Spring is here -- this fall in Lisle

If the Lisle boys and girls cross country teams look like they have a spring in their step it's because, well, they have a spring in their step.

In a tale that began at the 2007 Boys State Track & Field Championships in May, the Lions are wearing footwear supplied by Spira, Inc., a 5-year-old, 10-employee firm in El Paso, Texas.

"I think it's really awesome … that a small school like us would be sponsored," said Lisle senior Nicole Phelps, who with her teammates is field-testing the Spira Del Sol, donated July 11 by Spira CEO and president Andy Krafsur.

Krafsur, a 45-year-old former attorney, entered this as a symbiotic relationship after meeting intrigued Lisle coach Ken Jakalski.

Krafsur's goal is to increase visibility of Spira running shoes to an audience that ironically hasn't adopted them -- runners -- and benefit from Jakalski's biomechanical expertise.

"He strikes me as a guy that's very thoughtful and is always looking for innovation in track and field," Krafsur said. "Those are the kind of guys that brands get built around."

Jakalski's originally unknowing introduction to Spira was seeing three-time Olympian Craig Virgin at the state track meet wearing unfamiliar gold-and-black shoes.

After the wear and tear of a lifetime of racing, Virgin found a shoe he could run in without pain.

"I'm thinking, if it's good enough for Craig Virgin…" a curious Jakalski said.

The coach identified the manufacturer, which has had most of its retail success in pedorthic footwear stores due to its unique design.

The crux of Spira is "WaveSpring" technology, which according to one study returns up to 96 percent of the energy otherwise lost to the ground, while reducing impact forces 20 percent.

Fine. But USA Track and Field specifically states shoes cannot contain springs (Spira's are made in Lake Zurich). NCAA rules prohibit performance-enhancing "devices" and the International Association of Athletics Federations won't allow shoes that provide an "unfair advantage," said Krafsur, who has filed a restraint-of-trade suit against USATF and IAAF.

(Despite a "Banned in Boston" campaign that helped sell a reported 5,700 pairs the 2007 Boston Marathon master's winner, Spira-wearing Oleg Strijakov, was allowed to keep his $10,000 winnings.)

"The problem we have is with the rule on the books and no testing being done to demonstrate providing what they call 'an unfair advantage,' " said Krafsur, who believes his product is an evolution, the track equivalent of the over-sized tennis racquet or the Big Bertha.

Jakalski likened Spira's position to that of double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius' attempts for IAAF and Olympic clearance despite claims his carbon fiber blades create an unfair advantage.

Jakalski also relished Krafsur's position as the "little guy" versus track's governing bodies as well as established shoe companies that have boasted designs that supposedly improve performance.

Toward that end Jakalski had Krafsur send a pair of Del Sols with a midsole cutaway to Dr. Peter Weyand, research director of Rice University's Locomotion Laboratory, to investigate.

For now Jakalski's cross country team is training and competing in the shoes -- their times on turf have been unaffected, he noted -- and testing their durability.

"With time we're going to see exactly how the shoe holds up," he said. "Because as they put more and more miles on them obviously the midsoles tend to always degrade in most shoes. So far we're not seeing that, and that's a real positive."

Phelps is not so scientifically inclined.

"They're really light and comfortable and it's fun just to be a team that has all the same shoes," she said.

Pass for show, run for D'oh!

In DePauw University's 47-6 win over Anderson University (Ind.) -- aided by a 45-yard touchdown pass to Immaculate Conception grad Bryan Mulligan -- Glenbard West alum Jeremiah Marks set several DePauw records.

He set career records for points, touchdowns and, on a 6-yard run early in the second quarter on his way to 133 yards for the game, Marks established a new DePauw career rushing record.

The player who held the prior record of 2,941 yards?

You guessed it: Bart Simpson.

Roadblock added to cross country

As it has since the preseason, Neuqua Valley's boys team led the pack in the Sept. 10 Illinois Cross Country Coaches Poll.

It's a group heavily saturated by north and west suburban schools, especially now with three classes. In the state series the Wildcats have an advantage over many other highly regarded squads.

Neuqua has been assigned to the Class 3A Normal Community West sectional. The next five teams in this week's poll -- York, Naperville North, Wheaton North, Geneva and St. Charles North -- all will compete at the Schaumburg sectional.

In all, 11 of the top 15 in the coaches poll are headed to Schaumburg, and 10 of the top 15 in the Illinois Prep Top Times' most recent poll. The top five sectional finishers will make it downstate.

Girls teams are in a similar crush with coaches Nos. 1-2 Hinsdale Central and Naperville North going to Schaumburg. They'll be joined by Nos. 5-10, Downers Grove South, Lake Park, Wheaton North, Lyons Twp. and Geneva.

Cover boy

Dave Fortosis, out of Wheaton Academy's Class of 2004 and brother of former Wheaton College hoopster Jim Fortosis, was named a tri-captain of the Calvin College (Mich.) soccer team.

In fact his picture graced the cover of the program for the Knights' Sept. 7 home opener.

Unfortunately that action shot was the only action he got. In the 75th minute of the prior game, Fortosis suffered a concussion. He visited the emergency room and, according to his father, David Sr., "is slowly getting back into training."

Slowly is the operative word. This is Fortosis' fifth concussion in five seasons.

That brain rattling hasn't shaken his academic abilities.

A member of the Chicago Fire All-State Academic Team his senior year at Wheaton Academy, the West Chicagoan has made the Dean's List every semester at Calvin and is a two-time member of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Academic Honor Roll.

He'll finish his business administration and Spanish studies, a semester early.

For the time being he's seeking medical clearance to get back in net this weekend at the Ohio Northern University tournament in Ada, Ohio.

Quick hitters

Neuqua Valley's Class AA state championship baseball team, coached by Robin Renner, received its championship rings at halftime of last Friday's football game against Lake Park. Infielder Adam Carver returned from Baldwin-Wallace College (Ohio) for the occasion.

Driscoll defensive coordinator Brandon New is in a bind. His assignment this week is to disrupt St. Francis quarterback Jeff Reckards -- a nephew of Highlanders coach Mike Burzawa.

Wrestling titan Ed Ewoldt and Jim Juriga, offensive lineman on Wheaton North's 1981 state championship football team (plus the Elway-era Denver Broncos) were honored at the Wheaton Historic Preservation Council's "Legends of Wheaton" Kiebler Golf Classic.

Cool tradition: Neuqua Valley's band serenading the football team with the school fight song on the field after a win is pure Americana.