St. Viator grads to square off as softball coaches
When the St. Viator and Regina varsity softball teams meet on April 4 in Arlington Heights, they will have a common thread.
Both teams will be coached by 1977 graduates of St. Viator.
That’s because Jim Goranson has been named the new coach at Regina in Wilmette.
For the past seven seasons, Goranson’s former classmate, Dan Twarog, has headed up the Lions’ program in Arlington Heights.
Goranson, who wrestled, played football and a little baseball at St. Viator, is hardly a stranger to area softball.
His daughter Dani is an all-area pitcher for the Elk Grove varsity team. Only a junior, Dani has committed to play for Michigan State.
Over the last two seasons, Jim has not missed any of Dani’s games at Elk Grove.
That will have to change this season.
“I’ll still be able to see her travel games in the summer,” he said. “And the fact is she is going to eventually be on her own (at Michigan State) and will have to face adversity on her own, so this will be a good experience for her. Plus, her mom (Wendy) will be at the game.
Jim and Wendy have missed very few of their five children’s athletic events over the years.
Four of them — Nikki, Jimmy, Melanie and Dani — used athletics to get college educations, while Mike is an assistant wrestling coach at Elk Grove.
“I’ve been very blessed that way with my kids,” Jim said.
Goranson is also the director of the Illinois Bash softball program.
“We’ve had girls who have gone on to play D-III or junior college softball (in addition to three Division I players) who otherwise might not have gone on to college.”
When he got the opportunity to coach at Regina, Goranson grabbed it.
“I love coaching,” Goranson said. “I’ve admired the way guys like Ken Grams (Elk Grove), Perry Peterson (Barrington) and others in the Mid-Suburban League run their programs and how respected they are. I’ve had the opportunity to watch and learn from them and I thought maybe I could take my knowledge to a high school like Regina and have an impact on a high school program.”
Goranson likes seeing the success Illinois Bash players have had advancing to the college ranks.
“When you see those opportunities they’ve gotten for college and realize what impact you have on their future academics and successes in their life, it’s pretty cool.”
Goranson has already had player meetings and open gyms at Regina and is working on new equipment purchases and finalizing the rest of the Panthers’ schedule.
He is also hosting the IHSA Spring Indoor Jamboree for the second straight year. This year it will be held in Schaumburg instead of McCook.
Barrington, Elk Grove, Prospect and St. Viator are among the 15 schools participating along with Goranson’s Panthers.
Women’s gymnastics
Illinois senior Allison Buckley (Conant) was named Big Ten co-gymnast of the week with Penn State’s Sharaya Musser.
Buckley, a Schaumburg native, won the all-around crown and finished in the top two on all four events to help the No. 22 Illini tie No. 16 Ohio State.
Buckley tallied season-best scores on all four events on her way to the all-around title with a combined total of 39.375.
She tied for first place on the vault with a 9.875 and added a trio of second-place finishes on the balance beam (9.850), floor exercise (9.850) and uneven bars (9.800).
It is Buckley’s third career weekly honor, the last coming on Jan. 18, 2010 — which also was the last weekly conference accolade achieved by an Illini gymnast.
Women’s soccer
Jaime Napoleon of Prospect High School has signed a national letter of intent to play soccer at Queens University of Charlotte. Queens University is a Division II school located in Charlotte, N.C. and plays in the Conference Carolina.
Ÿ Senior Kelly Blenner (St. Viator) and her sophomore sister Jamie (St. Viator) of Carroll University have been honored as academic all-conference selections by the Midwest Conference. In order to qualify you must have earned a varsity letter and have a GPA of at least 3.2.
Women’s swimming
Millikin’s Sian Wilson (Maine West) won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.86 in a 142-30 dual-meet victory over Illinois College at McIntosh Pool.
Men’s track and field
Mitch Gilbert (Fremd) finished second in the 5,000-meter run, finishing in 15:51.46 seconds when defending national champion North Central College opened its season at Carthage College’s Tarble Center.
Ÿ Brown University senior Christian Escareno (Rolling Meadows) ran a personal- best 3,000-meter (8:24) to finish second to Geneseo High School grad Dan Chenoweth (Harvard University) at the Harvard Challenge.
Ÿ Mick Viken (Rolling Meadows), a redshirt freshman at Eastern Illinois University, jumped 17-0 at the Eastern Mega Meet, the 15th-best NCAA Division I vault this season.
Women’s track
Amanda Whowell (Rolling Meadows), a redshirt freshman at Division II powerhouse Grand Valley State University, ran a personal-best 3,000-meter (10:24).
Men’s swimming
Eau Claire freshman Ben Epperly (Schaumburg) finished third in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 17:16:70 at the Go to the Point Invite at Universty of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Women’s basketball
Oakton College freshman center Megan O’Neill (Maine West) was named player of the week for the second time this season. The honor came in the National Junior College Athletic Association Region IV Division II District D.
O’Neill tallied 33 points, 28 rebounds and 5 blocked shots in 2 wins, shooting a combined 68 percent from the floor.