N. Stars, Saints both announce new coaches
The St. Charles North girls volleyball team will have a familiar face on the bench this year.
Lindsey Hawkins, who played at St. Charles North before a four-year career at Augustana, is the new North Stars coach. The past two years Hawkins has coached at Vernon Hills.
Other new coaches at St. Charles North include Colleen Brennan for girls basketball, Todd Weimer for boys volleyball and Amber Millard for cheerleading.
Brennan is a graduate of Illinois State and the Citadel Graduate College. She has spent the past six seasons coaching at Porter-Guad in South Carolina. Brennan recently accepted a teaching position in the St. Charles North special education department.
Weimer has been coaching girls and boys volleyball the past seven years. He is currently the head girls volleyball coach at Kaneland. He's been a member of the USA Men's Deaf Volleyball Team since 2005.
Millard, like Hawkins, is a St. Charles North graduate. She attended Northern Illinois and spent the last two years as Glenbard East's head cheerleading coach.
At St. Charles East, the Saints have named Paul Jennison as the new girls soccer coach. Jennison also coaches the Saints boys soccer team and is taking over for Pat Feulner, who left for Metea Valley. Dave Haskins, who had been the baseball coach at Prairie Ridge, will head the Saints program.
Girls track
St. Charles East graduate Lizzy Hynes won the 3,000 at the USA Track and Field Junior Outdoor Championships on Sunday in Eugene, Ore., with a time of 9:51. Hynes will attend Boston College.
Golf
Successful outings: Two recent golf outings raised a significant amount of money for great causes.
The first KB golf outing, held June 20, raised $18,000 for Kevin Bryant's scholarship fund. The 15th annual outing to raise money for The First Tee of Aurora/Fox River Valley, held Monday at Orchard Valley in Aurora also was a success. The Fox Valley Park Foundation donated $25,000.
Baseball
All-staters: Several area players earned a spot on the Class 3A/4A all-state baseball team by the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association, including Batavia's Jordan Coffey and Tim Drish, and Ryan Richardson and Zach Hirsch from St. Charles North and Brady Renner from West Aurora.
Aurora Christian's Matt Morse earned a spot on the Class 2A team.
Cougars Peanut-free promotion: The Kane County Cougars will play without peanuts, and are asking all fans attending the July 8 game to do the same. The organization's 3rd annual Peanut-Free Night, to benefit families and children with peanut allergies, will take place on Wednesday, July 8 at the 6:30 p.m. contest between the Cougars and Burlington Bees.
No peanuts or any peanut-related product made with nut ingredients will be available throughout Elfstrom Stadium that evening. All concession stands, as well as the stadium seating bowl and stadium grounds, will be cleared to make the evening as safe as possible for fans. Additionally, players from both the Cougars and Bees will refrain from using foods containing peanuts or peanut ingredients.
Ever since becoming the first baseball team in Chicagoland to offer a Peanut-Free Night in 2007, the Cougars organization has received positive support from numerous food allergy support groups, as well as doctors and hospitals throughout the area. Through the Cougars' Peanut-Free Night next month, these groups can safely enjoy a baseball game and help create awareness for a condition that affects approximately 1 out of 17 children under 3 years of age.
Tickets for the Peanut-Free Night can be ordered by calling the Cougars at (630) 232-8811 or visiting kccougars.com. Basketball
Night of Hoops: The matchups are set for next year's Night of Hoops at Batavia: St. Charles North will play Jacobs, Simeon takes on West Aurora and Batavia ends the night playing St. Joseph.
Football
AU ranked 20th: The Aurora University Spartan football program received national recognition entering the 2009 football season by earning a national ranking in the annual Lindy's preseason publication which is currently out on newsstands
The defending Northern Athletics Conference champions and NCAA Division III qualifiers were ranked No. 20. Head coach Rich Duncan's squad opens the season Saturday, Sept. 5 when they host Lake Forest College on Vago Field at 1 p.m.
AU finished the season with a 9-2 overall and 7-0 record in the Northern Athletics Conference.
Cubs' Ramirez will play in Geneva: Cubs All-Star third baseman Aramis Ramirez is scheduled to start a minor-league rehab assignment in Geneva beginning this Friday, during the Kane County Cougars' 6 p.m. game against the Peoria Chiefs, a Cubs affiliate. Ramirez, the 2008 Hank Aaron award recipient as the top offensive player in the National League, has spent time on the disabled list due to a shoulder injury. Ramirez is expected to be in the starting lineup at Elfstrom Stadium against the Cougars Friday evening.
This Friday's game will include a pregame autograph session with Cougars players, as well as an extended-length patriotic fireworks show following the game. The Zooperstars will also be present to perform their popular in-game entertainment, and Chicago's very own, the Jesse White Tumblers, will take the field immediately following the game.
Fans can either stop by or contact the Cougars' box office at (630) 232-8811 to order tickets for Friday's game. Fans can also visit www.kccougars.com to order tickets.