Palatine's Hedstrom excels on many fronts at St. Cloud State
Former Palatine pitcher and gymnast Megan Hedstrom ended March and started April in grand fashion.
On March 31, the St. Cloud State University senior received a Crystal Pillar Award in a ceremony in Bloomington, Minn., from the Upper Midwest Emmy Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Hedstrom, a mass communications/broadcast TV journalism major, was chosen for the role as (writer/editor/producer) of "True Grit" in the sports category for UTVS News.
Hedstrom appears regularly on UTVS and was the co-host of St. Cloud State's "Weekend Preview" for men's hockey. This weekly webcast featured noted St. Cloud Times sports columnist and college hockey insider Mick Hatten.
As for starting out April, Hedstrom threw a perfect game two days later for the Huskies in a 1-0 victory at home against the University of Mary. She had 4 strikeouts in the 7 innings.
She has a 9-5 record as a pitcher on the season and leads the team with her 2.94 ERA, 4 saves and 93 innings pitched. She is tied for the team lead in both victories and in strikeouts (59).
The Upper Midwest Emmy, which includes the state of Minnesota and four neighboring states, is part of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Hedstrom interned with WGN-TV in the Chicagoland area during summer of 2016.
Duffy to hall
Longtime Elk Grove resident Mike Duffy was recently inducted into the Illinois State Soccer Hall of Fame. His son Michael played soccer and baseball at Elk Grove where his daughter was a cheerleader.
Mike played for Viking AA, Schwaben AC and Green White SC, all leading semiprofessional clubs in the Major Division of the National Soccer League and the Metropolitan Soccer League, from 1977 to 1997.
During that time he also represented all of the clubs in the U. S. Amateur Cup, U.S. Open Cup and the Illinois State Cup.
He was a 4-year varsity starter at Gordon Tech High School in Chicago. He played in more than 90 games as a Ram, and never missed one.
Duffy was named to the All-Catholic League team three times, won the Lawless Award as the Catholic League MVP and he was selected to the Illinois all-state team. He went on to start every game at Illinois-Chicago
Additionally, he was the captain of the first Illinois State Select team, for whom he played many times and was a member of the U. S. ODP Program playing in Milwaukee, St. Louis and New York.
Duffy was selected and represented the National Soccer League and Metropolitan Soccer League All-Star teams on multiple occasions, playing against teams from Europe, Mexico and other states.
After his playing career ended, he coached the Viking AA first team for a number of years, winning the 1992 Illinois State Cup. He has been the president of the Viking AA soccer club for a number of years and continues in that position today.
Men's basketball
Rolling Meadows senior Jared Murphy will play next year at St. Norbert's in Wisconsin. Murphy is a three-year all-area selection who is the second leading scorer in school history behind Rob Garnes.
Murphy played a key role for the Mustangs the past three seasons. He averaged 18 points and 6 rebounds this season while becoming the second-leading scorer in school history with over 1,500 career points.
"Jared Murphy has certainly left his mark on Rolling Meadows basketball," said Rolling Meadows coach Kevin Katovich after the season. "Jared does things on the offensive end that we haven't seen here at Meadows in a long time. He has worked tirelessly to improve his game and will continue to improve."
• Meadows senior Liam Brigham will play for Concordia-Wisconsin.
• Central College (Pella, IA) 6-foot-5 freshman forward Alec Busiel (Prospect) received a freshman award at the team's awards banquet last Sunday. He played with the junior varsity team all season. The Dutch varsity finished the season with a 16-12 record, advancing to the Iowa Conference tournament championship game.
Baseball
Fontbonne University (St. Louis) junior first baseman Ryan Schocker (Schaumburg) posted a season highlighting performance helping the Griffins split a pair of doubleheader wins over MacMurray College (Jacksonville, Ill.) and Spaulding University (Louisville, Kent.).
Schocker was nearly perfect against MacMurray, going 7-for-9 with 6 RBI, 2 runs, a double and his first home run of the season. Against Spaulding, Schocker added four more hits (6 RBI, 2 runs), highlighted by a grand slam en route to an 18-8 triumph the top ranked team in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
His 11-for-17 (. 647 batting average, 12 RBI) performance vaulted Schocker to the top of the conference for batting average (. 404) and pushed his RBI to 31, which ranks him second in the league.
Men's basketball
Central College 6-foot-5 freshman forward Alec Busiel (Prospect) received a freshman award at the team's awards banquet last Sunday. He played with the junior varsity team all season. The Dutch varsity finished the season with a 16-12 record, advancing to the Iowa Conference tournament championship game.
