High schools: Martin gains entrance to IADA Hall of Fame

Ten days ago was a special moment for former Stevenson athletic director John Martin.

He was inducted into The Illinois Athletic Directors Association's Hall of Fame in an awards ceremony held at the IADA state conference in Peoria on April 30.

Martin, who was inducted into the Lake County High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009, has been a member of the Illinois Athletic Directors Association for the past 26 years.

Since 1988, he has served the IADA in a number of capacities including two terms as the IADA state conference chair, state conference program chair, state conference registration co-chair and IADA/IHSA's new AD's workshop presenter.

Previous to his years in athletic administration, Martin taught English and coached football and basketball at Hoffman Estates High School.

From 1988-1990, he was the athletic director for Hoffman Estates, and from 1990 to 2010 he was the athletic director at Stevenson High School.

In 1996 and 2010, Martin was named the IADA 'Outstanding Athletic Director' of the Year.

He has served the IHSA in a number of capacities: equity advisory committee, athletic administrators advisory committee, cheerleading advisory committee, water polo advisory committee and the water polo state tournament manager and host.

"John was a strong voice in support of high expectations for all of our students and did not expect anything less for our student-athletes," said Eric Twadell, Superintendent of Stevenson District 125. "We were blessed to have an athletic director who saw himself first and foremost as a teacher."

"His advice and guidance was appreciated and has not been forgotten by me," added current Libertyville AD Briant Kelly."When I think about athletic directors that others should aspire to be like, John Martin is one of them."

Cook commits

Libertyville senior Kenzie Cook, who as a sophomore performed with a club team that won the cheerleading worlds competition, has committed to cheer for Miami University.

"I am very excited to be a Miami cheerleader, Cook said. " I've always loved being a part of school spirit and it wouldn't have been the same from the stands."

Cook performed with the Libertyville cheerleading squad her freshman, junior and senior years.

At Miami, she is currently enrolled as a middle childhood education major but hopes to change over to pre-med when the year starts in the fall.

She is hoping to focus in the pediatrics field.

"It means the world to me to know I get to go to my dream school and continue to do what I love at the same time," she said. "I can't wait to represent my school and grow as a person and athlete."

Men's tennis

Carthage senior Ryan Jump (Mundelein), junior Pawel Jaworski (Stevenson), sophomore Lukasz Jaworski (Stevenson) and junior Brandon Stassen (Hersey) have helped the Red Men earn a bid to the NCAA D-III playoffs. Carthage went undefeated in conference play and in the conference tournament to win their second straight College Conference Illinois and Wisconsin title. The title was the 11th in school history, all under the direction of head coach Brady Lindsley.

Baseball

Former Illinois State and Antioch star Paul DeJong belted 2 homers for the Springfield Cardinals (a Class AA team of St. Louis Cardinal minor league system) in an 8-3 loss to NW Arkansas.

The second one was his fifth in six games. DeJong is batting .351.

• Bradley sophomore catcher Ian Kristan (Carmel Catholic) has been named to the 2016 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) academic all-district baseball team for District 5. The honor recognizes student-athletes for their combined athletic and academic performance. Kristan now becomes eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-America consideration.

Sporting a 3.57 cumulative grade-point average as an English major, Kristan has earned a spot on the Bradley athletic director's academic honor roll in each of his first three semesters. He also was recognized with the MVC commissioner's academic excellence award and on the MVC honor roll in 2015. The preseason All-MVC designated hitter is batting .271 this season with 4 doubles, 1 home run and 13 RBI. His seventh-inning home run in a doubleheader nightcap proved to be the difference in Bradley's 3-2 win against then-No. 17 Dallas Baptist.

• Sophomore pitcher Ian Grant (Libertyville) helped Rose Hulman Institute of Technology win the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference regular-season championship. Rose Hulman finished the regular season 26-11 (18-6 in conference) en route to their first regular-season conference championship since 2012 and only their fourth in the last 20 years.

Grant was used primarily as RHIT's left-handed eighth-inning setup man. He made 15 appearances, posting a 2.77 ERA in 13 innings. He had a WHIP of 1.30, with 12 strikeouts against 5 walks. He finished out the season allowing no runs over his final 9 appearances.

Men's lacrosse

Cole Blazer (Libertyville) helped Marquette University win its first Big East Conference championship this past weekend by beating No. 1-ranked Denver 10-9 to secure the league's NCAA Championship automatic bid.

Blazer was honored as the All-Big East tournament goalie. He made 9 timely saves for the Golden Eagles and held two of the nation's highest-powered offenses in Villanova and Denver to a total of 18 goals in two games of tournament play.

Blazer was also named to the Big East all-conference second team for the 2016 season.

As the No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament, Marquette will play North Carolina at home on Saturday.

• Aurora University junior attackman Jason Koziol (Grayslake Central) has been named offensive player of the year in the Midwest Lacrosse Conference.

The first team all-conference selection leads the Spartans with 99 points on 59 goals, 40 assists and 4 of his goals have come with a man-up.

Aurora is currently 16-2 overall and will make its fourth appearance in the NCAA Division III championships when it travels to Albion College (13-4) and take on the Britons on Wednesday.

Game time is 5 p.m. in Albion, Mich. The Spartans were the 2016 regular season and tournament champions in the MLC and went 6-0 in the MLC regular season.

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