St. Charles East grad Martines wins top CCIW honor

St. Charles East graduate Annie Martines recently was honored for her strong performance on the indoor track and field circuit.

Martines, now a senior track and field athlete at Rock Island-based Augustana College, was the recipient of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin's Jack Swartz Award for the 2015-2016 winter season.

The Swartz Award is given to one male and one female student-athlete at the end of each athletic season. The honor is given by the CCIW and each of the 8 schools in the league are allowed to pick their own representatives. The league noted the only requirement is the winners must earn a varsity letter in his/her sport and have a grade-point average of at least 3.50. The award is named after the late Swartz, who served as CCIW commissioner until his death in 1998.

Martines is a two-time team captain who recently placed fifth in the CCIW indoor championships as a member of the team's 1,600 relay team. She also was seventh in the 60 hurdles with a time of 9.74.

Martines was voted the team's MVP during her junior season and has been a place-winner in the CCIW championships 8 times during her indoor career and 8 times outdoors. Her best finish in the league is a second-place finish during the 2015 outdoor season in the 400 hurdles. Martines qualified for the NCAA championship meet thanks to a 1:01.84 time in the Augustana Midwest Twilight Qualifier in 2015. That time is good for second best in Augustana history.

Martines sports a 3.66 GPA and is a communication sciences and disorders major at the school. She currently works for the Augustana clinic internship program for the Center for Speech, Language and Hearing. She also is on the executive board of the Office of Student Life and serves as both a student-athlete recruiting coordinator and a peer leadership mentor.

Perryman breaks NCAA record: Elgin High product Hannah Perryman is now the NCAA Division II softball all-time leader in strikeouts.

Perryman earned the record in the fourth inning of Game 2 of a recent Missouri-St. Louis doubleheader against Truman State.

Perryman surpassed Quincy's Torie Bunzell, who tallied 1,539 strikeouts from 2008-2011.

Perryman finished Game 2 with 8 strikeouts to help Missouri-St. Louis to a 3-1 win after losing the opener 1-0. Perryman had 1,543 career strikeouts after the nightcap win. That total ranks 11th all-time among all three NCAA divisions. The 10 individuals ahead of Perryman pitched at the Division I level.

Perryman had a 22-game winning streak (tied for 10th all-time in Division II) snapped in the 1-0 loss. She only allowed 2 bunt singles and fanned 10. The lone run of the game was unearned.

Area products compete in NCAA Division III nationals: Mooseheart graduate Wal Khat recently placed fifth in the 800 at the NCAA Division III men's indoor track and field national championships in Grinnell, Iowa. Khat competes for the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

Khat's efforts earned him a spot on the all-American team. Khat covered the 800 meters in a time of 1:55.91.

Also at the Division III championships, Batavia graduate Peyton Piron and St. Charles North graduate Zach Kirby were part of North Central College's 1,600 relay team that finished in fifth place.

The 1,600 team qualified for the final by going 3:19.11 and winning its preliminary heat (fourth-best qualifying time in the field). After taking the baton for the anchor leg in second place, Piron was able push through and finish first in the heat.

"We've got a young group," Piron told the team's athletic website (www.northcentralcardinals.com). "This was the first nationals experience for three of us (Kirby being the exception). I'm so proud of these guys. I wish we could have done a little better, but fifth place in the nation is still pretty cool."

In the final, North Central turned in a season-best time of 3:18.33.

Decker cited for excellence: St. Charles East graduate Kyle Decker, now a freshman at DePaul, earned all-Big East Conference honors after a recent strong showing at the Big East indoor track and field championships. All-conference honors are given to competitors who finish in the Top 3 in any individual or relay event.

Decker earned his accolade in the 60 hurdles. Decker was an all-state performer in the 300 intermediate hurdles at St. Charles East.

Locals reunion at Loyola: A trio of local athletes recently helped the Loyola University-Chicago men's track and field team take sixth place at the Missouri Valley Conference indoor championships.

Geneva product Peter Archibald, now a senior, placed second in the 800 with a time of 1:53.15. St. Charles East product Jake Mazanke, also a senior, was third in the 800 at 1:53.35.

Archibald and Mazanke teamed with Geneva product Sam Urben to form three-fourths of Loyola's third-place 1,600 relay team that earned a time of 3:19.19. Mazanke took the baton in sixth place and went to work down the stretch passing three teams in the final meters to log a spot on the awards podium.

Three locals star for Cardinal Stritch: Bartlett graduate Tori Burke, now a pitcher on the Cardinal Stritch softball team, recently was named the Stritch student-athlete of the week for the period March 28-April 3.

In 18 1/3 innings during the span, Burke allowed only 7 hits and 3 walks and posted a 1.15 ERA. Opponents hit only .113 against her during that stretch.

Burke struck out 9 batters in the team's home opener against Calumet St. Joseph. In the second game, Burke came out of the bullpen and threw 4 1/3 perfect innings and fanned seven.

In a 3-2 win over Purdue North Central, Burke struck out six en route to a complete-game win.

Also at Stritch, Bartlett graduate Rachel Odolski is hitting .295 through 18 games with 18 hits in 61 at-bats. She's third on the team in runs scored with 11 and also has 2 doubles, 3 triples and 7 RBI. Shannon Caliri, from South Elgin, has 3 hits and 1 RBI in 11 games this season.

In the circle, Burke is 8-4 this season with a 1.58 ERA. She has 95 strikeouts in 85 1/3 innings. Caliri is 5-3 in the circle with a 3.81 ERA. She has 46 strikeouts in 49 2/3 innings.

To start the week, Stritch was 13-7 overall and 4-2 in conference play.

Mike Miazga has been writing about sports in the Fox Valley for more than two decades. Email him at mjm890@gmail.com.