Gaudio breaks new ground for North Central
Freshman golfer Alyssa Gaudio of North Central made history at the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Championships last weekend at Red Tail Run Golf Club in Decatur.
Gaudio became the first North Central golfer to win the individual conference title, finishing with a two-day score of 153 (75, 78). She won the title with a birdie on the 18th hole.
"As a freshman, Alyssa has more composure on the golf course than any golfer I've ever coached," said North Central coach Tye Thompson. "She stays focused and doesn't give up until the last putt is in the 18th hole. Winning conference as a freshman is only the first step in her North Central career. I expect her to qualify for the NCAA national championships in the next few years."
The Cardinals finished in a tie for fifth-place with a score of 679 in the team standings. Their previous best showing was a fifth-place finish in 2003.
The Cardinals shot a team score of 331, a school record.
"This was by far the best season for women's golf at North Central and the most enjoyable season I've had coaching here," said Thompson. "This is a young team with a lot of potential. We're hoping Alyssa's championship will help inspire us to compete for the conference title in the future."
Wheaton: Led by All-American Jordan Hook (Wheaton Warrenville South) the Wheaton women's tennis team won its league-best 13th College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Championship last weekend.
The Thunder scored 69 points to win the event, with Carthage grabbing the runner-up spot with 59.
The top four teams, Wheaton, Carthage, Augustana and North Central will compete in the CCIW Automatic Qualifier Tournament in the spring to determine the league representative to the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championships.
Hook, a junior, defended her CCIW title at No. 1 singles with a 14-0 record, to impove her career mark to 71-3.
"Jordan continues to improve and prove that she is one of the best players in Division III," said Wheaton coach Jane Nelson. "She continues to amaze me with the shots and the angles that she can create."
Wheaton also won the league championship at four, five and six singles with victories by Brittney Dunn, Kayli Edwards and Sara Federschmidt. Dunn and Edwards won the third-doubles league championship.
DuPage: Led by a pair of golfers who were named to the All-Region IV first team, the College of DuPage men's golf team finished second to Rock Valley in the Region IV competition in Byron on Saturday.
Jeff VanderNaald (Timothy Christian) and Jon Golabek (Glenbard North) were named to the All-Region IV first team, finishing second and third respectively with scores of 240 and 241.
The Chaps held the lead by 1 shot going into the final day, but they dug themselves a hole on the front nine before losing by 5 strokes.
"What I'm most proud of is that my players did not give up," said DuPage coach Jason Hyatt. "They made a last run on the final four holes."
Women's tennis: The College of DuPage women's tennis team (10-3) took a giant step toward repeating as National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III champions when it swept by Rock Valley College 9-0 for the Region IV championship last Saturday.
"With four returning players and an excellent group of newcomers, we have a great shot at repeating as NJCAA champions," said Chaparral coach Jim Bowers. "The energy, effort and dedication was first-rate throughout this season."
The Chaparrals were led by a solid group of former local high school stars including: Abby Conover (Naperville North), Alyssa Arnold (Wheaton North), Blaire Hufford (Glenbard North), Jacquelyn McMahon (Montini), Jenny Green (West Chicago), Ashley Shannahan (Willowbrook) and Maggie Scharnagle (St. Francis).
Football: Running back Nick Booth (Naperville North) scored all three touchdowns on short runs to lead DuPage to a 21-20 win over North Dakota State College of Science last Saturday.
The Chaps (5-2, 4-2) will host North Iowa Area Community College at 1 p.m. this Saturday.
Benedictine: The football team's defense, which has been strong all season, led the Cardinals to its first Illini-Badger Football Conference (IBFC) victory of the year Saturday, a 10-7 win at Greenville College.
The Eagles (2-4, 1-2), who limited Greenville to 212 total yards, had 4 takeaways, 2 interceptions by Patrick Daniels, and fumble recoveries by Anthony Borsellino (Montini) and Alex Dewey. Linebacker Devin Montgomery led the Eagles with 7 tackles, and defensive backs Matt Kunz and Travis Newsome, had six each.
Women's soccer: Benedictine's women's soccer team has quietly hit its stride in mid-season and is riding a five-match unbeaten streak.
Last Saturday, the Eagles forged a 1-1 double-overtime tie with Milwaukee School of Engineering, as freshman Dani O'Toole netted the tying goal, unassisted, in the 69th minute.
Elmhurst: The men's soccer team (11-1-1, 4-0) increased its winning streak to 8 games by taking a pair of conference games last week.
On Wednesday, the Bluejays blanked North Central 4-0 and then shut out Augustana 5-0 on Saturday.
Jon Brehm totaled 4 goals and 2 assists for the week, netting a goal against North Central and then scoring a hat-trick and assisting on the two other goals against Augustana. He set a single-game Elmhurst record with 8 points.
Jake Pahr, who had a goal and an assist in both games, has now scored in the past 7 straight games, and leads the team with 10 goals on the season.
In the win over Augustana, Brauch Marvin tied the Elmhurst single-game assist record with 3 while goalkeeper Britt Blackwell recorded his seventh shutout of the season.