a 70-57 over visiting Augustana.

Women's track

North Central junior Amanda Cortese (Hersey) finished second in the 3,000-meter run at the 25-team Chicagoland Indoor Championships held at North Central. She was clocked in a personal-best time of 10:20.08 to move up to sixth in North Central history in the event.

Cardinals junior Tori Capozziello (Schaumburg) hit the line in 2:18.74 to finish second in the 800-meter run. Capozziello's time was also a personal best as the Cardinals took fourth place in the meet.

• Augustana junior Ashley Talken (Wheeling) placed third in the pole vault at 10'6" when the Vikings placed fourth at the Darren Young Invitational in Grinnell, Iowa.

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