Grayslake North's Wilson has busy day at North Central
Grayslake North graduate Chelsee Wilson had a busy day at North Central College, which hosted the Chicagoland Indoor Championships.
The Concordia-Chicago junior ran in the 60-, 200- and 400-meter events, with her best effort in the 200 where she finished fifth out of 87 runners.
Wilson's time of 25.79 was just shy of her best from two weeks earlier by two-hundredths of a second.
Her other efforts included a 1:00.18 in the 400 (11th place out of 54) and an 8.12 in the 60 meters.
Men's track and field
Augustana's 4x400 team that included junior Kyle Hucker (Wauconda) ran a 3:18.00 - the fastest time in the nation this year - while winning at the University of Dubuque's Spartan Invitational. The Vikings took third place among eight teams.
Hucker (50.52) finished second in the 400-meter run.
Junior Evan Murphy (Buffalo Grove) was fourth in the triple jump (43-7¼).
Sophomore Rob Williams (Vernon Hills) ran a fifth-place 9:11.95 in the 3,000.
Women's softball
Palm Beach Atlantic junior pitcher Jana Wagner (Warren) pitched a 3-hit shutout in a 2-0 win over Wingate in Game 1 of a doubleheader sweep.
Wagner's gem was her first win of the season and her third career complete-game shutout.
She threw one last year at home on April 1 in a 2-0 win over Tampa and at Florida Southern in a 4-0 win her freshman year on March 21, 2015.
The shutout was her first start on the season. After allowing 2 Wingate hits in the first inning and one in the second, Wagner retired the remaining 16 batters of the game, finishing the final five innings in perfect fashion.
While striking out two, Wagner forced 15 fly outs while the Bulldogs only grounded out four times.
• North Carolina freshman Hannah Nommensen (Warren) came in for the bottom of the fifth and retired all three batters she faced to close out the Tar Heels' 10-1 victory over Purdue.
North Carolina represented the tournament-clinching victory of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in the second annual conference showdown.
Kendra Lynch (2-1) got the start for Carolina (6-4) and limited the Boilermakers to 1 run on just 2 hits and no walks with 3 strikeouts over 4 innings.
"Kendra was solid in the circle," said Tar Heels coach Donna J. Papa on the school's website. "And then Hannah did a great job to finish. We had solid defense."
Men's basketball
Carthage junior forward Brad Kruse (Lake Zurich) scored 9 points when the Red Men punched their ticket into the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament with their largest margin-of-victory win of the season at Millikin, 99-66.
The Red Men are 17-7 and 10-5 in the CCIW.
Women's basketball
Augustana senior Olivia Mayer (Libertyville) leads the Vikings with 80 assists and 350 for her career. She is second in career assists for the Vikings, 26 away from Kristin Romolo's school record set from 2000-04.
Augustana is ranked eighth in the most recent NCAA Division III Central Region rankings and is 17-7 overall and 10-5 in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin.
Rugby
The Arlington Stallions will be traveling on March 18 and 19 to Cincinnati for preseason varsity and junior varsity matches against defending Ohio state champion St. Xavier and perennial powerhouse Moeller high schools.
"This will be a great test for this year's Stallions," said coach Paul Bergman. "We are excited to get this chance to travel together and be challenged by two of the better rugby programs in the Midwest."
The club has also announced a charitable connection to Bernie's Book Bank to collect books for families in need.
New or gently used children's books can be dropped off at the Arlington Heights California Pizza Kitchen location today or Wednesday or at the Stallions' training session on Sunday at the RecPlex in Mt. Prospect.
Loyal Ladas
Nick Ladas has never left his alma mater.
One of the most familiar faces in the Maine West gymnasium for the past 50-years plus, Ladas will soon be recognized for his contributions as the longtime boys basketball manager, a position he still holds.
Athletic director Jarett Kirschner informed Ladas that he will be honored on May 6 as the Class 3A/4A winner of the Illinois Athletic Directors Association 'Friends of Athletics' award.
"I was so surprised when he told me," said Ladas, who counts the Warriors' fourth-place finish in the Class AA tourney in 1998 as one of his most memorable moments.
The IADA recognizes contributions by individuals who are not athletes, athletic directors or coaches but still demonstrate an exceptional commitment to their programs.
That is Ladas to a tee. Congrats, Nick.
Football
Louisville long snapper Brendan Lowery (Barrington) is on the honor roll this semester and has been since the fall of 2015.
Please let us know
Lake County sports fans, please send news items about former local prep athletes excelling in college athletics to jleusch@dailyherald.com.