Cygan, Duffy reunited on Chicago softball team
When freshman Kim Cygan from Barrington High School joined her University of Chicago teammates this spring, there was a familiar face.
It was another former all-area Fillie.
University of Chicago senior Kathleen Duffy also starred in coach Perry Peterson's softball program at Barrington. She pitched for the Fillies' Class AA state runner-up team in 2005 and state quarterfinalist in 2006.
Duffy underwent surgery for a torn rotator cuff and bicep tendon last June.
That procedure prevented her from pitching this season but she is still one of the team's top hitters. batting .404 with a team-high 14 RBI, 19 hits, 5 doubles and 3 triples through 14 games.
Cygan, the 2009 Daily Herald all-area honorary captain, credits Duffy with making her transition from high school softball to college a smooth one.
"She really made it easier for me to adjust to things," said Cygan, who is off to a 2-0 start with a 1.17 ERA. "Kathleen knew what it was like when she was new to the team as a freshman and she helped me a lot with that."
Duffy said when she got to Chicago, she didn't know any of her new teammates.
"I wanted to make sure Kim had every chance to make a smooth transition and would feel comfortable on the field right away," said Duffy, a history and international studies major who would love to work for a major league baseball team.
Duffy had a grand slam, 3-run homer and 8 RBI last week in a doubleheader with Wisconsin-Whitewater. She has 22 RBI in the team's first 18 games.
Cygan, who pitched for Barrington in East Peoria as a junior, belted the first home run of her college career last week.
Men's track and field
Illinois won three event titles at Georgia Tech's Yellow Jacket Outdoor Invitational and senior Mike Murray (Prospect) won the 5,000 meters. His winning time of 14 minutes, 55.93 seconds was a personal record.
Women's golf
Northern Illinois' Michelle Caporusso (Prospect) shot her lowest score of the 2010 season with a three-over par 75 in the final round of the Texas State Intercollegiate tournament in Victoria, Texas.
Caporusso will be playing in the Chicago area on April 11 and 12 when her team participates in the Loyola Invitational in Evanston.
Girls volleyball
Wheeling girls volleyball coach Jason Kopkowski will direct a clinic for fifth-to-eighth grade girls in the Wheeling High School gymnasium on Saturday, April 10 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The cost is $5 with a registration form that can be filled out before the clinic begins. All volleyball skills will be covered by the Wheeling coaching staff and players.
Women's track and field
Drake freshman Kelly Hendricks (St. Viator), a native of Prospect Heights, won the women's 100-meter dash in 12.91 seconds at the Central College Invitational.
Hendricks, who also played point guard for the St. Viator girls basketball team, is coached at Drake by Natasha Brown, a two-time Olympian and a 4 X 400 meter U.S. silver medalist at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.
• Backed by 10 first-place finishes during the final day of competition, Air Force dominated the field to win the 2010 Military Track and Field Championships in Lexington, Va.
Air Force claimed a one-two finish in the pole vault as freshman Bizzy Mellado (Fremd) finished second with a height of 11-53/4, the eighth-best clearance in program history.
• St. Ambrose sophomore Mandy Streu (Rolling Meadows) won the shot put with a toss of 44 feet 11.5 inches and the discus with a toss of 122 feet, 4 inches at the Knox College Invite.
Women's cross country
Running for the nations largest cross country team, Amy Laskowske (Palatine) earned recent honors as one of three Minnesota women's student-athletes named All-Academic by the U.S. Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association. To date, Laskowske has collected five Big Ten Championship rings and has been named to the All-Academic Big Ten Conference teams for each season.
Following her performance at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, she was named an All-American in the 10,000-meter run by the USTFCCCA. She placed 10th in the 10,000 meters with a time of 34:24.11 in her first NCAA race. In February, Amy ran in the Big Ten Conference Indoor Track and Field meet held at Penn State. She placed 4th in the 3,000 meter run with a time of 9:31 and 5th in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 16:30.
During spring break, the team opened its outdoor track season competing at Costal Carolina where Amy placed 1st in the 5,000 meter race with a time of 16:42.
Laskowske will graduate with a degree in Global Studies and was recently accepted into graduate school at Minnesota's Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.
Pro softball
The Chicago Bandits will be hosting a 3-day camp in early July.
The camp, scheduled for July 5, 6 and 7, will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will feature instruction from several Chicago Bandits players and coaches throughout the 3-day experience. The camp will cost $150 and will include four hours of instruction on each of the three days, two Chicago Bandits T-shirts, one Bandits poster and one ticket to the July 8 Chicago Bandits game against the Akron Racers.
Camp participants will also be announced and recognized during the July 8 game.
