Air Time returns for vaulters; Turner bows out in style
Pole vaulters are fearless.
You have to be when you turn yourself upside down on a bending pole up to 20 feet in the air.
Some people call the vault the coolest event in track and field and believe that once it hooks you at a young age you're a big fan forever.
In a way, that's the thinking behind Air Time 2008, the annual gathering of pole vaulters at Maine South High School.
They arrive every June and July in Park Ridge, men and women, boys and girls.
All ages are welcome as you get the chance to refine your technique for next season, go for that new personal best or just see if you can still clear even 10 feet.
The ability to do some pole vaulting on your own comes June 5, 12, 19 and 26 and July 3, 10 and 17.
For $5 per session ($4 with current USATF membership), you can vault from 5-8 p.m. on each date into three pits.
Bring your own poles because borrowing poles includes responsibility for damages.
For more information, call (847) 392-7046 or e-mail to Jlonergan@Maine207.org.
Track and field
Suzy Turner (Palatine) of Illinois State ended her career on a high note at the Missouri Valley Conference meet in Carbondale. She was second in the 10,000-meter run in 35:42.80, and her time was under the meet record of 35:44.89. She came back two days later to place third in the 5,000-meter run at 17:28.40.
Also for ISU, freshman Michelle Brunk (Palatine) placed second in the 800-meter run at 2:11.25. Junior Brianna Officer (Palatine) was seventh in the 400-meter dash at 56.58 after running 55.61 in the prelims.
Freshman Becky Anderson (Prospect) of Illinois State cleared 5-5 in the high jump to take fourth in the Missouri Valley meet.
• At the Big Ten Championships, Amy Laskowske (Palatine), redshirt freshman at Minnesota, placed seventh in the 10,000-meter run with 34:57.21. She provisionally qualified for the NCAA meet.
• Katlin Millin (Palatine) ran a split of 2:11.3 to lead Marquette to first at the Big East Championships in the 3,200 relay. The time of 8:49.96 set a school record.
Baseball
J.D. Rotzoll (Prospect) of Concordia University Chicago was named player of the year in the Northern Athletics Conference. He set a school record and led the conference with a .450 batting average (81-810), and he led the NAC in eight other offensive categories -- hits (81), runs (57), RBI (53), doubles (25), homers (11), total bases (145), on-base percentage (.528) and slugging percentage (.806).
Pitcher Carl Petersen (Maine West) also earned first-team All-NAC honors. He had a 7-2 mark with 3.03 ERA for 74½ innings. His career mark was 21-7.
Pitcher Ryan Hantel (Prospect) finished his Concordia career with 4 school records -- wins in a season (8), career wins (23), career innings pitched (269¿) and career strikeouts (239).
• Ben Prather (Conant) of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater earned All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors.
• Aurora University junior catcher Ray Kosmicki (Schaumburg) was named to the ESPN The Magazine District V Academic All-District Team. The Health Science major hit .432.
• Brad Joniec (Schaumburg) of Loras College made a team-high 15 appearances, 11 in relief, and pitched 41¿ innings that ranked third on the Duhawks. He graduated last weekend with a degree in Sports Management.
• Pitcher Ryan Copeland (Elk Grove) of Illinois State earned honorable mention on the All-Missouri Valley Conference selections.
• Mike Gagliano (Rolling Meadows) of Illinois State Club Baseball tossed a 7-inning complete game shutout (2-0) against No. 8 Illinois. Earlier, he was named Great Lakes South Conference Pitcher of the Week and national pitcher of the week.
Softball
Stephanie Mata (Wheeling) is the new softball hitting instructor at Play Ball USA in Des Plaines. A four-year letter winner and MVP at Southeast Missouri State, Mata also was MVP and all-area at Wheeling High School.
• Nicole Pauly (Palatine) of Northwestern was named as the second baseman on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Mideast Region Team.
• Kat Krause (Hersey) closed her career at Loyola University as the all-time leader in home runs (32) and RBI (93). She was a two-time ESPN The Magazine First Team Academic All-District V selection.
• Stacy Gillette (Fremd) topped the Saint Louis pitching staff in appearances and strikeouts
• Kiley Lythberg (Prospect) of Central College in Iowa was the team leader in pitching victories (10), strikeouts and innings pitched.
• Molly Meyer (Elk Grove) finished as Dayton University's top hitter with a .329 mark.
• Ashley Sloan (Elk Grove) of Yale earned honorable mention All-Ivy League after hitting a team-leading .377.
Football
Libertyville High School products came through spring practice with impressive performances.
Dave Moosman was awarded the "Dan Dierdorf Award" at Michigan for being voted the best lineman during spring football by new head coach Rich Rodriguez. Moosman is currently the starting center.
Quarterback Cam Turner completed 14-of-17 passes for 224 yards and 2 touchdowns during the spring game at The Citadel.
Ryan Kennedy completed spring football at Miami of Ohio as the starting outside linebacker.
Soccer
Keri Hess (Schaumburg) was named female athlete of the year at Augustana College. Hess starred as a goalie and was a four-year academic all-conference selection.
• Shawna Becker (Wheeling), goalkeeper at Cornell College for four years, has been nominated for Sportswoman of the Year and Senior Female Athlete.
• The Chicago Storm Soccer Camp will be held from July 7-11 at High Point Park, 1704 Glen Lake Road, Hoffman Estates.
The camp is available for beginners (ages 4-6) and for ages 7-17.
Storm players and head coach Steve Morris will conduct the camp. Each camper receives a soccer ball, official camp T-shirt, certificate of participation and a ticket to a Chicago Storm match.
There will be an awards ceremony following Friday's camp day.
Register online at ChicagoStorm.net and click on either the "In the Spotlight" link on the right side of the front page, or the "Camps" link on the left side.
For more information, call (866) STORM-81.
Tennis
Paul Oehrlein (Maine West) of Illinois Wesleyan was named second team all-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.