Everybody loves Wheaton's Raymond
Wheaton basketball standout Kent Raymond earned more hardware last week as he was named a first-team All-American by both the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and D3Hoops.com. He was also honored as a first-team All-Midwest Region selection and the Midwest Regional Player of the Year by each organization.
Raymond led Wheaton with an average of 24.5 points per game, which was fifth in Division III scoring. He also led the team in assists, blocked shots and steals, He scored 30 or more points in 8 games and his 734 points was the highest-single-season point total in the school's history.
Baseball: The Thunder baseball team (9-2) has gotten off to its best start in a decade, with senior Luke Munch leading both at the plate and on the mound.
Munch is tied for the team lead in battering average at .464, leads in runs scored with 15 and he has stolen 6 bases. He has also compiled a 2-0 pitching record with a .64 ERA in 14 innings of work. Freshman Omar Vargas is also hitting .464 and senior Dan Falvey (Wheaton Warrenville South) has a .303 average with 6 runs scored and 7 RBI.
Benedictine: Honors for Benedictine's four-year basketball standout Tamika Curtis continue to pile up.
Curtis has been named Division III All-American honorable mention by both the Women's Basketball Coach of America (WBCA) and D3Hoops.com.
It was Curtis' second citation by the WBCA and the first by D3Hoops.com.
She was also named first team All-Central region by both organizations.
Curtis finished her Eagles' career being named all-conference four straight years.
She is Benedictine's all-time leader in scoring (1,887 points), blocked shots (208), and field goal percentage (54.7) and finished her career as the school's second leading rebounder with 1,124.
As a senior, Curtis averaged 19.4 points and 11.3 rebounds per game and ranked among the NCAA Division III leaders in scoring, rebounds, blocks and field goal percentage.
DuPage: Five returning All-Americans will make the men's track and field team one of the "teams to beat this year."
The Chaps' men's and women's teams begin outdoor competition this Saturday in the Viking Olympics at Augustana College in Rockford.
Leading the returnees for the men, will be Howard Grant, who was the national champion in the long jump and placed second in the triple jump, decathlon national champion Ben Kerrigan (York) and pole vault national champion Adam Werner.
John Fisher (York), who placed second at the national meet in the 10,000-meter run and Michael Wilhite, who was a member of a relay team that finished second, also earned All-American honors.
The Chaps' women's team may not have the overall numbers of its male counterparts, but coach Jane Vatchev is optimistic because there is some "excellent talent."
Among the promising athletes are Kristen Heckert (Lisle) in the distance events, Ashley Kasnick in the hurdles, Leah Kuzimicz (West Chicago) in the jumps and Deb Youngs (Willowbrook) in the throws.
North Central: The softball team wrapped up its annual spring trip with a 7-3 record, which included an 8-4 win over then sixth-ranked Wisconsin-Eau Claire, three straight shutouts and an offense that averaged 7.6 runs while hitting at a .342 clip.
In 31 innings, Jenna Prieto (4-1) had a 1.35 ERA, struck out 19 and walked just four to earn the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin's Pitcher of the Week Award.
Sophomore Kelli Loeffel hit .303 with a team-leading 14 RBI and a grand slam in a 10-0 win over Augsburg College.
Baseball: The North Central baseball team (4-4) displayed some powerful offense, scoring 57 runs in six games to finish its spring break trip to Orlando with a 4-2 record.
Ryan Kosack and Zach Ernst (Wheaton Warrenville South) both hit a pair of homers for the Cardinals
Senior hurler Steve Nowaczyk earned a pair of wins, including a 12-0 shutout, while pitchers Matt Krok and Justin Rezzuto each picked up a victory.