Naperville Central's No. 29 will be the first

Naperville Central baseball pitching coach Phil Lawler will become the first Redhawks baseball player or coach to have his number retired.

The ceremony takes place before Saturday's DuPage Valley Conference baseball game against Wheaton North, first pitch 10 a.m.

In addition to Redhawks head coach Bill Seiple overseeing creation of a banner featuring Lawler's No. 29 to be hung on a flagpole near the diamond, athletic director Marty Bee said one of Lawler's jerseys will be framed for display in school.

Currently residing in the trophy case are uniforms from basketball superstar Candace Parker, Florida State soccer player Casey Short, University of Georgia swimmer Kelly McNichols and four-time state tennis champion Elizabeth Lumpkin.

On Jan. 31 Lawler received the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association's President's Award for contributions to the sport. A 35-year educator and the director of education and training for PE4life, he was named to USA Today's 2003 All-American Teaching Team.

Of course Lawler has also contributed mightily to Seiple's 600-plus career victories and the Redhawks' 2006 state baseball championship.

Good partnership

Marisa Mele, a graduated Neuqua Valley and Elmhurst College track and cross country runner, was the first female finisher and 12th overall at the Heritage Corridor 25K, April 11 in Channahon.

Mele, whose mother, Cindi, was also among the 150 runners who finished, did the distance in 1 hour, 47 minutes, 28.6 seconds, nearly 13 minutes than the next-fastest woman.

Marisa Mele is sponsored by Traction Sports Flooring and is being coached by award-winning Neuqua Valley cross country coach Paul Vandersteen.

A look at the Heritage board also reveals a fifth-place finish by Lisle Senior High math teacher and assistant football and basketball coach Ron Jaegle. The 30-something ran the course in 1:42.29.6.

Speaking of which...

Former Gatorade national cross country runner of the year Chris Derrick, a freshman at Stanford, set a new 5,000-meter national junior record of 13:29.98 Saturday at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational.

Pushed by fellow freshman phenom German Fernandez from Oklahoma State, Derrick ran the fifth-fastest NCAA 5,000 this season and the sixth-fastest time in Stanford history. Four of the five ahead of him are former Olympians.

The right stuff

We've written about him before, but we like the story of former Lark Park athlete Matt Kouba. The North Central College graduate is a natural body builder, meaning he eschews such illegal supplements as steroids.

"Would it be easier if I took drugs?" he asks rhetorically. "Yeah, it probably would be."

Kouba, 23, was runner-up in his 210-pound division in his most recent competition, Musclemania America in Las Vegas.

"I was my leanest I've ever been and about the same body weight as in the past," said Kouba, a former Lancers running back who trims to 3 percent body fat in his competition months of October-November and March-April.

He's also the strongest he's ever been, hitting the weights hard during his competition off-season, "where you really make your gains."

The 6-foot-1 Kouba - brother of 2001 Lake Park grad Anthony and Lake Park junior Mike - benches around 405 pounds, squats 500 and can hack squat at 720.

Matt follows a detailed workout schedule up to 90 minutes daily, five days a week. His weight-machine training on low cable rows and leg curls starts with "the whole stack."

The natural bodybuilder must rely on massive doses of protein; Kouba eats about eight meals a day. He does take small amounts of creatine and amino acids following workouts. Much of his diet consists of eggs, steak, peanut butter, chicken, oatmeal, whey protein and a daily half-bag of green beans. He weighs and cooks everything himself. He's so disciplined he brings his doggy bag to a restaurant.

"I do that all year-round in order to be ready for those couple shows I do," he said.

Kouba has a couple physique modeling photo shoots lined up in addition to competitions in Rockford and back in Las Vegas in November for Musclemania. He wants to bulk up his exercise science degree with certification by the National Academy of Sports Medicine. Eventually, he hopes to become a strength and conditioning coach for a college or professional sports team.

He's got the right message.

"If you just take drugs and don't have the diet or training right on point, you're not going to get the best result," he said.

doberhelman@dailyherald.com