Men's tennis
Augustana junior Eric Pohl (Fremd) was the player of the week for the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin. He went 4-0 in singles and doubles conference matches against Millikin and Illinois Wesleyan.
Pohl is 10-10 in singles action this year while playing mostly at No. 2. He also has a record of 14-5 at No. 1 doubles with partner Samuel Totten.
Pohl has an overall doubles mark of 17-6 this year. He is closing in on 100 career victories with a combined record of 96-73. He is 38-46 in singles and 58-27 in doubles, mostly with Totten as his partner. When he gets 4 more wins he will become just the 16th player in Viking history to hit the century mark.
Men's track
North Central College sophomore Casey Wood (Fremd) cleared 14-5.50 in pole vault indoors and placed fifth at CCIW Indoor Championships while helping the Cardinals win the Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Softball
Missouri-St Louis seniors Ryan Logan (Palatine) and Sara Kern (Wheeling) are second and third respectively on the team in doubles. Kern (. 257) has nine and Logan (. 303) eight as both have started in all 40 games for the Tritons (28-12).
Kern recorded 5 hits, including 2 home runs as the Tritons recorded an 8-3 and 12-2 doubleheader sweep at Quincy on Sunday. Logan had a grand slam in the second game with 3 hits, 4 RBI and a run.
• In a doubleheader sweep of Loyola, Illinois State sophomore Shannon Felde (Schaumburg) extended her hitting streak to 21 games, the second longest known streak in program history behind Kara Nelson's 25-game haul.
Women's golf
Illinois State junior Kiley Walsh (Prospect) finished in a tie for 17th place with a 229 (78-75-76) at Indiana's IU Invitational at the par-72, 5,884-yard IU Golf Course. Walsh shot a 4-over 76 (38-38) in the final round, which included a pair of consecutive birdies on the back nine.
Illinois State shot a 306 to finish in fifth place in the 10-team field.
Women's track
Lewis sophomore Abby Tripp (Conant) took first place the 3000 meter run with a time of 10:25.05. as the Flyers won the 13-team Benedictine Duals with 199 points.
Trautwein to speak
A very important message of awareness and support for mental health issues will be delivered by former major league baseball pitcher John Trautwein, who played for Barrington High School hall of fame coach Kirby Smith.
Trautwein will tell his story on Wednesday as part of the Illinois State University Speaker Series at Redbird Arena beginning at 8 p.m.
The event is free and open to the public, with parking available in lots adjacent to the arena. This presentation is sponsored by the President's Office, Illinois State Athletics and State Farm.
By telling the story about losing his teenage son, Will, to suicide in 2010, Trautwein focuses on what he learned as a grieving parent who was unaware of the issues that faced his child and still burden millions of teens today. He and his wife, Susie, have become a positive force for change through the Will To Live Foundation, a nonprofit they created after losing Will during his freshman year of high school. More than $1 million has been raised through the organization to prevent teen suicide by raising awareness and education about mental health.
A native of the Chicago area and now president of the global IT company, Source Support Services, headquartered in the Atlanta, Georgia area, Trautwein's passion is to raise teen suicide awareness. One solution he promotes is to create "life teammate bonds" between the people in one's lives that are there for each other to provide love and hope.
The work of Trautwein and his wife has garnered national media attention and accolades. In 2011, they received President George H.W. Bush's Daily Point of Light Award for their foundation work and their ability to turn the tragedy of their son's death into a positive message that inspires others. Their story has also been shared through Trautwein's book, My Living Will - A Father's Story of Loss & Hope.
Football
South Dakota State's Jesse Bobbit (Palatine) qualified for the The National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society, which is comprised of college football players from all divisions of play who each maintained a cumulative 3.2 GPA or better throughout their college careers.
A total of 1,091 players from 298 schools qualified for membership in the society's 11th year, both single-year records in the history of the program.
Qualifications for membership in the NFF Hampshire Honor Society include three stipulations: 1) being a starter or a significant contributor in one's last year of eligibility (or a senior who has declared for the NFL Draft) at an NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III or an NAIA college or university; 2) Achieving a 3.2 cumulative grade-point average throughout the entire course of undergraduate study and 3) meeting all NCAA/NAIA-mandated progress toward degree requirements.
Women's tennis
Augsutana seniors Lauren Goggin (Buffalo Grove) and Dana Goggin (Buffalo Grove) continue to wage their battle for winningest payer in program history. With a 95-54 singles mark and a 92-39 doubles record, Lauren's 187 total wins are the current school record
Dana - 87-33 as a singles player and with a school-record 96 wins against 38 losses in doubles - is four back in total victories with 183. They also rank second and third in program history in singles wins behind Kim Sawyer's (2010-14) 106.
• Email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com