To the victors - Kachmer, Purdom - go the spoils
Good times continue to roll for St. Francis' Mark Kachmer and Immaculate Conception's Matt Purdom, all-state selections from football state champions.
They are two of six statewide recipients of 2009 National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete awards. They'll be honored Monday at Halas Hall among a team picture of football notables.
"I think it's awesome, people so close getting it," Kachmer said of the honor, which includes college scholarship money provided by the NFF and Bears Care. "With people throughout the entire state, that me and him are getting it is cool."
Kachmer, who ran for 1,988 yards and 32 touchdowns, owns a 4.2 grade-point average on a 4-point scale. He's headed to Brown to play football.
"Mark is a very deserving young man who excels in everything he does," said Spartans coach Greg Purnell, who will introduce Kachmer at the event.
"He was a better leader than he was a football player, and to me whether it's in the classroom or on the football field or just in the everyday walk of life, I think that's what really helped make a difference for us this year, is his leadership."
Purdom knew former Immaculate Conception coach Bill Schmidt was going to nominate him. Still, Purdom said, "It was like a blindside" when he found he'd been selected.
Purdom, who'll play at Drake, mainly delivered blindsides as tackle for a team that ran for 2,550 more yards than its opponents.
Purdom, who will be introduced by new IC coach Mike Alberts, follows Brad Paus and Jonathon Ellis as Knights who have earned NFF honors.
"When I was an underclassman I really looked up to those guys," Purdom said. "Especially Brad when he was a senior, I really looked up to his leadership on the football field and outside of it, too. I was really impressed with it and to be put in the same category as those guys was a real honor."
The heads of Kachmer and Purdom will likely be on a swivel Monday, with a bevy of football stalwarts will be on display at Bears headquarters.
Emceed by Wheaton resident and Bears broadcaster Jeff Joniak with a keynote address by Bears CEO and President Ted Phillips, those to be honored include Pat Fitzgerald, Jerry Kill and Joe Tiller.
The sold-out crowd will include long-ago Notre Dame Heisman Trophy Award-winner John Lattner, former York star and John Mackey Award-winner Tim Stratton, Tom Zbikowski and former Bears Jimbo Covert, Brian Baschnagel, Gary Fencik, Bobby Douglass and Dan Jiggetts, among others.
And, as Purdom noted, "It's at Halas Hall, which is kind of sweet."
As predicted
We recently reported Loras College basketball player Lindsay Bava, a junior out of Montini, was headed toward the 1,000-point mark. We'd selected Valentine's Day for her to hit the mark.
On a reported backdoor layup in the second half of Saturday's 88-79 win over Buena Vista, Bava joined Loras' 1,000th point. Her career-high 32 points has her as the eighth member, reported the Telegraph Herald out of Dubuque, Iowa.
Those darn Trofimuks!
At a Feb. 7 indoor track meet at Illinois Wesleyan in Bloomington, Millikin sophomore Peter Trofimuk, out of Wheaton North, placed third in the weight throw at 48 feet, 10 inches. That was Millikin's second-best distance in history.
One good Trofimuk deserves another. Peter's twin brother, Pat - a thrower at Illinois State but competing that day unattached - delivered the comeuppance with a heave of 51-5, good for second place.
doberhelman@dailyherald.com