St. Francis junior Ryan in a winning routine

Some year, Chloe Ryan's reign at the U.S. Figure Skating Association's National Solo Dance Finals will come to an end.

But not this year.

A junior at St. Francis, Ryan won the 2018 National Gold Pattern Dance championship in Barnstable, Massachusetts, in September. Topping the competition in both Viennese Waltz and Quickstep, Ryan won the event by a 10-point margin over her closest pursuer.

"It was good. There were a lot of really good girls that came from all over the United States and everyone skated their best," Ryan said as she left school on Wednesday, bound for an afternoon cardio and strength workout like she does five or six other days every week of the year.

"It's hard work, a lot of hours I put into the little things, the details. Having a great coach (former British national ice dance champion Jamie Whyte) always helps, actually. Not focusing so much on the points but rather taking the competition as an opportunity to improve," she said.

The victory in Barnstable comes a year after winning performances in Colorado Springs as 2017 National Junior champion and Pre-Gold Pattern Dance champion, a level below where she competed this year. Spanning four years she's won three national titles and seven medals overall.

As noted last year in this space, Ryan started skating at 5 years old during Christmas break when her mother, Nancy, took her to an ice rink "just to get me out of the house."

Nowadays other than sleeping Chloe Ryan probably spends more time in dawn training sessions at Geneva's Fox Valley Ice Arena or in the gym than she does at home. She still finds time to tutor an elementary-school student in her neighborhood, the kind of stuff National Honor Society scholars get drawn into.

Ryan figures her competitive skating career will end once she attends college. But not this year, or the next.

"Of course, winning again next year would be great, but I'm really just cherishing the season and having fun," she said. "I mean, most of what I've done for the past 12 years of my life has been skating and soon this chapter will close and it will be time for a new chapter."

Mr. 500

With No. 9-ranked Wheaton College's 2-1 women's soccer victory over North Central College last Saturday, Thunder coach Pete Felske earned his 500th win.

"It's certainly an honor," Felske said as his team warmed up for Wednesday's game at Millikin.

Ranked sixth in victories among women's college coaches regardless of level, Felske is among three Division III coaches in the top six.

A cradle of soccer coaches, Wheaton's retired Joe Bean ranks third all-time among men's coaches. Bean's 607 victories topped the list upon his retirement in 2006.

Felske has been Wheaton College's sole coach in the 31-year history of the women's program. A 1986 graduate of the school, he played on the then-Crusaders' 1984 Division III national championship men's squad and was inducted into the Wheaton College Hall of Honor in 2002.

A three-time Division III coach of the year recipient by the National Soccer Coaches Association, Felske's teams won national titles in 2004, 2006 and 2007.

"I've been here a long time and I've been blessed with a lot of good players and a supportive administration and good assistant coaches. When you have those things it's easier to win games. It's been a fun ride, but obviously I have had a lot of great support as well," Felske said.

He's got 19 College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin titles under his belt with No. 20 on the horizon. With three CCIW games left the Thunder were 12-2-0 overall and 5-0 in league play entering Wednesday.

The Mullins mindset

The Loyola men's basketball team made its epic run to the 2018 NCAA Final Four for many reasons. Committing the second fewest fouls in the nation and finishing sixth in scoring defense were two.

Defense largely stems from determination and fundamentals, and as a player few flustered opponents better than Ramblers assistant coach and Downers Grove South graduate Bryan Mullins, promoted to the position of Porter Moser's associate head coach in May.

"I think defense is a mindset, it's competitiveness," said Mullins, now living in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood - which, considering last week's item on Anthony Moeaki, has become a scene for 31-year-old, former professional athletes.

"Anybody, I think, has the ability to be a defender," Mullins said. "I really took it personal when guarding people off the ball. Each time I guarded someone it was a battle, a 10-second or a 20-second battle."

Defense and playmaking ability earned Mullins captain honors on the 2005 Daily Herald DuPage County All-Area Boys Basketball Team. He continued the grit as a member of Southern Illinois University's "Floorburn U" squad that reached the 2007 Sweet Sixteen.

For that and more, Mullins will be inducted into the Saluki Hall of Fame in formal ceremonies Friday, then recognized Saturday at homecoming in Carbondale.

"It's special for me," said Mullins, whose older brother, Brendan, also starred at Downers South and is an assistant coach at Illinois State. They've got a younger brother, Mike.

"Obviously it was an amazing four years for me, for my family," Bryan said. "My parents (Mike and Gayle) might have missed three, four home games during my career there."

A member of SIU's All-Century Team while setting program records for steals per game and assists, Mullins racked up a slew of accomplishments on and off the court.

A Missouri Valley Conference All-Defensive Team pick each of his four seasons and named to the league's All-Newcomer Team as a freshman, the 6-foot-2 guard twice was the MVC defensive player of the year. A two-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American, Mullins was named 2009 MVC scholar-athlete of the year and earned its highest academic honor, the Missouri Valley Conference President's Council Academic Award.

A 2016 Downers Grove South Hall of Fame inductee who played professionally four years in France, Mullins graduated with a 4.0 grade-point average in finance.

"It definitely helped form who I became as a pro player and now in coaching," Mullins said of playing for Chris Lowery at SIU. "I think the best thing I learned from Coach Lowery and the rest of the coaches was just the preparation needed to win games and the mindset that you need to have."

doberhelman@dailyherald.com

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