Roberts in spotlight; Gurnee, Vernon Hills plan tryouts

Only two men have guided the varsity football fortunes at Buffalo Grove since the high school played its first game in 1973.

Grant Blaney was No. 1 and directed the program though 1989, collecting 111 wins and the Class 6A state title in 1986.

Rich Roberts then took over as No. 2 and has 102 varsity wins at Buffalo Grove to go with the 7 when he coached Prospect.

No. 3 is out there somewhere.

Buffalo Grove will celebrate the coaching career of Roberts, who will retire in June, with a pregame ceremony Friday at 6:45 p.m.

The Bison host Prospect as the regular season concludes.

As part of the celebration, the school will recognize family, friends and former coaches and athletes from Roberts' 30-plus years of coaching and more specifically, the last 18 seasons as the head Bison coach.

The school also plans to celebrate Roberts' career throughout the evening with a variety of other activities.

Mark Schaetzlein, assistant principal for student activities at Buffalo Grove, is the contact for the celebration and can be reached at (847) 718-4018.

Former athletes interested in attending should contact Schaetzlein for more details.

Basketball

The Gurnee Park District will hold tryouts for its girls travel basketball program tonight and Wednesday at the Hunt Club Park Community Center.

Any girl in grades 5-8 who resides in School District 121 is eligible to try out: 5/6 grade tryout time is 6:15-7:15 p.m.; 7/8 grade tryout time is 7:30-8:30 p.m.

For additional information, contact Ron Dorsey at (847) 599-3758.

• The Vernon Hills Jr. Cougars has announced tryouts for the boys basketball season. There will be teams at the 5th-, 6th-, 7th- and 8th-grade levels.

Tryouts will be held in the main gym at Vernon Hills High School on Sunday, Oct. 28 with 1:30 p.m. registration (tryouts 2-4 p.m.) and on Friday, Nov. 2 with 6:30 p.m. registration (tryouts from 7-8:30 p.m.).

Tryout fee of $15 includes a tryout T-shirt.

League rules require players to live in the area eligible to attend Vernon Hills or Libertyville high schools.

Players are expected to attend both tryouts.

The season runs until spring break, and teams will play 25-35 games.

For more information, contact Marc Epner at (847) 362-1281.

Volleyball

Kasey Kiepura (Vernon Hills) of Dominican University leads the Northern Athletic Conference in blocks with 1.27 per game. She also had 10 kills and 3 blocks in a win over Trinity Christian College.

• Jessica LeClaire (Carmel) of Millikin University was named to the Fall Ball Tournament first team.

• Kristin Paczosa (Buffalo Grove) of Cornell College was named the Iowa Conference Volleyball Athlete of the Week, the second time she has received this honor.

The sophomore outside hitter set 2 school records and was named to the all-tournament team at the IIAC-MIAC Border Battle tourney in St. Paul. She broke the school's single-match record for kills with 29 in a 5-game win over Hamline and also broke the mark with 71 attack attempts in a 5-game win over Buenta Vista, in which she also had 30 digs.

For the week, Paczosa averaged 4.21 kills and 3.68 digs in 19 games along with 10 aces and 10 blocks.

Softball

Stephanie Dubow (Stevenson) of Kishwaukee College pitched a no-hitter against Judson College to conclude the fall season that started with her 4-hitter against Danville Community College. She also went 8 for 22 with 3 doubles and a home run.

• Registrations are being taken for the annual Wildcat Fastpitch Winter Softball Camp-Clinic for girls between the ages of 9 and 14.

The camp will be held at Wheeling High School, and no residency requirements are necessary.

There will be two five-week sessions held on Sunday nights between 6:30 and 8 p.m. in the Wheeling field house, Elmhurst and Hintz roads.

Professional and college hitting and pitching instructors will participate with training in hitting, pitching, base running and defense. A clinic for coaches is also part of the package.

Pitching instruction will be limited to the first 20 requests.

Session 1 will run five Sunday nights (not consecutive weeks) starting Nov. 11.

Session 2 will run Sunday nights (not consecutive weeks) starting Jan. 6.

Program cost for November-December is $80. It's also $80 for January-February.

The number of participants is limited to 50, so early registration is encouraged.

Mail registration fee, along with participant's name, address, age and what session you are interested in to "Wildcat Clinics," c/o Rick McCoy, 567 Briarwood, Wheeling, Ill., 60090.

For more information, you can contact program director McCoy at (847) 520-4249 or at wcatsb@comcast.net.

Soccer

Cody Callender (Lake Zurich) of Carroll College was named Midwest Conference Offensive Performer of the Week. She score a goal in each of Carroll's victories and now has 6 goals and 3 assists.

• Goalkeeper Brian Byrne (Buffalo Grove) of Loyola University recorded 3 shutouts as the Ramblers beat Cleveland State 2-0, tied Detroit 0-0 and beat Butler 1-0. He now has 7 shutouts for the season, which ranks second on Loyola's all-time list.

Bowling

Karen Ellingsworth, who helped make Forest View High School a state powerhouse in the 1970s, was honored by the High School Bowling Coaches of Illinois (HSBCI) with selection to the inaugural Hall of Fame class.

Also honored in the individuals class for the first HSBCI Hall of Fame was Lisa Stack (Elgin Larkin). Jim Braet of Rock Island was named in the coaches' category, and the late Charlene Bremberg was honored as a Hall of Fame administrator for her work with the IHSA.

Ellingsworth rewrote the Mid-Suburban League record books and was conference champion for three years.

She joined the Ladies Professional Bowling Tour in 1981 and spent 12 years on the circuit. Her biggest victory came at the 1984 U.S. Open in St. Louis when she defeated Lorrie Nichols.

Ellingsworth, who has 15 sanctioned 300 games and an 802 series, was elected to the Chicago Women's Bowling Hall of Fame in 2003.

For the last 19 years, she and Jeff Daggett have run the Strike Zone Pro Shop, now located inside the Brunswick Zone in Mount Prospect.

Ellingsworth also has been the head coach at Rolling Meadows since 1999.

Cross country

Mike Richardson (Buffalo Grove) of Illinois State finished eighth in 25:04 at the Bradley Invitational in Peoria. Illinois State placed second.