O'Shea skates to nationals; Blanchard, Castonzo honored

The training continues, and the big week is getting closer.

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

Senior offensive guard Derek Blanchard (Lake Zurich) of Mount Union College was named to the American Football Coaches Association Division III All-America first team.

The 6-foot-2, 298-pounder started every game at left guard since the first game of his freshman season, a school record 58. The team's record was 55-3 with Blanchard in the lineup.

Mount Union (14-1) was the national runner-up behind Wisconsin-Whitewater after winning national titles in 2005 and 2006. They won four straight Ohio Athletic Conference championships, and Blanchard was the league's offensive lineman of the year.

Blanchard, also an academic all-star, was one of the finalists for the Gagliardi Trophy, Division III's equivalent of the Heisman.

• Offensive tackle Anthony Castonzo (Lake Zurich) of Boston College was named to the Sporting News Freshman All-American first team.

• Defensive end Tyler Hopfauf (Wauconda) of Knox College finished the season with 19 tackles (10 solo), 3 sacks and 1 fumble recovery.

Basketball

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.

Carrying a 4.0 GPA, 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.

• Claire Glass (Grant) had a career-high 15 points for Wheaton College against Chicago.

• 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.

• 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.

Wrestling

Prospect High School will host "GMac Night" on Thursday to honor the career of varsity wrestling coach Gary McMorrow. The Knights' varsity coach for 25 years is retiring from teaching.

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.

McMorrow is a 1968 graduate of Prospect, who was a three-time all-conference performer. He was an assistant at Hersey for 11 years before coming to Prospect.

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

• In the 165-pound division at the Loras Open, Josh Terrell (Round Lake) of the University of Dubuque went 4-2 with 2 major decisions, a decision and a fall. He was 4-0 at the St. Johns Terry Haws Duals.

Soccer

Midfielder Chris Fidlow (Warren) of Carthage College was named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America third-team all-North Central Region as well as NSCAA second-team all-Wisconsin.

• 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.

Swimming

Katie Rowland (Libertyville) of Augustana College won the 100 backstroke against Loras with a 1:06.36.

Field hockey

Junior defender Nikki Dyer (Stevenson) helped Gettysburg (Pa.) College hold opponents to only 1.7 points per game. She also played a key role on penalty corners and finished with 4 goals and 3 assists.

Cross country

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