So much fun we had to do College Achievers again
As advertised last week, let's continue with fall achievements by some college athletes from DuPage County ...
Iowa defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson (Montini) earned first-team all-Big Ten in a vote by the league's coaches. The 6-foot-4, 310-pound senior made 54 tackles, including a team-high 7 sacks and 10 tackles for loss. Johnson's tackle for a safety was a key to the Hawkeyes' 14-13 win over Michigan.
Two area products were second-team all-Big Ten: Northwestern sophomore running back Justin Jackson (Glenbard North), who on the season has run for 1,300 yards and 12 touchdowns (and is also second-team Academic All-America); and Wisconsin junior tight end Troy Fumagalli (Waubonsie Valley), a former walk-on with 41 receptions for 497 yards and a touchdown.
Third-team picks included senior Jordan Westerkamp (Montini), who despite injuries leads Nebraska with 38 receptions, 526 yards, 5 touchdowns; and Michigan State junior Brian Allen (Hinsdale Central), who split his 12 games between both offensive guard positions and center, as needed.
We mentioned last week that Johns Hopkins defensive back Jack Toner (Benet) is a Division III Academic All-America. He's got company.
Dakota Wesleyan junior receiver Hayden Adams (Willowbrook) sports a 3.61 grade-point average in nursing when he's not leading the Tigers with 63 catches for 716 yards and 9 touchdowns. He's first-team Academic All-America, College Division.
Missouri S & T junior defensive end Bret Curtis (Glenbard South) earned Division II second-team Academic All-America. He combined 48 tackles, 13.5 for loss and 4.5 sacks with a 3.64 GPA in aerospace engineering. Yikes. In a 26-0 win over William Jewell, the team's first shutout in four years, Curtis' 5 tackles for loss were the most for the Miners' in 20 seasons.
West Virginia offensive guard Kyle Bosch (St. Francis) earned first-team all-Big 12. Helping the Mountaineers to 10 wins for the ninth time in history, the 6-5, 310-pound junior aids a team that ranks 18th in Division I rushing offense and 12th in total offense.
Concordia senior linebacker A.J. Seidler (West Chicago) was a first-team All-Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference pick. Overall the linebacker made 80 tackles with 2.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. Kid brother Peyton Seidler made 38 tackles.
Wisconsin's Molly Haggerty (St. Francis) earned all-region honors by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. The 6-1 outside hitter also was named Big Ten freshman of the year; she leads the 27-4 Badgers with 355 kills and is third with 247 digs. On Sept. 20 Haggerty became the first Wisconsin freshman to be named AVCA national player of the week.
Aurora University freshman outside hitter Katie Vondra (Downers Grove South) is the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference women's volleyball player of the year. Standing just 5-6, she nonetheless led the league and the 27-9 Spartans with 466 kills.
Calvin College won the women's Division III national volleyball championship. Among the all-tourney selections was junior Jenna Lodewyk (Timothy Christian), also a second-team Academic All-American moving up from third-team last season. Sporting a 3.86 GPA in business, Lodewyk is a three-year starting setter who this season racked up 1,183 assists for the 33-1 Knights.
Abbi Williamson (Naperville Central), Ripon College's senior setter, repeated as a first-team selection for Midwest Conference volleyball. Last season's MWC player of the year, Williamson led the Red Hawks in assists, was second in aces and fourth in digs and blocks. Her 3,595 career assists set Ripon's record and rank ninth in the MWC.
During Lewis University's fall golf session junior Jack Korzon (Downers Grove South) sliced — sorry, cut — nearly 4 strokes off his average, finished in the top five in three of five events and tied for the title at the Division II Fall Regional at Harborside in Chicago.
Michigan State swimmer Scott Piper (Naperville Central) set two Spartans freshman records Dec. 3 at the U.S. Winter Nationals in Atlanta. Piper swam 3 minutes, 50.32 seconds in the 400-yard individual medley and 1:48.18 in the 200 butterfly. Earlier, on Oct. 5 he was named Big Ten freshman of the week after winning his first collegiate event, the 200-meter individual medley, among three top-nine finishes.
