St. Viator’s golf success story continues
In recent years, the St. Viator boys golf program has become a launching pad for Division I golfers.
Coach Jack Halpin is currently following the progress of six of his former golfers who are now playing on the big-time college circuit.
Ÿ Senior Taylor Krug of Monmouth University tied for 19th at the St. Mary’s Invitational with a 154.
Ÿ Senior Phil Makowski of Northern Ohio University tied for T16 at the OAC Invite.
Ÿ Sophomore Matt Vitale of Butler University has had two top 5’s and three top 10’s this year.
Ÿ Freshman Joe Carlson of Villanova has a tie for 23rd with a 148 (+6) at the Navy Fall Classic.
Ÿ Freshman Brad Klune of Boston College recorded a tie for seventh in the Northeast D-1 Championships with a 149 (+7).
Freshman Danny Stringfellow of Auburn University posted a tie for fifth at the Bluegrass Invite with a 217 (+7).
“Our program is an overnight success that took 13 years,” Halpin said. “This is a reflection of how dedicated our players are, competing in 25 or more tournament rounds each summer.”
Last year, there were 23 players on the Lions’ varsity with 11 averaging under 79.
“These boys have been playing in the Illinois Junior Golf Association (IJGA) Tournaments for all four years they’ve been in our program,” Halpin said. “Tournament golf is the real difference between good and elite golfers.”
Baseball
Matt Burke (Palatine) had a big series for the North Central College against rival Wheaton College. Burke collected 4 hits, drove in 4 runs, scored 6 runs and hit .444 for the three-game set as the Cardinals took two of three from the Thunder.
Ÿ Nick Skala (St. Viator) was named the baseball position player of the week for the Northern Athletics Conference.
The Concordia University Chicago junior catcher hit .500 in four games and proved especially dangerous with men on base, driving in 16 runs.
Skala clubbed 3 homers, two of them as part of an eight-RBI effort in a 15-4 rout of Wheaton College. He also helped the Cougars to a key 9-3 win over NAC rival Dominican University with a 3-run homer and 2-run double in his first two at-bats.
Ÿ Eastern Illinois’s Troy Barton (Libertyville) completed the month of April with seven mound appearances in which he posted an ERA of 2.34. Highlights included a win over the University of Illinois and a strong performance against the Big 12’s University of Missouri when he struck out five consecutive Tiger batters.
Barton leads all Eastern Illinois University starting pitchers with 4.45 ERA, and is one of the leading pitchers in the conference in strikeouts per game. He has 35 for the season.
Men’s track and field
North Central recorded seven national qualifying marks, highlighted by the 4x400-meter relay squad’s school record-setting performance at the 102nd Annual Drake Relays.
Michael Spain (Schaumburg) finished seventh in the 5,000-meter run in an automatic qualifying effort of 14:15.79. Spain’s time is currently the fastest time in NCAA Division III this season.
North Central tallied 205.2 points at the 17-team invite with the University of Chicago coming in second with 107.2 points.
Dionte Hackler (Schaumburg) sprinted to the win in the 200-meter dash, clocking a 22.42 before collaborating with Tony Kennedy, Marlen Hamilton (Hoffman Estaets) and Patrick Foley to win the 4x400-meter relay in 3:21.92.
Ÿ Augustana junior Mike Tisza (Hersey) was third in the 1500 run of the Drake Relays with a time of 4:04.72 while junior teammate Billy Wisser (Hersey) finished third in the 3000 steeplechase with a time of 9:55.69.
Soccer
Former all-state Buffalo Grove soccer player Scott Wallner has won a starting position with the Quad City Eagles of the National Premier Soccer League.
Wallner was a four-year starter and two-time CCIW all-conference selection for Augustana College.
The Eagles compete in the Midwest division of the semi-pro league against teams from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois including a team from the Chicago Fire soccer club.
All-American Bowl
The 2012 U.S. Army All-American Bowl will take place on Saturday, Jan. 7.
Now in its second decade, the game will be played in San Antonio’s Alamodome and broadcast nationally, live on NBC. To-date, some of the nation’s top-ranked players have committed to joining the U.S. Army All-American class of 2012.
“For more than a decade, the U.S. Army All-American Bowl has provided a national platform for elite athletes and musicians to showcase their talents,” said Col. Derik Crotts, Director of Strategic Communications, Marketing and Outreach, U.S. Army Accessions Command.
“We are proud to celebrate the athletes, musicians and Army Strong Soldiers who have participated in the Bowl, and look forward to welcoming and watching a new group at the 2012 game.”
The 2011 U.S. Army All-American Bowl drew a crowd of nearly 38,000 to the Alamodome, and was the most-watched sporting event on television over the weekend, excluding the NFL playoffs. Fremd’s Brian Bobek played in that game.
Ÿ Please e-mail Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com or FAX to (847) 427-1173.