North Stars volleyball rolls; Geneva soccer team ties St. Charles N. again
The St. Charles North girls volleyball team opened the season with a solid win over nonconference Addison Trail, 25-10, 25-11 in St. Charles.
"I really wasn't sure what to expect," St. Charles North coach Lindsay Trudell said. "But I was really happy with the turnout. It was a very good start."
Trudell used two totally different starting lineups for each game and every North Star played.
"It's nice to know I can try various things," she said.
Perhaps this is why not one particular player stood out statistically. Kentucky-bound Gretchen Giesler, however, did lead the way with 5 kills, an ace, solo block, block assist and dig.
"If you watched the game, Gretchen really was the standout player," Trudell said. "She really knows how to put the ball down."
In addition to Giesler, Elin Smith had a kill, 9 assists, 3 digs; Caitlin Winkleman had 9 digs, Kari Roberts had an ace and 4 digs, Lindsay Williams posted 4 kills and a block and block assist and Annie Stoermer finished with 9 assists, 2 aces and 3 digs.
Trudell thinks Plainfield North's tournament, which takes place Thursday and Saturday, will give her a better idea of who her starters will be.
Some of the top teams in the area will be present for the first-year tournament, which includes Rosary, Barrington, Naperville North, Batavia and Crystal Lake South.
"It will be a good test at the beginning of the season," Trudell said. "(The tournament) is definitely going to be competitive."
-- Christine Bolin
Rosary d. Marian 25-23, 25-9:ŒLindsey Weber had 9 kills and 8 digs in the Royals' sweep of the Hurricanes in Woodstock. Kylie Schalz finished with 6 blocks and Ali Sikic set 13 assists.
Aurora Christian d. East Aurora 25-15 27-25: The Eagles opened on the road and swept the Tomcats. Tara Thomalla had 10 kills and Amanda Beebe finished with 15 digs.
Boys basketball
Bartlett names new coach:ŒCount Jim Wolfsmith as the latest dual-sport coach in the Upstate Eight Conference.
And it's not just two sports Wolfsmith will now be the head coach of at Bartlett High School -- it's back-to-back sports.
Wolfsmith, who has been Bartlett's head softball coach the past four years, will be officially named this morning as the interim head varsity boys basketball coach for the Hawks, replacing Tom Lamberti, who stepped down July 24 after four years at the helm.
Wolfsmith, who will turn 41 on Sept. 10, becomes the third UEC softball coach to also take over the boys basketball program at his school. Cray Allen at Lake Park and Larry Hight at Larkin will also have those dual roles this year after landing the basketball jobs recently at their respective schools.
"At this point in my life I'm pretty well set on how I want things done and the way to do it," said Wolfsmith Tuesday night. "Had I not been the softball coach the past four years I'm not sure I could have done this but I know how to get a season started in both sports.
"It'll be busy but it will be a fun busy."
Wolfsmith is a graduate of Luther North High School, Valparaiso University and Concordia-River Forest. He began his coaching career at Luther North where, after two years as an underclass coach, he coached the varsity boys team for five seasons. While at Luther North, Wolfsmith was able to draw knowledge from IBCA Hall of Fame girls coach Frank Mattucci, who after leaving Luther North won two girls state championships at Stevenson High School.
"I watched him and learned an awful lot from him," Wolfsmith said of the now-retired Mattucci. "He was a great coach."
Wolfsmith came to Bartlett when the school opened in 1997. After serving one season as a freshman assistant, he spent five years as head sophomore coach and then the last four seasons as Lamberti's varsity assistant.
As the Hawks' softball coach the past four years, Wolfsmith has built the program into a state tournament team. Bartlett made its first Elite Eight softball appearance last spring.
"There's no question the easiest transition to make is from assistant to head coach," Wolfsmith said. "I know the kids in the program and that will make it easier, especially considering just getting the job now.
"When we get going in November we'll be doing a lot of early hard work to get the things in place I want to do."
Wolfsmith said his basketball coaching style will mirror what he's done with the softball team -- being aggressive and taking it to the opponent.
"You're going to see a very aggressive, pressure-type of team," he said. "I believe in pushing the ball up the court and pressuring the ball all over the court. We'll run things with a lot of variety and we'll be an up-tempo team."
Bartlett, which owns just one regional championship in boys basketball (2001), was 10-19 last season and 33-79 under Lamberti.
