College achievers Gaughan, Pawelski are fast friends
Danny Pawelski said his home on Naperville's south side is "like two seconds" from where old pal Brian Gaughan lives.
Pawelski attended Neuqua Valley while Gaughan went to Benet. They're now freshmen basketball players, and roommates, at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa.
They've been friends since they went through school together at Graham Elementary and Crone Middle School. At Loras' Beckman Hall it's always old home week.
"We still have those squabbles, but we've worked through those," said Gaughan on Monday, back at the dorm after a class. "Being able to know your roommate, it's easier to talk and not have anything awkward between you."
Gaughan, whose father, Marty, was Benet's basketball coach for 19 seasons until hanging it up after the 2007-08 campaign, visited Loras first.
After Gaughan's visit Pawelski called his friend, asked some questions and visited the campus himself.
"He saw the same things," Gaughan said.
Their experience on the basketball team hasn't quite been the same. Comprising two of the four freshmen on a team led by former Fremd star Ricky Colze, through Jan. 31 Pawelski had played in 19 of the Duhawks' 20 games while Gaughan hadn't played a minute.
A 2007-08 all-East Suburban Catholic Conference selection, Gaughan is the Loras junior varsity's starting point guard. Former all-Upstate Eight pick Pawelski is the tallest player on Loras' roster, 6-foot-7 or 6-9 depending on which Web page you look.
They each enjoy family support, with dads Don Pawelski and Marty Gaughan often making the trip together. Marty has been a staple at Loras' JV games as well.
Having grown up together, there are few skeletons in their closet. A month's worth of laundry perhaps, but few skeletons.
"I'm really not surprised at anything because I've known him so long," Pawelski said. "But he's really competitive at video games."
Wildcats strike
Another pair of fast friends, literally, Neuqua Valley graduates Chris Derrick and Jimmy Riddle got off to great starts in their first indoor track meets.
Derrick, a Stanford freshman who was the 2007 Gatorade national boys cross country runner of the year, ran the fastest 5,000-meter time in the nation to date. At the University of Washington on Jan. 30, Derrick ran an automatic NCAA qualifying time of 13 minutes, 44.02 seconds. It's early, but according to Track & Field News that's some 16 seconds faster than the next fastest time.
Derrick's 5K time was the fastest ever for a Stanford freshman indoors and the third fastest in school history, exceeded only by a pair of Olympians.
Riddle took third in his first 3,000-meter race, the Carle/Health Alliance Invitational at the University of Illinois on Jan. 24. Another Illini freshman, Wheaton North's Graham Farnsworth, won the 1,000-meter run.
Meanwhile, back at Loras
Montini graduate Lindsay Bava is on the precipice of something special.
A junior guard for the Loras Duhawks women's basketball team, after scoring 14 points in a 63-61 win over Coe College on Jan. 31 she was 58 points shy of 1,000 for her college career.
She had five more regular-season games to reach the mark, which should be no problem given she averages 18.7 points a game. We'll suggest Valentine's Day in Dubuque as the day of her 1,000th point.
Bava entered her Wednesday game as the second-leading scorer in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. She was in the top 10 in five other statistical categories, and was the shooting guard on the D3Hoops.com Team of the Week for Jan. 12-18 after matching her career high of 30 points.
By the hundreds
Kelly Krumwiede, captain of the 2005 Daily Herald DuPage County All-Area girls basketball team her senior season at Glenbard West, has racked up big numbers for the Bradley Braves.
The 6-foot senior forward, who was one of 30 national candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for women's basketball, is Bradley's active career leader in scoring and rebounding.
Entering Thursday's game at Southern Illinois, Krumwiede needed 17 rebounds to become only the 10th player in school history with 700 points and 600 rebounds. She's 10th in Bradley career rebounding.
This season Krumwiede has helped Bradley to a 5-4 record through the first round of conference play. Having appeared in 108 games, she has a chance to tie Bradley's record for games played at 119.
Can't keep those Tokarskis down
There have already been a couple Tokarski boys go through Downers Grove North, and Joe Tokarski played both ways on the football field last fall.
Trojans graduate Kevin Tokarski, a sophomore baseball player at Illinois State, has been named to the 2009 preseason watch list for the Brooks Wallace Player of the Year, presented to college baseball's best player.
As a freshman Kevin Tokarski played shortstop and hit .303 with 32 stolen bases, 46 runs and 61 hits while leading the Redbirds with 144 defensive assists. Those numbers earned him freshman All-America honors.
Honors and awards
Courtney Jungnickel, a sophomore outside hitter at Augustana from Naperville Central, was named co-most valuable player for the Vikings' volleyball team. Augustana junior Ellen Adams, out of Glenbard West, was Augie's MVP in women's cross country; Downers North graduate Hannah Schneider was one of three named Most Improved.
In other Augie news, Wheaton Warrenville South product Anna Carey was named defensive MVP for women's soccer.
Millikin senior soccer player Bruce Janek, from West Chicago, received one of the college's Jack Swartz Awards. A goalie, Janek earned his fourth letter while carrying at least a 3.50 grade-point average.
doberhelman@dailyherald.com