'GMac Night' is Thursday; O'Shea prepares for nationals

Good high school wrestlers may feel they are self-starters and independent workers, but they still need that quality coach watching and guiding their mat time.

Gary McMorrow has been watching and guiding young athletes for 36 years.

That's quality in action.

Prospect High School will host "GMac Night" on Thursday to honor the distinguished career of varsity wrestling coach McMorrow.

The Knights' varsity coach for 25 years is retiring from teaching. He was an assistant at Hersey for 11 years before coming to Prospect.

The informal reception for friends, colleagues and former student-athletes will be held at 6:45 p.m. in the Jean Walker Field House area just prior to the varsity match with Palatine.

The event is designed to honor McMorrow's years of service to Prospect, the school district and the community.

McMorrow is a 1968 graduate of Prospect and was a three-time all-conference performer.

Questions on "GMac Night" should be directed to Assistant Principal for Student Activities Erik Hammerstrom at (847) 718-5218.

Figure skating

Danny O'Shea, 16-year-old resident of Gurnee and junior at St. Viator High School, has 12 more days before taking to the ice in the United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA) National Championships.

Scheduled for Jan. 20-27 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., the nationals will showcase survivors of two demanding qualifying events.

On the road to St. Paul, O'Shea, who trains at Twin Rinks in Buffalo Grove, finished first in the USFSA sectional championships that involved 22 states and placed second in the Upper Great Lakes Regional.

O'Shea will now join 11 other skaters to compete for the Novice U.S. championship and spot on the United States Olympic Development Team.

O'Shea, who also has cardio training every day, trains on ice six days a week at Twin Rinks. He works with Sandi Delfs, Alex Ouriashev, Rob Peal and Susie Wynee Barth.

Football

Tim Podulka (Elk Grove) of Augustana College was named the Vikings' most valuable player on offense and special teams.

The versatile Podulka saw action at quarterback, wide receiver and as a return specialists. He led the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) in passing efficiency at 168.1, completing 36 passes for 392 yards and 5 touchdowns. He rushed for 287 yards in 57 carries, scoring 2 more touchdowns, and returned 25 punts for 186 yards and 23 kickoffs for 518.

• Bryon Gattas (Prospect) of the University of Iowa was named to the Big Ten's academic all-conference team.

• Junior linebacker Dan Souder (Elk Grove) earned "Best Big Skill" honors at Illinois Wesleyan with 75 total tackles and 41 solos. He had 8.5 tackles for losses of 36 yards and 3 quarterback sacks.

Basketball

Mark your calendars.

Dates, sites and times have been set for the five Daily Herald's basketball recognition banquets.

All-area players and players of the week in girls and boys basketball will be honored.

Coaches, players and parents will be special guests of the Daily Herald.

Sunday, March 9 -- DuPage County, Lisle Naperville Hilton, 5 p.m. reception.

Monday, March 10 -- Lake County, The Arboretum Club, Buffalo Grove, 6 p.m. reception.

Sunday, March 16 -- Tri-Cities, Stonegate Conference & Banquet Centre, Hoffman Estates, 5 p.m. reception in pavilion area.

Sunday, March 16 -- Fox Valley, Stonegate Conference & Banquet Centre, Hoffman Estates, 5:30 p.m. reception, main area.

Monday, March 17 -- Cook County, Stonegate Conference & Banquet Centre, Hoffman Estates, 6 p.m. reception.

• Jonny Reibel (Hoffman Estates) of No. 4 Rollins College was named the most valuable player in the Winter Park Rotary Tangerine tournament. He had 25 points and 5 assists in the title win over No. 13 University of South Carolina Aiken. Craig Reichel (Schaumburg) also earned all-tournament honors and had 23 points against Columbia Union .

Earlier, Reibel had scored a career-high 31 points (6 assists) against No. 6 Drury University and 30 against Central Missouri in the Las Vegas Desert Classic. Reichel added 16 points against Drury.

Reibel also was named Sunshine State Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the period ending Jan. 1.

• Through 11 games at Augustana College, Alex Washington (Wheeling) is averaging 10.5 points. He had 14 points against No. 3 Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

• Justin Gray (Prospect) of Concordia University Chicago scored 18 of his game-high 22 points in the second half against the University of Chicago. He had 29 in two games on a Florida road trip.

• Just two days after being named the Midwest Conference Performer of the Week, Monmouth College junior Melissa Gorski (Buffalo Grove) earned national recognition on the D3Hoops.com Team of the Week.

• Gabrielle Cottrell (Prospect) scored 14 points as Manhattan College defeated Loyola of Maryland 68-59. She is averaging 12.7 points over 14 games and hitting .443 from 3-point territory (33-75) and .943 at the free-throw line (33-35).

• Freshman Nikki Preston (Wheeling) of Illinois Wesleyan led the Titans with 14 points in the win over Milwaukee School of Engineering at the California Lutheran Tournament.

• Beth Lucas (Hersey) of Lake Forest College had 14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals against Carthage.

• Kayla Ming (Grayslake) of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside had a game-high 27 points with five 3-pointers, 3 steals, 2 assists and 4 rebounds against region rival Northwood University. She followed that with 20 points in a 64-61 win over Upper Iowa and 21 against St. Joseph of Indiana.

She also was named Parkside's player of the week.

Ming, who leads the Great Lakes Valley Conference in 3-point shooting (48 percent) and minutes played, is fifth in scoring (17.9) and sixth in free-throw percentage (86).

• Johanna Solverson (Lake Zurich) is the fourth-leading scorer at Iowa (7.0). She had 16 points against Minnesota.

Cross country

Three Prospect graduates earned Big Ten Academic All-Conference Team honors: Ryan Craven (Wisconsin), Michael Murray (lllinois) and Jay Renaud (Iowa).

• Senior Dan Leonard (Fremd) was named the most valuable performer at Augustana College. He was the team's top finisher in five meets, placed seventh in the CCIW championships and led the Vikings to the NCAA Division III national meet for the first time since 1986.

Soccer

Frankie Gorg (Hersey/Soccers F.C. Chicago) worked in goal at Illinois Wesleyan as a freshman with a 1.43 goals-against average and 2.5 shutouts. The Titans finished third in the CCIW and earned a berth in the post-season conference tournament.

• Senior forward Jordan Gyuricza (St. Viator) of North Park University was named to the D3Kicks.com All-Central Region team. The two-time all-region selection was the North Park leader in goals.

• Senior Keri Hess (Schaumburg) of Augustana College received the team's Iron Viking Award. The first-team all-conference keeper logged over 1,500 minutes of play and posted 71 saves while allowing only 14 goals.

Hess also was selected as Augustana's female winner of the Jack Swartz Award. The student-athlete honor is given by the conference, and the eight schools are allowed to pick their own male and female representatives.