As for the interim tag to Wolfsmith's title, Bartlett athletic director Dan Kallenbach said it's more of a safeguard than anything, basically because the timing of Lamberti's resignation didn't allow for a full-blown coach search.
"This way we can let Jim get to work with the team and then solidify everything in the spring," Kallenbach said.
-- John Radtke
Boys soccer
Geneva 1, St. Charles North 1: The North Stars and Vikings (0-1-2) played a rematch just three days after their first match on Saturday, this one in the second round of the Barrington Tournament on Tuesday.
Adam Cornwell scored the opening goal for Geneva in the 28th minute and the Vikings maintained their led into halftime. But the North Stars
"Max Cary assisted on a goal and had a really strong game for us tonight," said Geneva coach Ryan Estabrook. "It was a tough all around game."
Boys golf
St. Charles East 160, Bartlett 167: With their win over the Hawks at Royal Fox, the Saints improved to 4-1 in dual meets. Chris Niemiec led the field with a 37 and Brett Weiss shot 39. Nick Quagliano's 40 led Bartlett.
St. Charles North 155, South Elgin 171, Elgin 188: The North Stars beat out South Elgin by 16 shots and coach Rob Prentiss earned his 200th career victory. Tony D'Amico led all golfers with a 2-over 37 and teammates Greg Wiitanen and TJ Metts shot 40.
Drew Buddle shot a 41 to pace the Storm and Devin Skopek shot 44 for Elgin.
Marmion 155, WW South 165: Bryce Emory earned medalist honors with a 37 at Arrowhead. Fellow Cadets (2-0) Robbie Whitehead and Nick Lappin tied for second with 39s.
Boys cross country
Kaneland 35, Wheaton Academy 42, West Chicago 42: The Warriors' Mike Derenzo took first place at Elburn Woods with a time of 18:14.4. Kaneland's Logan Markuson finished at 18:17.1 and Kevin Huml took fifth.
Elgin City Classic: With awards in one hand and a megaphone in the other, Elgin City Classic cross country invite host and Elgin coach John Divine awaited the meets final tally.
For the second consecutive season, the boys varsity meet concluded in a first place tie.
This time, it was Dundee-Crown and East Aurora each with 49 points, bidding for the title.
With East Aurora's No. 6 runner Igracio Cervantes collecting a 24th place finish with a time of 18:19, the Tomcats edged out Dundee-Crown, who's No. 6 runner, Vincent Caliendo (18:30) finished 25th just 11 seconds behind Cervantes.
St. Charles East finished third as a team with 52 points led by third place runner John Deutsch (16:38).
-- Jen LaPorte
Girls tennis
Kaneland 6, Belvidere 1: The Knights picked up their first win of the season at win. Holly Hartmann won first singles 6-2, 6-1 and April Runde won 6-4, 6-3 in second singles.
Girls golf
Batavia 166, Wheaton North 174: Lauren Linkowski paced the Bulldogs with a 37 at Valley Green as the Bulldogs (2-0) bested the Falcons.
St. Charles North 182, Fremd 188:ŒBrooke Bettis' 40 and Molly Fremgen's 42 surges the North Stars at Palatine Hills.
St. Charles East 171, Naperville North 182:ŒJenny Niemiec's 39 and Rachael Edwards' 41 led the Saints to victory at Prairie Landing.
Girls cross country
Kaneland 37, West Chicago 43, Wheaton Academy 50: Kaneland's Ali Olson led the pack, running 2.4 miles at Elburn Woods in 17:00.9. The Warriors' Sarah Daly finished second at 17:07.2.
Elgin City Classic:ŒThe Elgin City Classic proved once again to be a great place for area cross country runners to get their feet wet as the 2007 season got under way Tuesday night at Lords Park, a 3-mile course.
Of course, battling the elements was a factor but rather than getting feet wet, conditions were dry hot and humid.
However, that did not stop St. Charles East junior Lizzy Hynes from posting a first-place finish with a time of 19:23, 22 seconds faster than Samantha Salinas of Bartlett (19:45).
"I thought I would be exhausted but I felt pretty good," said Hynes who recorded a sixth-place finish at last year's state Class AA cross country championships with a 17:13.
Admittedly, she came in a bit concerned knowing a friend broke her ankle at Lords Park during last season's meet. Clearly, she battled through.
"I wanted to hang with the leaders," said Hynes. "When things got a bit slower, I wanted to take the lead and keep it.
"This was a great race to help prepare for our home invite coming up (Saturday)."
St. Charles East was third with 81 points.
-- Jen LaPorte