Paczosa jumps right back on the court at Cornell
Just a few weeks ago, Kristin Paczosa completed one of the most successful volleyball careers in Cornell College history, ending up No. 2 all time with 1,339 kills.
So the former Buffalo Grove standout deserves a relaxing winter, right?
That's hardly the case.
Paczosa has switched to the basketball court and is already making her impact in that sport.
The senior forward averaged 9.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 4.0 steals in back-to-back victories over Knox (58-51) and Heidelberg (69-56).
The Rams (3-3 overall, 0-0 Iowa Intercolleigiate Athletic Conference) held their two opponents last week to a combined 32.7 percent shooting, including 6 of 33 (18.2 percent) from 3-point range.
Paczosa notched her first double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds to go along with 4 steals while Charlotte Milas (Rolling Meadows) chipped in 8 points.
Paczosa had a solid all-around game with 7 points, 12 rebounds and 4 steals.
"The team works hard in practice and because of this I can see improvement each day in practice and in the games," said Cornell coach Brent Brase. "Our two seniors, Char (Milas) and Kristin (Paczosa), do a great job of setting the tone in practice and the rest of the team follows very favorably."
Paczosa has become the fourth Ram in school history to reach 500 points and 500 rebounds in a career. She currently has 536 points and 512 rebounds. Paczosa ranks fourth on Cornell's career list for rebounds.
The only other Rams to accomplish the feat are Lisa Fry (1,189 points, 700 rebounds), Tiffany Cowan (1,122 points, 694 rebounds) and Joyce Weeg (935 points, 927 rebounds).
Paczosa leads the IIAC in rebounding (7.7 rpg) and ranks fourth in free throw percentage (87.5) and seventh in steals (2.5 spg).
• Wisconsin-Parkside defeated visiting Saginaw Valley 79-60 in the DeSimone Gymnasium as the Rangers improved their record to 4-1.
Parkside's Brittany Hogen (Hersey) was 7-of-11 from the floor and tallied 15 points to go with her game-high 8 rebounds.
• Kylie Castans (Schaumburg) and Nikki Preston (Wheeling) are the No. 2 and 3 leading scorers (average-wise) for Illinois Wesleyan. After six games in which the Titans won all of them, Castans is averaging 11.2 points along with 4.5 rebounds. She has started every game and averages 19.8 minutes on the floor.
Preston has played in three games, coming off the bench in each. She has scored 30 points with 7 rebounds, 7 steals and 6 assists.
Men's basketball
Geoff McCammon (Conant) led Loyola (5-2) with 18 points in a 69-64 victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
McCammon also collected 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steals while hitting 4 of 6 3-point attempts.
Sean Dwyer (Hersey) has come off the bench in six games for Illinois Wesleyan to collect 15 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for the 5-1 Titans. He averages 19.2 minutes per game.
Teammate Kevin Reed (Prospect) has played in three games with 10 points and 7 rebounds.
Football
• Indiana junior quarterback Teddy Schell (Barrington) was one 93 Academic All-Big Ten selections for the fall term. Indiana boasted the second-most honorees in the conference with just two fewer than Ohio State.
Athletes must be letter winners in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better to be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection. A total of 704 fall sports athletes were recognized by the Big Ten across the seven fall sports.
"To have this many Academic All-Big Ten honorees speaks volumes about the quality of our student-athletes, coaches and academic support staff," IU Vice President and Director of Athletics Fred Glass said.
Women's cross country
Elaine Simpson (Saint Viator), a member of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, earned All-American honors as she finished 14th (out of 280) in the race on Nov. 21.
Her team advanced to the NCAA Division III national championships for the fourth straight year.
Simpson finished in a time of 22:30.5 on the 6K course. This was the highest finish by a women's runner for Case Western Reserve in the school history.
Simpson led the Spartans at the Great Lakes regional with a fourth-place finish (out of 231) with a time of 22:05.68, which earned her All-Region honors.
In conference competition, Simpson placed second with a time of 23:12.65 in the University Athletic Association Championships.
Men's soccer
Alex McKenzie (Antioch) closed out a successful soccer career at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., serving an integral part of a team that was runner-up in the NCAA Division III championship in San Antonio, Texas.
Calvin defeated Dominican University 1-0 in the semifinals and lost to Messiah 2-0 in the finals.
Dominican had a number of local area players on its squad including Edwin Luganas (Carmel), Leo Elizalde (Wheeling), Stan Micic (Prospect), and Andy Lynch (Lake Zurich).
McKenzie, a senior midfielder was the leading scorer for Calvin College and in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association with 9 goals and 6 assists.
Camps
Looking for something for your daughter to do during winter break?
The Schaumburg High School girls basketball program is offering a three-day youth basketball camp for any girl from first to eight grade.
Campers will participate in structured mini-clinics highlighting skill development in ballhandling, defense, and offensive moves, along with individual contests and organized full court games. Contests such as crazy hair, basketball trivia, and money shoot make for a fun and entertaining atmosphere. Each girls will receive a T-shirt and pizza on the last day.
The camp will be directed by Ashley Berggren, the varsity girls basketball coach at Schaumburg. Instruction will be provided by the Schaumburg High School girls basketball teams.
The dates are Dec. 21, 22 and 23 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Schaumburg High School. Cost is $80.
All proceeds benefit the Schaumburg High School girls basketball program.
Please contact coach Berggren at 970-819-1511 or aberggren@d211.org to register.
• Please e-mail items to jleusch@dailyherald.com