Lake Zurich grad Castonzo set for Senior Bowl
If you tune into the NFL Network this week, you may see a former Lake Zurich Bears player.
Boston College offensive left tackle Anthony Castonzo will participate in the 2011 Under Armour Senior Bowl, which will be played Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala. Kickoff is at 3 p.m.
The 62nd game and all the practices will be televised by the NFL Network.
Castonzo was a first team All-ACC selection this season while also earning All-American honors from Walter Camp and The Associated Press.
Castonzo, who started every game since arriving on campus in 2007, set a Boston College record with his 54th start in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.
The annual Senior Bowl is college football’s premier pre-draft event that features the nation’s best senior collegiate football stars and top NFL draft prospects on teams coached by NFL coaching staffs.
Senior Bowl practices and game week festivities are attended by more than 800 general managers, head coaches, assistant coaches, scouts and other front office personnel from all 32 National Football League teams, making Mobile and the Senior Bowl the week-long host to a one-of-a-kind NFL coaches convention.
For more information about the 2011 Under Armour Senior Bowl, please visit the bowl’s website at www.seniorbowl.com.
Football
The “2011 Division III Football.com” has announced its Team of the 2000s Portraits of Greatness.
Mount Union’s Derek Blanchard (Lake Zurich) was named to the first team All Decade team (2000-’09).
Blanchard played left guard for the Mount Union Purple Raiders from 2004 to ’07, where he set the school and NCAA record for starting and playing in 58 consecutive games.
Among Blanchard’s many athletic accomplishments is being selected as an American Football Coaches Association’s Division III first-team All-American (2007).
He was a D3 Football.com first-team All-American in 2006 and ’07.
He played on Division III national champions in 2005 and ’06 and four Ohio Athletic Conference Championship teams (2004-’07) with a career college team record of 55-3.
Blanchard’s many academic awards from 2004-’07 include “ESPN the Magazine” Academic All-American first-team in 2006 and ’07 and NCAA postgraduate scholarship finalist in 2007.
Since graduating in 2008, Blanchard coached at Mount Union, which won the national championship that season.
He was a graduate assistance in 2009 at Ball State before returning to the Chicago area in 2010 to be an assistant varsity football coach at Stevenson.
Last fall, Stevenson was the North Suburban Conference champion and advanced to the state quarterfinals.
Lacrosse
Gina Filippo, a standout athlete at Libertyville, announced that she will enroll at Augustana College this fall and join coach Sara Tisdale’s fledgling lacrosse program in the spring of 2012.
The 5-foot-3 Filippo is a letter-winning attacker for coach Dana Brady’s Libertyville Wildcats, who are 26-12-1 the last two seasons, including 10-3 in the North Suburban Conference.
Filippo was also a volleyball letter winner at Libertyville. She had 29 digs and 4 service aces this year as a defensive specialist for coach Greg Loika’s North Suburban Conference Lake Division champion that was 35-3 overall.
Filippo joins a Vikings lacrosse program that will be embarking on its first season of intercollegiate competition in 2012.
Chosen as Augustana’s first head coach, Tisdale joins the Vikings after serving as head coach of the club program at Michigan State University the last two years. She played collegiately at Central Michigan University, graduating in 2006.
Women’s basketball
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay sophomore forward Lydia Bauer (Lake Zurich) and her Phoenix teammates and coaches stopped at New Life Lutheran Church in Lake Zurich for lunch Monday.
Green Bay visits Butler today.
Bauer, a 6-foot forward, has played in 16 games for the nationally ranked Phoenix (17-1), averaging 15 minutes, 5.6 points and 1.8 rebounds.
She played in 31 of 33 games as a freshman in 2009-2010. Bauer ranks No. 2 in career rebounds (729) at Lake Zurich. Her younger sister, Audrey Bauer (Lake Zurich) is a 6-foot freshman forward at Navy (11-7).
Audrey has seen action in all 18 games, with averages of 20 minutes, 5.6 points and 3.5 boards.
Wrestling
The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference named the University of Dubuque’s Josh Terrell (Round Lake) as its wrestling performer of the week.
Terrell, a senior 165-pounder, was named the outstanding wrestler at the Cornell Matman Invitational after winning the 165-pound title.
He opened the tournament with a 17-2 technical fall over Cornell’s Dan Gratz and a 20-7 major decision over Wartburg’s Brennan Drew, then topped No. 10-ranked Landon Williams of Wartburg, 9-2, in the semifinals.
In the final, he upset No. 2-ranked Orlando Ponce of Augsburg, 3-1 in overtime, to improve his overall record to 23-2 and his mark against Division III competition to 16-1.
Reminder
Libertyville High School will host “Senior Citizen Night” today when the Wildcats host Lake Zurich in boys basketball.
The sophomore game will begin at 5:30 p.m. followed by the varsity game at 7 p.m.
This will be an opportunity for senior citizens (65 and over) to watch a high school boys basketball game for free. Scott Schwerman with the Junior Wildcats has contacted local retirement homes in the area (Spring Meadow and Winchester) to help promote this event for their residents. Also, Libertyville boys basketball players and students are encouraged to invite their neighbors and/or grandparents to the game. There will be special seating and wheelchair space available at the game.
Libertyville athletic director Briant Kelly has made arrangements to make a special presentation to Bob Tunnicliff during the event.
Tunnicliff is the first Libertyville High School athletic director and a personal friend of Kelly’s.
Tunnicliff lives at Spring Meadows in Libertyville, another facility from which the “Senior Night” staff is trying to attract residents for tonight’s game.
Schwerman said there are quite a few past Libertyville teachers and administrators living at Spring Meadows.
He has also received confirmation that former boys basketball coach Max Sanders will attend the event.
Junior Wildcats players will greet the seniors at the front door and act as “waiters” for them during the game.
Kelly is offering a discounted price on all concessions for the seniors.
Domel gets hired
Cory Domel (Carmel) is the new pitching coach for the Windy City ThunderBolts.
The ThunderBolts are a member of the 12-team Frontier League, the oldest professional independent baseball league in the nation.
Domel spent the past three seasons with the Midwest Sliders and Oakland County Cruisers franchise.
Last year, he guided the Cruisers to sixth in the league in ERA with a 3.87 ERA, and third in opponents’ batting average at .238. Domel looks to bring his experience at a variety of levels to the ThunderBolts next season.
A 2001 graduate of Western Illinois University, Domel played for the Leathernecks in 2000 and ’01.
Before heading to Western Illinois, he set numerous pitching records for College of Lake County in Grayslake.
After spending his time in college, he headed back to the College of Lake County to become the team’s pitching coach. In 2005, he was promoted to head coach and led the Lancers to a 30-20 record and a sectional title.
In 2006, Domel was the pitching coach at the University of Maine in Orono. He was a part of the Division I team that won an American East Conference tournament championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
After his two seasons in Maine, he headed to Flagler College, a Division II school in Augustine, Fla. Domel spent three seasons as the pitching coach with Flagler College and had one pitcher selected in the 16th round of the MLB amateur draft.
Domel has eight years of coaching experience and was successful at every stop.
ThunderBolts manager Mike Kashirsky is excited about the new addition to his staff.
“I am very excited for the hiring of Cory,” Kashirsky said. “He is a hard worker and has a tremendous work ethic. He will be an outstanding hire for the Bolts.”
Domel looks to improve the ThunderBolts’ pitching staff that was fourth in the Frontier League in ERA with a 3.63. The Bolts will attempt to repeat as East Division champions in 2011. They open the 2011 season May 19th.
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