Fine foursome announces collegiate football plans
Several high-proile Lake County high school football players have announced their plans to continue their careers at the collegiate level.
Stevenson senior receiver Alex Capstick is headed for Pittsburgh, Antioch senior fullback Hunter Price to William Penn, Lake Zurich receiver Payton Powell to the University of Findlay and Lake Zurich quarterback Evan Lewandowski to Wisconsin-LaCrosse.
Capstick (556 yards, 7 touchdowns, 29 catches) became the Patriots' go-to receiver this fall.
"An explosive playmaker who we moved all over the field, Alex found a way to make big plays happen," said Stevenson coach Josh Hjorth after the season. "He amped it up to a new level this season, becoming the primary passing threat and showing his ability to bounce off tacklers and take the ball to the end zone."
Price finished his career with 1,979 yards and 22 touchdowns. This season, Price had 1,070 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. "He is one of the most electric running backs we've had," said Antioch coach Brian Glashagel following the season. "He's so elusive and tough. His size was actually his advantage. I honestly believe that defenses couldn't see him behind our big offensive line and by the time you do, he's gone. To watch him play is inspiring and many times this season it was a big run by him or him trucking over a defensive back that got us going."
Powell was the favorite target of LZ quarterback Evan Lewandowski.
"Having Payton on the field always gave us a deep threat," Lake Zurich coach Luke Mertens said of the senior wide receiver. "It seemed like whenever we needed a play to be made, Payton made it for us. He flipped the momentum in the Zion-Benton, Warren and St. Rita games with his playmaking ability."
Powell had 42 receptions for 781 yards, both team highs. He also hauled in 9 touchdowns, which tied for first on the team. Powell served as a kick returner for Lake Zurich, averaging 25 yards per return. He also ran in a kickoff return for a touchdown.
Lewandowski had a record-breaking year for the Bears who go to the Class 7A state championship game. The senior, a Class 7A all-state selection, holds school records for single-game passing yards (320 yards vs. Lake Forest this season), passing yards for a season (2,786 this season), touchdown passes for a season (29 this season), career touchdown passes (42), career passing yards (4,223) and career completions (271).
"Evan has rewritten the school's record books," Mertens said. "In addition to being our starting quarterback and team captain, Evan serves critical roles in our kicking game as our punter and holder for our field goal unit." Lewandowski averaged about 36 yards a punt, which is second all-time.
Softball
Juniors Delaney Bowen (Vernon Hills) and Kendall Peterson (Barrington) have been nationally recognized by Flosoftball.com in their Class of 2019 Top 500 rankings.
FloSoftball has been ranking the top high school/club softball players in their graduating class since 2014.
Many of the ranked players have blossomed into Team USA members, USA Player of the Year winners, and Freshman of the Year winners.
Peterson is listed at 197th, the fourth highest ranked Northwestern recruit in the Class of 2019 while Bowen is at 199th, the highest-ranked Purdue recruit in the Class of 2019.
Men's basketball
Villanova junior guard Jalen Brunson (Stevenson) scored 27 points in the Wildcats' 86-75 win over Butler before a sellout crowd of 20,603 at the Wells Fargo Center.
Carthage senior forward Brad Kruse (Lake Zurich) scored 10 points in the Red Men's 70-64 loss at Elmhurst College.
Men's volleyball
Augustana freshman Ryan Hirschel (Libertyville) is leading the Vikings with 264 assists and 13 service aces in the first year of the program.
Hirschel was a three-year setter at Libertyville where he entered the Wildcats' record books for his 894 assists last spring. He also holds the school record for most assists in a career (1,875). Hirschel delivered 84 kills last spring.
"Ryan is best known for his calm leadership and sound setting technique," said Libertyville coach Jenny Smith following his final prep season. "Ryan is a danger both in the front and back row, making it nearly impossible for defenses to predict what he's about to do."
Women's track
Chicago-Concordia's Chelsee Wilson (Grayslake North) ran to a pair of second-place finishes in a very competitive Olivet Nazarene Invite field, which was dominated with non-Division III scholarship athletes at the ONU Invite. She ran a 26.00 in the 200-meter dash and a new indoor personal-best 59.39 in the 400-meter dash. Wilson currently owns the conference's best times in both events, and she is 19th nationally in the 200, needing to improve just a few more spots to qualify for the indoor.
• Augustana senior Emily Webster (Lakes) was sixth in the shot and eighth in the weight throw at the 10-team Darren Young Invitational in Grinnell, Iowa, as the Vikings placed third.
Men's track
Augustana senior Kyle Hucker (Wauconda) was part of the 4x400 relay team that took second in 3:20.76 at the Darren Young Invitational in Grinnell, Iowa.
Vikings junior Rob Williams (Vernon Hills) placed seventh in the 5,000 in 15:34.40 while senior teammate Kevin Barbian (Libertyville) was eighth in the shot with a toss of 45-10¾.
• Email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com.