On Brooklynn's behalf, Fremd steps up Cure JM

The 'Walk to Cure JM' hits home for Fremd athletes this Sunday.

Brooklynn Yates, the 7-year-old daughter of Fremd girls basketball coach Dave Yates, was diagnosed in October of 2015 with the very rare disease called Juvenile Myositis.

More than 350 Fremd athletes, coaches, teachers and families are 'Walking for Brooklynn' in an effort to raise $10,000 to $15,000.

The event will be held this Sunday from 10 a.m. to noon (registration at 9 a.m.) at Busse Woods Forest Preserve in Elk Grove. The site is located just off Higgins Road, just west of Arlington Heights Road.

The walk is intended to help find a cure for Juvenile Myositis, a life-threatening disease which causes the body's own immune system to attack healthy cells and tissues. It can cause pain, weakness, inability to walk and disfigurement. It can affect virtually any system of the body, including the heart, lungs, skin and muscles.

Brooklynn went from a healthy little girl to one who needed help to get out of bed and being carried much of the time, in and out of pain, as this disease attacked her body.

She is improving with medical treatment and her doctors are trying to send her JM into remission. But she is not there yet.

Without the help of research money and educating doctors to recognize this serious disease quickly, progress with this disease cannot continue.

The goal is to help raise money so that some day there will be a cure.

You can help support the walk by either joining the 'Walk for Brooklynn' team or making a donation so progress can continue. More info can be found on CureJM.org.

With public support, better treatments and a cure are getting closer.

Last year, funding was able to provide research at 10 prestigious research institutions, one being Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago. It helped advance JM research at an unprecedented pace.

All donations go straight to Cure JM and more than 91 percent of all funds raised go directly to research.

For more information contact Brenda Schwantz at schwantz@comcast.net.

Girls gymnastics

Buffalo Grove junior Alisha Riles is making a positive impact in the sport.

She currently competes for the Buffalo Grove Gymnastics Center.

The 16-year old competed at USA Gymnastics Level 9 Senior Age Division. It was for Regions 5-8 for Regional & Eastern Championships (nationals) in Lansing, Michigan. The event was held at The Summit Sports and Ice Complex and it was Riles first time advancing ot the nationals.

She finished in seventh place overall in her age group at the April 8 regionals in Indianapolis.

Football

Carthage senior Nicholas Anzelmo (Schaumburg) was chosen to the 2016-17 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin All-Academic team.

Anzelmo, who quarterbacked the Saxons into the state playoffs his senior year and was a Mid-Suburban League all-academic and honor student, will graduate from Carthage in May with a degree in teaching special education.

Softball

Charleston Southern senior Amanda Matsumoto (Fremd) leads the Buccaneers with 36 runs and 31 stolen bases. She is batting .318 (56 hits), third best on the team which is 22-34.

As a junior, she was seventh in the Big South in hits (57), ninth in walks (27) and led the Big South in stolen bases (33). She also led the Buccaneers with 57 hits and 34 runs scored.

• Arkansas redshirt junior Loren Krzysko (Barrington) is hitting .353 with 5 runs and 8 RBI in the past 11 games for the 29-18 Razorbacks. She has reached base in nine straight games and belted her first homer in a 14-2 win at Jackson State.

• Without a single strikeout this season, Illinois State sophomore Shannon Felde (Schaumburg) is the toughest person to strikeout in the country with her .416 batting average She owns the second-longest known hitting streak in program history at 21 games (Feb. 10-Apr. 8).

Felde has 15 multihit games this season, including a 4-for-6 outing against Delaware.

To rank nationally, Felde must play in 75 percent of the Redbirds games and due to an injury (Feb. 23-Mar. 10), she did not reach this mark until after the 11th week of the season.

Women's track

Illinois State senior Morgan Keller (Rolling Meadows) set a personal record and team-season best in the discus at Louisville's Lenny Lyles-Clark Wood Invitational. She made a throw of 51.87m (170-02), which is the fourth-longest throw in program history

Women's golf

Illinois State junior Kiley Walsh (Prospect) and Bradley junior Ally Scaccia (Prospect) were named to the Missouri Valley Conference Women's Scholar-Athlete first team.

Men's track

North Central sophomore Michael Anderson (Prospect) was part of the Cardinals' top relay performance at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. His distance medley relay team placed fifth overall in 10:12.22. He ran the third leg with a 1:55.08 split for the 800-meter segment.

During the indoor season, Anderson ran 1:56.05 for 800 meters and 4:23.61 for one mile. He also ran on first-place distance medley relay teams at the Cardinal Opener and Cardinal Classic.

• Email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com