Schaumburg grad Baumann reaches coaching milestone
Schaumburg graduate Erick Baumann, who coached youth soccer in the Northwest suburbs, has gone on to make his mark on the sport's collegiate scene.
The Dominican University men's soccer coach recently won his 400th career win with a 10-0 triumph over Lakeland University.
Only 20 other coaches in the history of NCAA Division III men's soccer have reached that number and only eight are still active.
When he hit the milestone in mid-October, Baumann's record became 400-100-36, for a .780 winning percentage in his 23 seasons.
He has been named Regional Coach of the Year three times.
His winning percentage ranks him 17th among the winningest NCAA men's soccer coaches all-time.
He is one of just nine active NCAA men's soccer coaches with at least a .750 winning percentage in a minimum of 10 years as a collegiate soccer coach.
Baumann has never endured a losing season as the Stars' head coach despite inheriting a team that went just 5-15-0 the season before his arrival.
Baumann's Stars have averaged better than 16 wins per season, eclipsing the 20-win mark three times, including a program-best 21 wins in 1999 when they made their first national tournament appearance in program history.
He has guided the Stars to a total of 16 national tournaments in his 23 seasons, including a Final Four appearance in 2009, Elite Eight finishes in 2003 and 2006 and a Sweet 16 in 2012.
From 2002 to 2014, the Stars made 13 consecutive national tournament appearances, tied for the second most appearances during that stretch with national powerhouse Trinity and just behind Messiah College, which won nine national championships in 13 years.
In addition to his work with the men's soccer program, Baumann took over as the Director of Athletics at Dominican University in the summer of 2006. Under his watch, the department has begun to climb the ranks of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference, including becoming just the third institution in NACC history to win an all-sports championship as the Stars claimed the award on the women's side following the 2011-2012 academic year.
Baumann is a 1993 graduate of Rosary College (now Dominican University) and was a four-time team captain for the men's soccer program from 1990-1993, earning team MVP honors and a spot on the District 20 All-District Team in 1993.
Boys basketball
Prospect graduate Antonio Gardner is returning to his alma mater to join the varsity boys basketball staff as a volunteer assistant.
Gardner is finishing up his degree at North Park.
The Prospect boys basketball twitter says, "He was a fierce competitor when he played and our current players will benefit immensely from his presence."
As a freshman at North Park, Gardner appeared in 18 games and made 5 starts, averaging 4.1 points. He recorded a season-high 10 points against Illinois Wesleyan and collected a season-high 3 assists twice against Greenville and Elmhurst (2/6).
As a sophomore, he had a season-high 7 points and 2 assists against Carroll and a pair of three-pointers against Emory and Henry.
Women's basketball
Denver junior Claire Gritt (Hersey) drew five charging calls that helped lead the Pioneers to a 95-79 triumph over Colorado Mesa. It gave the Pioneers a 2-0 preseason record. Gritt finished with 10 points in the game.
Football
Augustana junior safety John Kappel (Wheeling) ranks first in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin with 5 interceptions. As a team, Augustana is fifth in scoring defense (19.0 ppg).
Swimming
Augustana freshman Jack Blumenfeld (Hersey) was part of the 200 freestyle relay team that was first (1:31.44) when the Vikings defeated Millikin 138-65 and Knox 168-19.
Women's cross country
Lewis' Abby Tripp (Conant) was timed in 24:03.71 at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships in Evansville, IN. The Flyers finished seventh with 166 points.
Girls basketball
Maine West senior Angela Dugalic, an Oregon commit, was recently ranked as the No. 1 player in the state for the Class of 2020 and No. 8 overall in the nation by Blue Star Basketball.
She is ranked No. 42 in the nation by Prospectsnation.com and No. 1 in Illinois for seniors.
Dugalic is ranked No. 1 in Illinois by prepgirlshoops.com for the Class of 2020.
In three years at Maine West, Dugalic has 1,081 points, 718 rebounds, 192 steals, 143 assists, 93 blocks. Her teams are 95-6, including last year's 35-0 Class 4A state championship team.
Men's cross country
Augustana sophomore Karsten Zielinski (Schaumburg) placed 24th (26:35.2) at the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Championship at Saukie Golf Course in Rock Island. The Vikings placed 18 to finish fifth in the team standings.
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