Mantilla excels on and off the court at Yale

Ten Yale student-athletes were recently honored for Academic All-Ivy recognition in winter sports.

The lone underclassman among Yale's honorees is junior Raffi Mantilla (Mundelein) from the Bulldogs' men's basketball team.

Mantilla, a political science major, appeared in 27 games for coach James Jones, including two starts.

He is a two-time recipient of an African-American Cultural Center Accolades Award.

Mantilla earned fourth team all-state recognition as a senior at Mundelein High School after averaging 17 points and 11 rebounds.

He was a two-time all-conference and all-area selections and played for the Illinois Rising Stars AAU team, which won state championships in 2005 and 2006.

Raffi is the grandson of former Major League Baseball player Felix Mantilla, who was an all-star with the Boston Red Sox and won a World Series title with the Milwaukee Braves in 1957.

Raffi's older sister Julie is a 2007 Yale graduate and earned two letters for the women's basketball team. She was a standout at Hersey High School.

Rhodes nominee

Boston College football player Anthony Castonzo (Lake Zurich) has been sidelined from spring drills with a broken right foot.

But the Eagles' 6-foot-7-inch, 295-pound left tackle recently got some good news with the potential of extending his academic career as a Rhodes scholar.

Boston College officials have nominated Castonzo for the prestigious award, which now will require a formal application, an interview in the fall, and finally a decision on whether he is named to the honor, which would send him to Oxford - rather than possibly the NFL - for two years.

Castonzo has produced a 3.5 grade-point average.

Susan G Komen for Cure

All levels of today's high school softball game today between Lake Forest and host Stevenson will play to raise money for breast cancer awareness.

All family and staff members with breast cancer or survivors will be recognized and a check will be presented to the Susan G Komen for the Cure foundation.

The contact for the event is Stevenson varsity coach Larry Friedrichs at (847) 415-4803 or (847) 772-6105.

Hall of Fame honors

Mount Prospect resident Jim Chengary spent one season as a member of the Philadelphia Spha, a team that played against the Harlem Globetrotters in 1959.

A few years before that, Chengary put on a Globe-trotter like performance when he was in high school.

Playing on a sprained ankle and seeing action for three quarters, Chengary set a single-game school record for Chicago Bowen High School when he scored 57 points against Westcott Vocational.

He was an all-city (1953-54) and all-state (1954) guard, averaging 29 points during his senior season.

The Chicago Public League Basketball Coaches Association will remember Chengary's achievements on May 8 when he is inducted into its Hall of Fame.

The event will be held at the Hawthorne Racecourse Turf Room at 11 a.m.

Other players joining Chengary in the Hall of Fame will be Al Davis (Crane, 1968), Frank Chico (Tilden, 1951), Jerome Freeman (Crane, 1968), Bill Haarlow (Bowen, 1932), Micky Johnson (Lindblom, 1970), Bryant Notree (Simeon, 1994), Mickey Rottner (Tuley, 1936), Ike Rudd (Harlan, 1968), Imari Sawyer (King, 2000), Ahmad Shareef (King, 1990) and Charlie Smith (Robeson, 1982)

Chengary played varsity basketball at the University of Illinois Champaign from 1954 to 1958 under coach Harry Combs.

He then spent a year playing against the Harlem Globe Trotters, touring the United States, Canada and Mexico. It was Meadowlark Lemmon's first year with the Globetrotters.

Chengary recalls the most bizarre happening took place in Quarez, Mecixo.

"There were some 10,000 people wanting to see the Globetrotters in action, and they saw everything in the first half on the dirt grounds of a bull ring," he said. "The only problem was that in the second half, with being outdoors, the rain came down big-time."

"Management wasn't about to send 10,000 people home so we played the second half in the mud. Obviously, the ball never touched the ground and at the end, there was some pretty dirty basketball players, and quite wet."

Chengary, a Mount Prospect resident since 1973, is a parishioner at St. Emily's Church in Mount Prospect where his wife is the secretary. Chengary has been an usher at St. Emily for 24 years and is a reader at the Saturday 5 p.m. mass.

Women's softball

Miami University softball player Lindsay Randall (Barrington) is one of the 2010 winners of the fourth annual Spirit of Miami Award, presented annually to both a female and male senior student-athlete for their exceptional enthusiastic commitments to their teams.

"I am so excited that Lindsay is receiving this Spirit of Miami Award," said softball head coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly "Her teammates know that she had all the qualities of a humble leader and tireless worker, but for the department as a whole to honor her efforts, it shows that people with great character and tremendous heart do not go unnoticed. I am incredibly proud of the way Lindsay represents herself and our entire program on a daily basis."

Kovach-Schoenly said Randall personifies the ideal teammate.

"Whether the team is in need of a defensive replacement or a pinch runner, she has a great understanding of her role and when called upon, she always delivers," the coach added "Her work ethic is second to none - right from the start of her career, she excelled through the rigorous fall tryout program with exceptional enthusiasm and perseverance.

"Additionally, her work ethic is contagious - on the practice field she elevates her teammates' performances to the next level by raising the bar."

Randall was nominated as a captain in both her junior and senior seasons.

"Lindsay demonstrates and epitomizes leadership to the younger players on the team," Kovach-Schoenly said. "Her efforts extend well beyond the diamond, she serves the Oxford community with great humility and plays an integral role in the teams recruiting efforts."

• Shortstop and three-year starter Katy Gannon (St. Viator) is leading St. Mary (Winona) in stolen bases and she is hitting .302 with a .460 slugging percentage through 20 games. She leads the team in home runs and assists.

• Fontbonne (St. Louis) senior shortstop Sandy Bremer (St. Viator) leads the team in assists and is third in putouts.

Bremer has a .930 fielding percentage and is hitting .267 with a .405 on-base percentage.

Men's track and field

Aurora thrower senior Adrian Kibiersza (Maine West) was named Northern Athletics Conference Student-Athlete of the Week for the second consecutive week.

Kibiersza followed up his NAC honor from last week by winning the discus (46.36 meters) and was the top Division III finisher (third overall) in the shot put (15.73 meters) at the Chicagoland Outdoor Championships.