Cacini commits to Dayton

While her parents Ron and Robyn were fine athletes at Prospect High School, it probably would have been hard for Alyssa Cacini to avoid playing sports.

Sure enough, she started playing organized softball at the age of 7.

"My parents got me interested in it, and I grew up surrounded by the game," said Alyssa, who will be starting on the Prospect varsity softball team for the third straight year in a few weeks.

But this spring, she will start out as a future Division I player.

Cacini recently made a verbal commitment to play for Dayton University, where she may study business or sports psychology.

"Most importantly, I chose Dayton because I knew I would get a great education along with a great college softball experience," Cacini said. "After meeting coach (Cara) LaPlaca and her staff, I felt their coaching style and program was a great fit for me."

Dayton was picked to finish second in the Atlantic 10 in 2017. The Flyers are led by the 2016 Pitcher of the Year, junior Manda Cash, and senior pitcher Gabrielle Snyder, who was a first team all-conference selection in 2016.

Dayton was 27-21-1 last year and 14-4-1 mark in the league while making the program's fourth-consecutive and eighth overall appearance in the A-10 Championship.

"Dayton softball continues to improve every year," Cacini said. "And I look forward to contributing to a program that will be doing great things in the future."

In the past, Cacini had plenty of support right in her own home. Her father is majority owner of The Ballpark in Mount Prospect, where he is a baseball and softball instructor and director of player development.

"My dad was a big part of developing me into the player I am today," Alyssa said. "This sport has given me so many awesome experiences and I'm so grateful for the chance to get to play in college."

Playing at the collegiate level, specifically the D-I level, has always been a goal for Cacini.

"I have worked really hard these past few years and with the help and support of my parents, coaches and teammates I was lucky enough to reach my goal," said Cacini, an honor roll student and participant in a leadership program at Prospect called 'Knight's Way.'

Cacini was an all-area selection as a freshman when she introduced herself to the Mid-Suburban League in grand style, batting .431 - with 28 of her 44 hits going for extra bases.

"My favorite part about playing softball at Prospect is how much potential we have," she said. "I am really looking forward to this upcoming season. It's awesome to play with the girls that I have grown up playing with over the years."

Amundson to Oberlin

Rolling Meadows senior Kyra Amundson will play volleyball for Oberlin College in Ohio. She has been recruited as a right side hitter and was an integral part of the Mustangs' success last fall. Amundson finished the season with 118 kills, 10 blocks and a 95 percent serving efficiency.

Men's basketball

Carthage erased a 23-point deficit with 13:53 left against North Central when senior guard Kevin Kozil (Hersey) hit 2 free throws with 4.2 seconds left to tie a wild College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament semifinal game.

But then Aidan Chang wound up with a head of steam after a nice inbounds play and pulled up for a 15-foot right-handed floater at the buzzer to give the fourth-seeded Cardinals an 87-85 stunning win over the top-seeded Red Men. Kozil ended up with 13 points and 3 assists.

Women's basketball

Junior Jenny Vliet (Rolling Meadows) recorded her third career double-double but Saint Louis (22-7, 12-4) was outlasted by Dayton 68-62 in overtime of the Atlantic 10 Conference game. SLU tied Saint Joseph's for third place in the A-10 and is the No. 4 seed for the A-10 tournament.

Vliet scored 14 points and posted career highs of 15 rebounds and 7 offensive rebounds (game high). She added 4 assists, a block and a steal.

Classmate Jackie Kemph (Rolling Meadows) scored 8 points and handed out a game-high 8 assists.

Women's swimming

South Dakata sophomore Theresa Godlewski (Wheeling) was named to the Summit League All-Conference swim team at the Summit Championship meet in Indianapolis, In.

Godlewski was the anchor leg on three relays that all broke USD school records (200 free, 400 free and 400 medley). She also finished 6th in the 50 free (23.66), sixth in the 100 back (55.94) and fourth in the 200 back (2:00:69).

• Washington College sophomore Julia Portmann (Fremd) won five medals while competing at the Centennial Conference Championships, held at Franklin & Marshall College.

Portmann won silver in the 500 freestyle in 5:06.85 and bronze in both the 200 freestyle (1:56.02) and 1,650 freestyle (17:40.51).

She also won two relay medals, as the anchor leg of the silver-medal 800 freestyle relay (7:53.41) and the leadoff leg of the silver-medal 400 freestyle relay (3:35.09).

The Shorewomen finished fourth of eight teams at the championships, their best finish since placing third in 2010.

Women's track and field

Illinois State senior Morgan Keller (Rolling Meadows) had a strong performance when the Redbirds took second at the Missouri Valley Conference meet in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Keller captured All-MVC honors with a mark at 14.60m (47-10.75).

• Minnesota redshirt junior Tess Wasowicz (Palatine) took fourth place in the mile at the Iowa State Classic held at Ames, Iowa with a career personal indoor record of 4:56.

Wasowicz ran the leadoff 1200 meter leg in the Big 10 Indoor Championship Distance Medley Relay, which finished eighth point for the Gophers team that finished in fourth place at the meet held in Geneva, Ohio.

Women's golf

Illinois State junior Kiley Walsh (Prosect) finished with the lowest three-round score for the Redbirds at Western Michigan's Rio Verde Invitational where the Redbirds placed 15th on the par-72, 6,215-yard White Wing Golf Course.

Walsh carded a 1-over-par 73 in the final round, for a total score of 227 (78-76-73), placing her in a tie for 29th place on the individual leaderboard.

Senior teammate Renee Solberg finished the tournament with her lowest round, shooting a 2-over-par 74.

"Great rounds by Kiley (Walsh) and Renee (Solberg) led us today," said coach Darby Sligh on the school's website. "We have to keep putting in the effort, and I think we will see this team surprise a few people in April."

Women's lacrosse

Illinois Wesleyan sophomore midfielder Dani Engelbreit (Conant) was named a College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Players of the Week.

Engelbreit totaled 12 ground balls, four caused turnovers and six draw controls in the Titans' two games last week. She also finished with a pair of goals against both Rhodes and Berry.

• Augustana's Emily Lucnik (Schaumburg) scored consecutive free position goals with 17:10 and 12:50 left, respectively, in the Vikings' 16-3 loss to Pomona-Pitzer.

Women's softball

In her second consecutive weekend batting over .550, Shannon Felde (Schaumburg) was named the MVC's softball Player of the Week the league office announced Monday. Felde's honor is her first and the second for the Redbirds this season, following Alyssa Wiebel's Newcomer of the Week accolade last week.

Felde posted another top batting average to lead the Redbirds to a 1-1 record. She hit .571 with 3 RBI on 4 hits before the ASU Littlewood Classic was called due to rain. In her fourth consecutive multihit game, the sophomore sparked the Redbirds' offense against Arizona State with 1 RBI. In Illinois State's historic win over No. 17 Mizzou, Felde drove in 2 runs to give ISU the early lead over the perennial powerhouse en route to the 7-3 win.

Men's tennis

Lewis' Anton Levitin (Buffalo Grove) and Chandle Stimpert won at No. 3 doubles when the Flyers picked up their fifth straight win 8-1 over conference rival Quincy.

Conant tidbits

The Conant High School 'Winter Sports Awards Night' will be Monday, March 6 at 7 p.m. in the main gym.

• Most spring sports begin on Monday, Feb. 27. Check the athletic website for times and locations of tryouts. All registration is completed online.

• Conant will be offering free heart screening for all students. All students, and especially athletes should participate in this screening. At least three percent of students are walking around with an undetected heart issue.

For more details on signing your son or daughter up for FREE screening or to volunteer, go visit www.yh4l.org/.