Pasek earns All-American status
Dundee-Crown alum Roger Pasek's star beamed brightly on the national stage recently.
Pasek, a sophomore on the University of Illinois men's gymnastics team, earned All-American honors after taking sixth on the floor exercise at the recent NCAA men's gymnastics championships held at the University of Minnesota.
Pasek finished with a score of 15.425 on floor to net the all-American award. Pasek also scored a 15.600 on rings and a 14.550 on pommel horse during the NCAA individual championships.
Earlier, Pasek helped Illinois finish fifth in the country during the NCAA team portion of the competition. Pasek scored a 15.450 on floor and a 15.600 on vault.
Pasek also played a role in Illinois winning its conference-record 24th Big Ten Conference championship.
Pasek finished 14th on the vault with a score of 15.350.
As a freshman, Pasek went 15.950 on the vault at the Big Ten team championships to earn a spot in the event finals where he finished sixth (15.200).
Bault at UW-Whitewater: Erin Bault, a 2007 graduate of Elgin High School, is a member of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's bowling team. Bault, a sophomore, is in her second season with the varsity squad.
Bault is among the final 16 collegiate women's bowlers who will compete for the USBC Intercollegiate Individual National Championship May 17-19 in Texas. Bault will turn 20 on the start date of the competition (May 18).
Bault qualified for nationals with a 209 average. At one point, she was ranked 44th in the nation (before sectional qualifying last month).
Bault led Whitewater in all statistical categories this season.
On a side note, Bault's brother, Jason, is attempting to qualify for his PBA Tour card this year. He will bowl in PBA regionals around the country this summer. Jason Bault has an average in the neighborhood of 217. Both Erin and Jason Bault have been bowling since the age of 3.
Court at Illinois State: Dundee-Crown product Ryan Court was recently named the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference player of the week. Court, a redshirt sophomore third baseman, drove in 7 runs and helped Illinois State University sweep Northern Iowa in a league doubleheader to earn the honor.
Court provided the deciding runs in the second game of the doubleheader with a 2-run homer that helped ISU finish the sweep at Riverfront Stadium.
During the week of his honor, Court hit .421 (8-for-19), which included 3 doubles and had a total of 4 extra-base hits in 5 games. He led the team in hits (8), RBI (8) and tied for the team lead in runs scored (6) and on-base percentage (. 455) during the span. The effort boosted Court's batting average to .324 at the time and tied him for the team lead in home runs (3).
Fehlman at Evansville: St. Edward alum Lissa Fehlman, now a senior on the University of Evansville softball team, has been named as one of 30 national candidates for the prestigious Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, which is presented annually to the NCAA Division I student-athlete of the year in 8 different sports. The award, launched in 2001, focuses on the "Four C's" of classroom, character, community and competition. The award honors the attributes of college seniors who remain committed to their university and pursue the many rewards that a senior season and complete education brings.
Fehlman is an interdisciplinary studies major who earned Missouri Valley Conference player of the week and scholar-athlete of the week honors earlier this season.
During the first weekend of the 2009 season, Fehlman went 5-for-7 with 3 doubles, a grand slam and 5 RBI.
Through Wednesday, Fehlman had 31 hits on the season (5 home runs) and 26 RBI and had a .403 slugging percentage and a .958 fielding percentage. Evansville was 13-32 overall and 3-17 in MVC play through Wednesday.
Pelkas update: Elgin Academy graduate Bryan Pelka, now a member of the Carthage College men's swimming team, was recently awarded an NCAA postgraduate scholarship. Pelka was one of only 58 scholarship recipients and will receive a $7,500 award. Pelka is the first Carthage swimmer since 1978 to earn the postgraduate scholarship. Pelka will graduate May 24 from Carthage Summa Cum Laude with a degree in biology and a chemistry minor with full college honors.
The scholarships are award to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and are in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition.
In other Pelka family news, Bryan Pelka and his sister, Michelle, a sophomore on the Carthage women's swimming team, were both named to the winter College Conference of Illinois Wisconsin Jack Swartz all-academic team.
Bryan Pelka finished third in the 1,600 freestyle at the CCIW championship. He has a 395 grade-point average and was named to the spring 2007 CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine District 5 all-academic second team. He is a repeat league all-academic pick and has been named to the Carthage dean's list 4 times and is a 5-time member of the Carthage athletic director's honor roll.
Michelle Pelka won 3 events for CCIW champion Carthage. She took first in the 200 butterfly (school record), the 200 IM (CCIW and Carthage school record) and the 400 IM (CCIW and Carthage school record). She was also fourth in the 400 IM and eighth in the 200 butterfly at the 2009 NCAA Division III championships and earned All-American honors. Michelle Pelka is a biology major with a 3.60 grade-point average and is a 2-time member of the dean's list at the school and a 2-semester member of the athletic director's honor roll.
Sahagian at Lewis: Bartlett graduate Billy Sahagian was recently named to the all- Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association first team. Sahagian was named to the first team for the first time in his career. He was an all-MIVA second-team pick in 2007 and 2008. The 4-year captain is among the conference leaders in blocks, hitting percentage and kills.
"Billy and Nick (Perakes; fellow all-MIVA first-team pick) have both been a tremendous backbone in the overall drive of the team the past 4 years," said Lewis coach Dan Friend. "I can't think of two better guys to be honored within the conference."
Lewis will played in the MIVA tournament semifinals at Ohio State against Ball State Thursday.
Johnson to Judson: Larkin girls soccer player Kelly Johnson will continue her career next season at Judson University.
Summaria to Dominican: Dundee-Crown softball player Melissa Summaria will continue her career at Dominican University in River Forest, Ill. Summaria plans on majoring in art with a specialization in apparel design and merchandising. Summaria received a partial academic scholarship. Summaria will also play basketball at Dominican. She was a Daily Herald All-Area honorable mention selection this past season.
Mize to Cardinal Stritch: Crystal Lake South senior Caitlin Mize, a 3-time all-Fox Valley Conference and Daily Herald All-Area selection, has committed to play at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee.
Mastro to Robert Morris: Andrea Mastro, a senior at South Elgin, has accepted a golf scholarship to Robert Morris College. Mastro was a 4-year member of the South Elgin varsity girls golf team and a 3-year member of the South Elgin basketball team.
Goebbert at Northwestern: Hampshire product Jake Goebbert, a 2008 all-Big Ten Conference second-team selection, is now a junior on the Northwestern University baseball team. Through Wednesday, Goebbert was hitting .280 in 107 at-bats (30 hits). Goebbert had 24 runs scored, 10 doubles, 4 homers and 23 RBI to go with a .486 slugging percentage. He had drawn 18 walks and was hit by a pitch 6 times to give him a. 403 on-base percentage. Goebbert also had a .944 fielding percentage. Northwestern was 12-26 overall and 3-10 in Big Ten play to start the week.
Off at College wants your help: Send information and/or statistics on Fox Valley area athletes playing collegiately to Mike Miazga at mmiazga@dailyherald.com.