We get emails about Lewis University junior swimmer Shannon Sullivan (York) nearly every week. Holder of five Flyers records, the freestyler was named Great Lakes Valley Conference swimmer of the week on Oct. 18. On Nov. 15 she was Collegiate Swimming.com conference GLVC swimmer of the week. On Nov. 19 she won the 200-yard freestyle at the House of Champions meet in Indianapolis, in a time of 1:51.20, the Division II B-standard that broke her existing program record.
Senior Hope Schmelzle (Wheaton Warrenville South), who ran in the Division I Cross Country Championships as a junior at Purdue, did the same this fall for Northern Illinois. The big thing was she was the Huskies' first national cross country qualifier. The defending Mid-American Conference steeplechase winner in track, this fall in eight races Schmelzle recorded five top-three finishes including two wins. At the NCAA Midwest Regional she set NIU's record with her third-place finish of 20 minutes, 16.9 seconds.
Illinois State sophomore cross country runner Kyle Mattes (York) made the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Team. That came as a combination of his 3.26 GPA in math as well as a fourth-place finish at the conference meet. He was the fleetest Redbird in all six meets he ran for Illinois State.
Elmhurst College sophomore Ava Kolman (St. Francis) is an all-College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin tennis player for a second straight year. Last year's CCIW newcomer of the year led Elmhurst in both singles and doubles victories, pairing with sophomore Rachel Rettger (Glenbard South) in doubles.
Another Lewis athlete, junior soccer midfielder Mackenzie Fuller (Waubonsie Valley), scored all 3 goals in the Flyers' 3-2 victory over Maryville University in St. Louis. It was Lewis' first overtime win after 17 straight OT losses dating back four years. Fuller went on to become Lewis' first female soccer Academic All-American, earning third-team honors.
Last week we noted that Northwestern sophomore defender Kayla Sharples (Naperville North) made first-team all-Big Ten in women's soccer. She also earned first team in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Great Lakes Region — as did Central Michigan sophomore forward-midfielder Alexis Pelafas (Wheaton North). Pelafas' 16 goals led the Mid-American Conference and tied for ninth national; her 35 points ranked second in the MAC and tied for 35th nationally. Both were Central Michigan records.
Skyler Tomko (Lisle), a senior forward at Illinois Wesleyan, earned the same NSCAA honor in the Central Region in Division III. A third-team Academic All-American as well, the repeat CCIW first-teamer ranks fifth in school history in goals, seventh in points and finished No. 1 at Wesleyan with 91 games.
A pair of DuPage County competitors joined Tomko on the CCIW all-conference team: Wheaton sophomore defender Molly Thorson (Wheaton Academy) and Tomko's Titans teammate, senior midfielder Sarah Trach (Hinsdale Central). Thorson helped post a 1.10 goals-against average with 8 shutouts in 20 matches.
Bowling Green's dynamic duo of senior soccer forwards Pat Flynn (Naperville Central) and Joe Sullivan (Naperville North) reprised appearances as Academic All-Americans. Flynn repeats as a first-team selection and with a second-team pick in 2014 is Bowling Green's sole three-time selection with a 3.875 GPA in accounting and a first-team Mid-American Conference honor. Sullivan owns a 3.931 GPA in finance and was a second-team academic pick in 2015. He's tied for fifth all-time at Bowling Green for game-winning goals while Flynn led the Falcons in scoring a third straight season.
Earlier in Waubonsee Community College's men's soccer season, sophomore goal keeper Paulino Mansera sat third on the Chiefs' depth chart at his position. On Oct. 29, improving to 8-0 with a second shutout in a 3-0 win over South Suburban College, Mansera was named most valuable player of the Region IV Tournament, the Chiefs' third title in history. Mansera started against No. 3 Iowa Western in the National Junior College Athletic Association Great Lakes District Championship, though No. 17 Waubonsee (19-1-1) lost 3-0.
Iowa Western's roster boasts athletes from 12 foreign countries, from Japan to Togo to Germany. Waubonsee had a guy from Colorado Springs.
Mansera? He's a West Chicago Wildcat, and a college achiever.
doberhelman@dailyherald.com
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