Registration is now open. Download the registration form from www.chicagobandits.com or call the Bandits office at 877-7BANDIT to register by phone.
For more information on the 3-day Camp, call or email Hannah Michal at 877-722-6348 or hmichal@chicagobandits.com.
Youth swimming
The Senior State Meet held March 6-8 at the University of Illinois-Chicago showcased two Des Plaines River Racer swimmers.
Joe Lakner, 17 from Prospect High School, and Robert Ramoska, 14 from Park Ridge/Marmion Academy, swam their events and represented the River Racers well.
Lakner (Prospect) has excelled at the backstroke events. He made an appearance at the IHSA State Meet a few weeks prior in the 100-yard backstroke.
Additionally he qualified in the 200-yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly.
Lakner took 19th place in his 100-yard backstroke with a final time of 54.78. His 100-yard fly went 55.40, and his 200-backstroke went 2:02.85.
Ramoska, a distance swimmer taking after his father, Robert Ramoska Sr, managed to post another lifetime best swim in the 1650-yard freestyle, also known as the mile with a final time of 16:54.00.
The River Racers made several milestones in this year's Illinois swimming age group state championship meet.
The team sent a record four athletes to the meet.
It is also a first for the River Racers to send a 10-and-under athlete as Kristen Burger, 10, of Des Plaines, represented the River Racers swimming her 50-yard butterfly in 34.70 in the prelims.
"She was very proud of herself," head coach Mike Tuntland said. "Her goal this year was to make state so she said to me on deck, 'Well, I made my goal.' I told her, 'Yes you did, enjoy the swim.' And she did."
Additionally, Theresa Godlewski, 12, from Prospect Heights and the Romaska brothers, Robert 14, and John 12 from Park Ridge, also represented the River Racers.
John Ramoska continued the distance family tradition by qualifying to swim the 500-yard freestyle. He posted 5:48.64, a new personal best by about 20 seconds.
Robert Ramoska, able to make a double appearance in the State Series Meet because he is 14, was able to grace the pool one final time as an age-group swimmer.
Though battling a bit of a cold, coach Tuntland said it did not stop him from competing seriously.
"Despite his body being tired and illness challenging him, he pulled through and swam probably one of the most fiercest races I've ever seen," said Tuntland referring to his 1650-yard freestyle swim, a lifetime best of 16:39.88.
This landed him a second-place medal.
"Going into this meet, there was one swimmer we knew he couldn't touch, but then there was one he knew he could beat," Rob Ramoska said. "So he got in the pool, knew the race he had to swim to get it, and he got it. It was a perfectly-executed race."
Robert Ramoska also put the River Racers on the pedestal two more times throughout the weekend qualifying for the top eight in finals in the 100-free with a time of 49.36 and the 200-free with a final time of 1:49.15.
Godlewski had her plate full with six events to swim. She had qualified for the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 50-back, 100 back, 50-fly and 100 fly.
"She managed to swim each day and continued to do really well," Tuntland said.
The icing on the cake came when she learned her 50-yard backstroke in prelims had qualified her for the consolation round in finals and a chance to swim in the evening.
"This is truly an honor because that's what it's all about," Tuntland said, "Swimming in the finals with the big guns, the music, the excitement."
Godlewski even managed to hold her own and finish just shy of her prelims time of 29.96 with a finals time of 30.17.
"It was a long weekend," Tuntland said. "It was her last race, she swam hard the entire weekend. We couldn't be more proud to see her in the water in the finals."
Bowling
Hey parents of high school bowlers, want to learn more about the college bowling experience?
How about bowling scholarships?
Then you will want to attend a College Information Day to be held on April 10 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Elgin Lanes, 401 Shepard Drive in Elgin.
The program is being conducted by Kyle Bault, head coach at St. Edward High School and will feature coaches from McKendree University, Clarke College, Robert Morris and others.
They will discuss the opportunities for both men and women and some top collegiate bowlers will speak.
Reservations are suggested but not required. For more information about this event, you may contact Bault at kylebault@yahoo.com or phone 847-695-3777.
• Elgin Lanes will host a summer youth bowling program for youth ages from three to 20 years old.
The program will run every Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. for ten weeks from June 12 through Aug. 21, excluding July 3.
Every Saturday, bowlers will receive free games of bowling, shoes, hot dog and soda.
The cost for the program for Pee Wees, ages three to five is $50 (2 games) and $60 (3 games) for youth from ages five to 20.
They will also receive the same number of games free each day that Elgin Lanes is open during this ten week period. For more information, phone 847-695-3777. Registration forms are available at Elgin Lanes, 401 Shepard Drive, Elgin, 60123. Registration can be done online at www.elginlanes.com
• Send items to John Leusch at jleusch@dailyherald.com.