Revolta, Lemke honored for success in coaching careers

It's never easy reaching the summit in any career, but once you're there, you know it's been worth every challenging moment on the climb.

Debbie Revolta of Barrington High School and John Lemke of Rolling Meadows will enjoy the view from the top on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009, when they are inducted into the Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

That's the summit every coach hopes to reach in his or her sport, but only a few succeed.

Fifty coaches were nominated, and seven were selected for the latest class.

Revolta has been a coach of cross country and track since 1986. At Barrington, she has coached both girls cross country and track teams to state championships and also to runner-up trophies. Her 3,200-meter relay has won state four times, and two individuals have ruled at 1,600 meters.

Lemke has served as pole vault and jumps coach at Rolling Meadows for almost 30 years, and he has been a leading promoter of the vault in Illinois. Fifteen of his athletes have earned state medals.

Lemke hosts the annual Pole Vault Summit at Rolling Meadows and has served as coach of the Vipers Track Club.

Other new Hall of Famers are Glenn Cothern (Oak Park), Ralph Drendel (Kaneland), Mike Garcia (Springfield Lanphier/Mendel), Jose Sosa (Oak Park) and Dike Stirrett (Champaign Central/Unity).

Hockey

Jake Gannon (Conant) and Ryan Lowery (Fremd) play major roles on defense for the No. 1-ranked Colorado College hockey team. Gannon is captain. Both players started hockey with the Northwest Chargers in Rolling Meadows.

Football

Quarterback Tim Podulka (Elk Grove) rushed for 72 yards and a touchdown in 12 attempts and completed 13 of 18 passes for 190 yards and 2 scores in a 40-16 victory over Carthage College.

For Carthage, wide receiver Jeff Koeneman (Fremd) caught 14 passes for 169 yards and 1 touchdown.

• Tom Almanzo (Elk Grove) of Illinois Wesleyan caught 7 passes for 64 yards in a 35-24 win over Elmhurst College. For Elmhurst, quarterback Chris Kudyba (Elk Grove) completed 21 of 35 passes for 216 yards and a touchdown, and Jon Janus (Lake Zurich) led the defense with 10 tackles (7 solo).

• Phil Klopke (Buffalo Grove) of Concordia University Chicago and his offensive-line teammates were named athletes of the week after the Cougars piled up 531 total yards against Lakeland College in a 35-32 win. Earlier, Concordia gained 490 yards against Rockford College.

• Eric Jensen (Hersey), cornerback for the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, had 7 tackles and 2 pass breakups against Wisconsin-Eau Claire and 5 tackles and a fumble recovery against Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Tennis

Ingrid Stensvaag (Palatine) played at No. 2 singles (17-3) and No. 2 doubles (16-2) this season for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater team that repeated as conference champion, sweeping all nine flights.

Diving

Illinois State junior Katelyn Prorok (Hersey) was named Missouri Valley Conference diver of the week for the third consecutive week. She recorded a first-place finish and personal best on the 1-meter board (265.13) against Western Illinois and a second place on the 3-meter (232.95). The 1-meter score qualified her for the NCAA Zone C regionals.

Volleyball

Jenny Peterson (Hersey) and Terra White (Christian Liberty Academy) helped No. 21 Taylor University (Upland, Ind.) become the first NAIA school to reach 1,000 all-time wins when it defeated Buffton University (Ohio) 25-15, 25-18, 25-18. The school record is 1,000-406-1 since the program began in 1971.

• Kasey Kiepura (Vernon Hills) of Dominican University enjoyed a four-match streak without an error and a .625 hitting percentage. She had a team-leading 9 kills against Alverno College. Teammate Anka Niemczewska (Vernon Hills) added 8 kills.

Soccer

Scott Wallner (Buffalo Grove) of Augustana College sparked a 2-1 victory over North Central. He assisted on a goal with seven minutes remaining off a free kick, and then scored the game-winner off a header. Wallner also scored for Augustana in a game with Millikan.

• Jacqueline Peterson (Schaumburg) of Carthage College scored 2 goals in a 4-0 victory over Lake Forest and another goal against Millikan to raise her season total to 14.

Basketball

The Prospect High School Boys Feeder Basketball Program will hold tryouts for boys in the sixth through eighth grades on Saturday, Nov. 15 and Sunday, Nov. 16. The tryouts will be held at the high school. For times and additional information, visit the Web site at www.juniorknights.com.

Softball

DePaul and Loyola have scheduled winter softball camps.

DePaul head coach Eugene Lenti will direct an all-skills camp on Sunday, Nov. 23 and Saturday, Dec. 20 at the Sullivan Athletic Center on DePaul's Lincoln Park campus.

The all-skills camp will cover position-specific play, including fielding, throwing, catching, footwork, sliding, baserunning and hitting.

Assistant coach and Olympic pitcher Cat Osterman will appear on Nov. 23.

For information, call assistant coach Liz Jagielski at 773-325-7547.

Loyola coach Yvette Healy and her staff will host a pair of winter camps at Gentile Center on the Lake Shore campus. The camps will be held Nov. 16 and Dec. 14 and will cover total skills, lefty slappers and pitching. All participants must be enrolled in high school.

Cost of each camp is $75. For more information, or to register, contact the Loyola softball office at (773) 508-2580.

bfrisk@dailyherald.com