Palatine adds to Hall of Fame; Podulka enjoys big day

Commitment, sacrifice and dedication will be on display Friday night at Palatine High School.

The past and present will come together at Chic Anderson Stadium for the annual celebration of homecoming, football game with Fremd and introduction of the newest members of the Palatine Athletic Hall of Fame.

Four individuals who brought pride and distinction to the school and community will become the 10th Hall of Fame class.

• Marianne Nance-Kozak is in the top 10 in 25 different volleyball categories at Palatine, and she helped lead her three Pirate teams to a 128-17 record and second- and fourth-place finishes in the state. The all-stater was a key contributor on a team that won a state-record 49 matches in her senior year, and she then captured a silver medal at the Illinois Prairie State Games in 1985. After earning a scholarship to North Carolina, Marianne's career was cut short by a chronic back injury.

• Greg Plank enjoyed an impressive swimming career and also ran cross country and was all-state in water polo. He still holds the school record in the 200 free and 100 backstroke and was conference champ five times, sectional champ seven times and a 14-time state finalist.

Plank won 3 individual state titles and was all-state 14 times and All-American eight times.

Palatine's Athlete of the Year in 1996 attended Arizona State University and was Pac-10 all-conference and an NCAA national qualifier. He also was a three-time qualifier and finalist at the Olympic Trials.

• Jim Sobb, who graduated in 1973, won two letters in both football and golf and was a Division II All-American in 1976-77 at Western Illinois University. The Illinois PGA Professional of the Year in 1995 and 2001 was a finalist for National PGA Professional of the Year in 2001. The head pro at The Ivanhoe Club since 1989 was the 2007 Illinois PGA Senior Champion and Illinois Senior Player of the Year.

Sobb has won over 40 Illinois PGA events and has played in three PGA Championships and five Western Opens.

• Alison Wimer-Pinchot is one of the most accomplished swimmers in school history. She holds the school record for the 100-yard freestyle and school and national records for the 50 free. She had 6 individual conference titles, 8 sectional and 5 state championships.

Also an explosive relay swimmer, Alison helped lead Palatine to two second-place state trophies. She was named Illinois Swimmer of the Year in 1996 and Palatine's Athlete of the Year in 1997.

As a collegiate swimmer at Southern Methodist University, she was a Division I national qualifier and finalist and three-time Olympic Trials qualifier and finalist.

Football

In a battle of former Elk Grove High School quarterbacks, Tim Podulka of Augustana College came out on top Saturday against Chris Kudyba and Elmhurst College.

However, both quarterbacks had productive days in Augustana's 42-6 win. Podulka rushed 16 times for 60 yards and a touchdown and completed 15-of-18 passes for 194 yards and a score. Kudyba completed 25-of-44 passes for 259 yards but was sacked 8 times, and he scored Elmhurst's only touchdown.

Podulka was named the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin offensive player of the week.

• Linebacker Tony Baratti (Prospect) had 6 solo tackles, 5 assists and a sack to lead Beloit College in its 27-21 win over Lake Forest.

• Joe Breisch (Leyden) of St. Norbert College was named defensive player of the week in the Midwest Conference. He had 2 quarterback sacks and recorded a safety against Lake Forest.

• Jon Janus (Lake Zurich), starting strong safety at Elmhurst College, recorded 7 tackles and a sack against the University of Chicago and 13 tackles against Augustana.

• College of DuPage wide receiver Jimmy Williams (Wauconda) caught a touchdown pass and forced a fumble with a special teams tackle in the victory over Erie Community College in Buffalo, N.Y. and came back with another TD reception against No. 6 Iowa Central College.

Tennis

Playing at No. 3 singles, Illinois Wesleyan's Kristen Piotrowski (Fremd) went undefeated against Elmhurst and Wheaton and was named player of the week in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.

Volleyball

Freshman setter Drewann Pancratz (Schaumburg) of Carthage College is averaging 6.90 assists per game, and sophomore setter Kate Flanagan (Wheeling) has a 4.61 per-game mark.

• Libero Amy Reynolds (Schaumburg) of McHenry County College was named to the College of DuPage Invitational all-tournament team.

Soccer

Jackie Peterson (Schaumburg) of Carthage College scored 2 goals and added an assist in a 3-2 win over North Park. She now has 9 goals.

Baggio Husidic (Libertyville) of Illinois Chicago scored 2 goals in a 5-0 win over Cleveland State. He was named to the Soccer America Team of the Week and now has 7 goals and 4 assists in 9 matches.

• Goalkeeper Andy Connor (Carmel) of Carthage College was named player of the week in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. He recorded shutouts over North Central and Illinois Wesleyan.

Wrestling

The Cardinals Youth Wrestling Club will begin its 29th season with an information and signup meeting at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 16 in the cafeteria of Prospect High School. There will be a question-and-answer session, a meet and greet with the coaching staff and videos of past seasons.

All children K-8 and parents are welcome.

The Cardinals' roster consists of wrestlers from Arlington Heights, Mount Prospect, Elk Grove, Schaumburg, Des Plaines, Prospect Heights, Palatine, Rolling Meadows and Buffalo Grove.

For information, contact Jim Ortman at (847) 632-0449 or go to cardinalswrestling.com.

Baseball

Northern Illinois' 1972 baseball team will be inducted into the school's Athletics Hall of Fame on Oct. 17 as part of the Huskies' homecoming weekend. The team achieved the program's first Division I NCAA tourney bid in any sport.

Area products who were a part of the 1972 team were shortstop Bruce Frase (Hersey), pitcher Gary Wagner (Maine East), third baseman Tom Wittum (Round Lake) and student manager Mike Baar (Maine West).

Softball

Heather McGuire (Conant) of Illinois State University was named National Club Softball Association Player of the Week. She batted .625 in a weekend series against Wisconsin with a double, 2 triples and 6 RBI. She is hitting .421 for the fall season.

Fencing

Representing the Illinois Fencers Club of Mount Prospect, Devin Zayas took second in Mixed Saber, Theresa Stoodley tied for third in Women's Saber and Adam Barbanell was sixth in Mixed Foil in The Burton Open at the Henry Crown Sports Center in Evanston.

Golf

Tyler Wollberg (Mundelein) of Carthage College, who has a team-leading 72.3 average, closed out the fall season by taking medalist honors for the third time in four events. He shot a 73 at the Buffalo Wild Wings Fall Classic in Kansasville, Wis.

Basketball

The Vernon Hills Junior Cougars have announced tryouts for the 2008-09 basketball season. They will field teams at the 5th- , 6th- , 7th- and 8th-grade levels.

Tryouts will be held in the main gym at Vernon Hills High School and cost $15 (includes a tryout T-shirt). Players are expected to attend both tryouts.

Tryout dates are Sunday, Oct. 26 (2:30 p.m. for registration, tryouts 3-5 p.m.) and Wednesday, Oct. 29 (6:30 p.m. registration, tryouts 7-9 p.m.).

League rules require players to live in an area eligible to attend Vernon Hills or Libertyville high schools.

The season runs until spring break, and teams will play between 25-35 games.

For information, contact Marc Eppner at (847) 382-1281 or go to www.vhcyaa.org or www.eteamz.com/vhcougarsbball.

Notebook items should be sent to prepsports@dailyherald.com. Please, no phone calls.