CCIW honors Blackwell; Ming has fast start at Parkside
Britt Blackwell (Lake Zurich) saved the best for last, and an entire league noticed.
Elmhurst College's senior goalkeeper was named College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Soccer Player of the Year.
Blackwell closed out the season with an 0.83 goals-against average, recording 101 saves with 9 shutouts. In CCIW play he yielded only 4 goals in 7 games.
"Britt exemplified and was the epitome of hard work and dedication," said Elmhurst coach Dave DiTomasso. "He turned in one exceptional performance after another. We are very proud to have had him as a Bluejay for four years.
• It was an impressive fall for the Blenner sisters.
Megan Blenner (St. Viator) of Carroll College finished her season as the leading goal scorer (12) in helping Carroll set a new Midwest Conference record for wins in a season.
Kelly Blenner (St. Viator) completed her first year at Western Michigan University as its leading goal scorer, also sharing the lead in points, shot percentage and game-winning goals.
• Goalkeeper Keri Hess (Schaumburg) of Augustana finished the season with 71 saves in 18 games, allowing only 14 goals. She was named to the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin all-conference first team.
Also named to the first team were Paige Land (Barrington) and Jackie Peterson (Schaumburg) of Carthage.
• Senior Cindi Brenner (Barrington) of Drake University was named to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete team.
Basketball
Kayla Ming (Grayslake) of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside was a perfect 14-for-14 at the free throw line and she led all scorers with 28 points in a 79-66 victory over Lake Superior State. She also scored 17 points against Michigan Tech.
• The Daily Herald area had six graduates on the floor in the same college game.
Melissa Gorski (Buffalo Grove) scored 21 points and pulled down 6 rebounds as Monmouth College beat Cornell 70-67, a team that featured another former Bison Kristin Paczosa (4 points, 4 rebounds), Charlotte Milas (Rolling Meadows, 6 points, 4 rebounds), Alison Andrews (Jacobs, 4 points, 4 rebounds), and from Warren, Denise (5 points, 2 rebounds) and Melanie Duplessis(16 points, 5 rebounds).
• Gabrielle Cottrell (Prospect) of Manhattan College had 18 points against Fordham and 17 against Pennsylvania.
• The Buffalo Grove Girls Feeder Basketball Program will hold tryouts on Sunday, Dec. 2 in the main gym at Buffalo Grove High School.
Tryouts are for the fifth-, sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders who will be attending Buffalo Grove High School.
Tryouts will begin at 4 p.m. for 5th grade, 5 p.m. for 6th grade, 6 p.m. for 8th grade and 7 p.m. for 7th grade.
For additional details, contact Tom McGowan at 773-617-9795.
• The Wheeling Jr. Wildcat basketball tryouts will be held on Sunday, Dec. 2 in the main gym at Wheeling. Tryouts are for 6th-, 7th- and 8th-grade boys living in the Wheeling High School attendance area.
8th grade -- 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
7th grade -- 12:15 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
6th grade -- 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. (5th-graders are welcome to try out).
Please arrive at least 15 minutes early to register. One parent/guardian needs to attend the tryout for each player.
Any questions can be directed to Tim Hart at (847) 808-0851 or Rick Schwind at (847) 459-3838.
Hockey
Johnny Griggs (Barrington) is playing for the Dubuque ThunderBirds Jr. A team (18-0-1), and he is the No. 1 goalie in the Central States Hockey League. He holds a 1.81 goals-against average with .932 save percentage.
Griggs rejoined the team last weekend after completing a three-day tryout with the Tier 1 Lincoln Stars of the United States Hockey League.
Griggs was one of the ThunderBirds' biggest stars last season during their run to the Hurster Cup playoff championship and a berth in the national semifinals.
Football
The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) honored six area products on its all-conference football team.
Tight end Bryan Bergman (Elk Grove) of Carthage College and linebacker Nick Nickolich (Libertyville) of Illinois Wesleyan were first-team selections.
Earning second-team positions were linebackers Nate Hughes (Antioch) of Carthage and Dan Souder (Elk Grove) of Illinois Wesleyan, wide receiver Jeff Koeneman (Fremd) of Carthage and offensive specialist Tim Podulka (Elk Grove) of Augustana.
• Six area grads were recognized by the Midwest Conference on its all-star football team.
Tim Paulsen (Maine West) of Lake Forest College was a first-team choice in the defensive line at nose guard, Dan Carter (St. Viator) of Lake Forest was named as a first-team wide receiver and Jon Kosrow (Conant) of Carroll College earned a second-team spot as a defensive specialist.
Paulsen is the last of three brothers to play at Lake Forest. There was a Paulsen playing for 10 consecutive years and 101 games.
Gaining honorable mention positions were Tony Baratti (Prospect) of Beloit College at linebacker, Dan Barmantje (Rolling Meadows) of Carroll College in the offensive line and Ed Kidd (Buffalo Grove) of Lake Forest in the defensive backfield.
• Todd Burkoth (Buffalo Grove) of Winona (Minn.) State University was named first team all-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tight end. Winona finished 10-2 overall with a 9-0 record in the league.
Cross country
Breck Fresen (Stevenson) finished 129th and helped Carnegie Mellon take ninth place in the NCAA Men's Division III Cross Country Championship in Northfield, Minn.
Wrestling
Derrick Pousson (Round Lake) of Augustana College took third place in the Knox College Invite, and Josh Terrell (Round Lake) of Dubuque University was fifth in the Loras Open and sixth in the Lindenwood (Mo.) Open.
Softball
The Illinois division of the National Softball Hall of Fame will host its inaugural Hall of Fame induction banquet on Saturday, Dec. 1 from 6-10 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Express in Bradley, Ill.
Frank Hill of Schaumburg will be inducted into the Hall of Fame as an organizer and coach. He has been a coach with the Schaumburg Sluggers since 1992 and coached at Hoffman Estates High School for six years.
Hill's 18-and-under Slugger team was the National Softball Association (NSA) national runner-up in 2003.
Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the door, which includes dinner, desert and drinks. Tickets are limited.
For more information, call (815) 932-4536 or e-mail illinoisnsa@comcast.net.