Barrington's Kristof picks Western Michigan

When Jimmy Kristof came to Barrington as a freshman he wanted to make a name for himself in the football program.

Kristof did that as a senior by earning Daily Herald All-Area and all-conference honors to put his name on the program's wall of fame board.

On Monday morning, Kristof joined the long list of names of Barrington offensive linemen who earned Division I scholarships. The 6-foot-4, 290-pound offensive lineman made a verbal commitment to play at Western Michigan University.

“In eighth grade when I started playing football I never thought I'd be in this position,” said Kristof, who helped Barrington win its first seven games and make the Class 8A playoffs. “I wanted to play high school football and be with the big boys under the Friday night lights.

“When I first came to high school I looked at the board (players who received awards) and said, ‘I want my name up there and I want to be remembered,' and I went out my senior year and did it.

“And my junior year I really got the fire in me to play college football. I worked really hard because I wanted to play college football.”

Junior year was when Western Michigan first showed interest in Kristof. He attended a spring practice, went to a one-day summer camp and this weekend took his official visit to the Kalamazoo campus.

Kristof chose Western Michigan over offers from Ball State, Akron and Indiana State. He said Michigan State and Wisconsin had also showed recruiting interest.

“It's the right fit for many reasons, and you don't go just for the football,” said Kristof, who plans to study business. “You want to make sure you get your degree and make sure you get all the help you need and not get lost in the mix.

“It's a true college town and everyone there is for the Broncos.”

Kristof was impressed with the family atmosphere of the program under head coach Bill Cubit, who is 40-33 in six years at Western Michigan.

Another benefit was last week's addition of offensive line coach A.J. Ricker. He was an all-Big 12 offensive lineman at Missouri, signed a free-agent contract with the Bears in 2004 and played in NFL Europe and the Arena Football League.

“He's going to coach us up,” Kristof said. “It helps that he played the position.”

It also helped Kristof that he worked with senior Pat Bolger and junior Dan Voltz as part of Barrington's “Three Amigos” of all-area offensive linemen. Bolger has committed to Air Force and Voltz is one of the state's top college prospects in the Class of 2012.

Kristof hopes the way they pushed each other will help at Western Michigan, where he will work at guard and center.

“They're very happy with the abilities I already have and they said I could be one of the guys to step in early on and play,” Kristof said. “I know I can jump in there and kick some butt.

“Now I have to make new goals for myself. I don't know what they're going to be yet, but it will be terrific.”

Especially if he can duplicate the goals he achieved at Barrington.