Plenty of pride as Thomas Middle School adds to the pack
The fourth annual Pride of the Wolf Pack assembly is set to honor three more distinguished alumni on April 28 at Thomas Middle School in Arlington Heights.
Each year, Thomas honors graduates who went on to play Division I or professional sports.
This year's featured alumni are Gillian Falknor (Bradley volleyball), Scott Kelley (Penn State baseball) and Ben Brust (Wisconsin basketball).
They will all be present for the assembly, as well as many other past honorees.
That elite group of former honorees includes Dave Corzine (DePaul basketball and the NBA), Tom Zbikowski (Notre Dame football and the NFL), Tom Nelson (Illinois State football and the NFL), Mike Myers (Iowa State baseball and MLB), Brian McBride (St. Louis soccer, MLS and USMNT), Brandon Harwell (UIC baseball), Annie Fesl (Cincinnati volleyball), Megan Fesl (Notre Dame volleyball), Erin Rodriguez (Illinois swimming), Andrea DiPrima (Northwestern softball), Katelyn Prorok (ISU diving) and Luke Fabrizius (Dayton basketball).
Anthony Kuch, a teacher at Thomas, said all of the above athletes were present at the assembly when they were honored.
"And almost all have come back each year as we honor the new recipients of the award," he said.
Kuch, a sixth grade English Language Arts teacher who organizes the event with Greg Keadle (eighth grade math teacher), said the assembly will begin at 8 a.m. and finish at approximately 9:15 a.m.
Serna honored
After graduating from the United States Coast Guard Academy, Zach Serna's intentions are to enter flight school.
The Palatine High School graduate sure has been flying high on the baseball field.
The sophomore third baseman was named the New England Athletic Conference baseball co-player of the week.
During the Bears' spring break trip to the Gene Cusic Classic in Fort Myers, Fla., Serna led the team in hitting with a .481 batting average, .568 on-base percentage and .667 slugging percentage.
He had 13 hits, 5 doubles and 10 RBI with a fielding percentage of .964.
This season, Serna is second on the team in hitting (. 424) while leading the team with 14 hits, 6 doubles, 11 RBI and a .606 slugging percentage.
Coast Guard (6-4 overall) finished 5-3 on its southern swing in Fort Myers.
A government major, Serna received a congressional nomination from U.S. representative Tammy Duckworth and soon after his appointment to the Academy.
The Academy provides education to future Coast Guard Officers with careers focusing on serving our country within the Guard.
Tuition for cadets is fully funded by the Coast Guard in exchange for an obligation of five years active duty service upon graduation.
Men's track
Duke senior 400-meter specialist Christian Vail (Fremd) was recently named to the dean's list with distinction for the fall 2015 semester.
The honor places him in the highest ten percent of undergraduates for the semester.
He has also been named to the Atlantic Coast Conference all academic honor roll three times (2013-2015).
Women's tennis
Augustana junior Dana Goggin (Buffalo Grove) and senior Aileen MacDonald (Mundelein) topped Haley Resnick and Laura Birky of Coe 9-8 at No. 1 singles.
Goggin and MacDonald, ranked 25th in the nation in doubles, moved their record to 22-4 on the season.
The No. 2 doubles team junior Lauren Goggin (Buffalo Grove) and sophomore Mollie Magee followed suit with a 9-8 win against Tamara Washington and Dinnah Watson. Lauren Goggin and Magee are now 17-5 this season.
At No. 1 singles, Lauren Goggin went to 19-8 on the year with a 6-1; 6-2 win over Resnick at No.1 and twin sister Dana Goggin upped her mark to 17-6 with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Amy Sebastian at No. 2.
All star game
Rosters have been announced for the women's portion of the seventh annual Lake County Senior Shootout (high school all star basketball game) on April 15 at the College of Lake County.
The all star game will consist of the top high school senior boys and girls players in Lake County.
The girls game will be at 6 p.m. with the boys to follow.
"This year's game is expected to be another great and exciting one," said event coordinator Fred Fleming. "We have a lot of talent in this year's senior class, which made it difficult selecting teams this year."
The game will feature a coed 3-point shootout and the slam dunk competition.
"We are going to try some new things in this years games," Fleming said. "My partner (Dwayne Springs) and I want to keep this event exciting and full of entertainment for our Lake County basketball fans."
"The girls we've selected in the game this year has to be one of the most talented lineups since our inaugural game. I know a lot of people usually show up later for the boys game, but this year we want them to come out and support our girls, too. You won't be disappointed."
The West girls team includes Natali Dimitrova, Sammy Stejskal (Olivet-Nazarene recruit) and Maddie Welter (St. Xavier of Chicago recruit) Buffalo Grove.
Among the girls on the East team are Barrington's Kelly Katis and Megan Talbot (Illinois State recruit).
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