Air Time returns; Wildcats' football products enjoy spring

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.

Football

Libertyville High School products came through spring practice with impressive performances. The former Wildcats made some strong statements.

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.

Libertyville has other graduates still involved in football at the college level.

Nick Nikolich was named to the all-conference team at defensive end while playing for Illinois Wesleyan, and Matt Partain is a kicker at Holy Cross.

Jeff Fontana is playing safety and special teams at Northern Illinois, and Mike Norcia is the starting linebacker at Wofford University in South Carolina. Kevin Burns is playing corner at Dayton, and Chris Key is a linebacker for St. Cloud State Univrsity.

John Kuceyeski is a student manager for coach Joe Paterno at Penn State.

Chris Davis was hired by Butler University as a graduate assistant to coach the defensive line.

Baseball

Junior pitcher Adam Worthington (Warren) of the University of Illinois Chicago was strong in the bullpen over six appearances, allowing only 1 run while striking out 9 in 10 innings. He has the Horizon League lead in games finished.

Worthington was named Horizon League Relief Pitcher of the Year and a second team all-conference choice.

• 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.

Pitcher Carl Petersen (Maine West) also earned first-team All-NAC honors. He had a 7-2 mark with 3.03 ERA for 74 1/3 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).

• 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

Sophomore pitcher Anna Snyder (Grayslake) of Aurora University was named to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Regional All-Tournament Team.

• 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. Call (847) 375-0840 for more information.

• Stacy Gillette (Fremd) topped the Saint Louis pitching staff in appearances and strikeouts

• 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.

Lacrosse

Alec Rahe (Libertyville) was named to the Sunshine State All-Conference Team while playing at St. Leo (Fla.) College.

Track and field

James Beatty (Antioch) of Augustana College received the school's Knut Erickson Award for the highest cumulative grade point average. He has a 3.98 GPA.

• Keli Coleman (Carmel) of Augustana College turned in NCAA qualifying times in the 100 (12:08), 200 (25.24) and 400 relay (48.44) in the Augustana Twilight Invitational.

• 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.

Soccer

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.

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.