Benet boys lacrosse nets B-level state championship
Benet Academy, in its second year of varsity lacrosse competition, captured the B-level state championship, beating St. Ignatius 14-7 on June 1 at Toyota Park in Bridgeview.
After No. 1 seed Benet defeated Marian Catholic, Lake Zurich and Mundelein by a combined score of 35-6 to reach the finals, championship MVP Kyle Honn scored 9 goals against St. Ignatius.
Bobby Calzaretta and Jason Krogulski -- who led the Redwings with 58 goals this season -- scored 2 apiece. Starting goaltender, sophomore Vince Flaska, made 9 saves to help Benet rally from a 7-6 deficit entering the fourth and final quarter.
With his 9 goals Honn was obviously in a giving mood on his 18th birthday. Later that day, Honn and his senior teammates attended Benet graduation.
The Redwings finished with a record of 19-2, a perfect 19-0 versus B-level opponents.
Their championship promotes Benet to the A level in 2009. There, coach Tim Hurst's club will have to vie with the likes of New Trier, which beat Loyola for the upper-level state title.
Benet ended the season ranked No. 8 among Illinois prep teams.
Drafty in here: Downers Grove South graduate Kevin Dubler, a junior catcher at Illinois State, headed local prospects selected in Major League Baseball's 2008 First-Year Player Draft, June 5-6.
Dubler, a Johnny Bench Award semifinalist, hit .358 with 9 home runs and 56 runs batted-in this season, and threw out 27.8 percent of runners attempting to steal. He was chosen by the White Sox in the eighth round with pick No. 240.
St. Francis graduate Ray Kruml, a senior center fielder at the University of South Alabama, was selected by the Yankees in the 11th round with the 350th pick. Kruml stole 31 bases in 36 attempts while batting .350 and scoring 68 runs in 57 games.
Also chosen were: St. Louis University pitcher Dave Sever (Benet) by the Dodgers in the 21st round; West Chicago senior shortstop Barrett Serrato by the Marlins in the 48th round; Bradley pitcher Rob Scahill (Willowbrook) by the Yankees in the 48th round; and Wheaton North senior pitcher-first baseman Travis Otto by the White Sox in the 49th round.
Dive in: St. Francis High School in Wheaton is seeking applicants for head varsity boys and girls swimming coach.
Those interested are encouraged to call Spartans athletic director Paul Linden at (630) 668-5800, ext. 112.
Watt's up: Glenbard West incoming senior offensive lineman Chris Watt, ranked by Rivals.com as Illinois' No. 1 football recruit, and Glenbard North quarterback Evan Watkins, a Northwestern recruit, are among the 472 nationwide nominees for the 2009 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
Nominated Illinoisans also include Marian Central quarterback Jon Budmayr, Morgan Park defensive end Craig Drummond, Stevenson offensive lineman Ben Sampson, Hubbard linebacker Darius Moffett, Leo linemen Lendell Buckner and Leon Hill, and East St. Louis' receiver duo of Kraig Appleton and Terry Hawthorne.
Ninety players will be selected to play in the All-American Bowl, Jan. 3, 2009, in San Antonio.
Urban achievement: Wheaton North graduate Monica Urban, a junior outfielder at Illinois Wesleyan University, was elected to a spot on the first-team District V softball team.
In addition to leading the 30-11 Titans with a school-record .480 batting average, the first-team all-Great Lakes region selection carries a 3.90 grade-point average as an accounting major, a member of the Illinois Wesleyan Accounting Society.
Also a third-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American, through three seasons Urban has hit .428, the best at IWU for players over 200 at-bats.
Banner season: Wheaton College men's tennis player Josh Williams -- at Naperville Central he teamed with Mike Tiu to finish sixth and fourth in state doubles in 2003 and 2004, respectively -- ended his senior season in style.
The two-time College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin player of the year posted a 2008 record of 15-6 in singles and 18-4 in doubles.
In May, Williams learned that the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) named him the NCAA Division III recipient of the Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship. Thus, Williams will be able to participate in "kids' day" activities at the 2008 U.S. Open in New York on Aug. 23.
On June 10, Williams was recognized as a First Team Men's ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American, for a second straight year.
He graduated from Wheaton College with a 4.00 grade-point average as a double-major in French and chemistry. Williams will attend medical school at the University of Chicago.
A 2007 ITA All-American, in four years of collegiate tennis Williams compiled a record of 58-26 in singles play, 53-27 in doubles.
Congrats: Immaculate Conception athletic director Darren Howard recently earned the title Certified Athletic Administrator by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.
In an e-mail regarding his certification, Howard wrote: "I think it is important to be a life-long learner and to strive to be as qualified as possible in your chosen field."
All-American results: At the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships, May 24 in Oshkosh, Wis., North Central College pole vaulter Mike Bina (Waubonsie Valley) placed fourth to claim all-America honors.
He was among several local DIII all-Americans, including Naperville Central 2007 graduate Matt Somers, a freshman who was part of Augustana's eighth-place 1,600 relay team.
Somers' teammate, Wheaton North graduate Steve Sulfridge, finished eighth in pole vault to earn the honor.
In the 400-meter relay in Oshkosh, Driscoll product Mike Conti helped Illinois Wesleyan earn All-American status with a fourth-place finish.
On the women's side, former Timothy Christian athlete Brandi McNeil broke her own Wheaton College javelin record with a throw of 49.48 meters, good for second place at the DIII championships.
Big-time football: A youth soccer team of girls from Lisle, Glen Ellyn, Elmhurst, Lombard, Warrenville and Wheaton is headed to the Gothia Cup, a massive tournament held in Gothenburg, Sweden, this July 13-19.
The U16 Raiders girls soccer team -- Kendra Mills, Kylen Mills, Katie Gratzianna, Cameryn Barbeau, Michelle Haynes, Emily DeLong, Mary Gill, Emily Turner, Kara Nykaza, Johanna Krause, Katleyn MacDonald, Melissa Roberts, Erin Karner, Amy Larque, Sara Olivanti and coaches Keith Mills and Kelly Warner -- will compete among more than 100 teams in the under-17 girls division.
Recognized as the world's largest youth soccer tourney, since the Gothia Cup began in 1975 more than 770,000 players from 127 countries have participated, according to the event's Web site. The 2007 opening ceremonies at Ullevi Stadium drew 51,220 spectators.
The Raiders will start their trip with warm-up games in Copenhagen, Denmark, before heading to Gothenburg for the tournament.
On the fast track: Mike Popejoy, a 2004 graduate of Wheaton Warrenville South and a two-time all-stater in track and cross country, capped his four-year career at Notre Dame University with a spot on ESPN The Magazine's Academic All-District V Team.
This was one of several honors for Popejoy, reached in South Bend on Monday.
"It's been kind of nice that these things pop up and you see someone's recognizing what you're doing," he said.
"In college it's a lot easier to get lost in the crowd, there's so many people doing great work in so many areas," said Popejoy, whose younger brother, Jon, a fellow philosophy major at the University of Illinois, has had to hang up his spikes due to recurrent injuries.
Mike Popejoy, who earned a 3.85 grade-point average at Notre Dame, was certainly among those doing great work.
"He graduated from Notre Dame Magna Cum Laude with a double-honors major in theology and philosophy," stated his father, Ken, in an e-mail.
"At graduation," Ken Popejoy continued, "he was awarded the top philosophy student award, a grant to pursue religious/philosophy studies in a doctorate environment and a German fellowship to study overseas."
Mike Popejoy was awarded a Fulbright fellowship, a grant he will use in Germany for the 2008-09 academic year to do research on the German philosopher, Friedrich Schleiermacher.
Cited by Wikipedia as "The Father of Modern Protestant Theology," Schleiermacher's 1799 book, "On Religion: Speeches to Its Cultured Despisers" was the subject of Popejoy's thesis to cap his undergraduate philosophy major.
Popejoy, who will pursue doctoral studies in philosophy with an eye toward teaching and research in the future, ran cross country and track four years at Notre Dame and helped the Fighting Irish to Big East championships, either indoors or outdoors, in each of his four years.
He moved up to No. 4 runner on Notre Dame's cross country team last fall from No. 7. In individual distance events he recorded personal records of 30 minutes, 39 seconds in the 10-kilometer run, and 14:39 in the 5K.
Popejoy will continue to run in open events, mainly ones where cash prizes await.
Right now, he's grateful the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board invested in him.
"It's a great opportunity," he said. "I'm just thankful to be in this position."