Fremd, Barrington net Frisk / Paddock honors
The big three didn't disappoint. They made it very interesting once again right down to the wire.
Fremd, Barrington and Prospect high schools have made a habit of jockeying for position in the annual races for varsity girls and boys sports supremacy in the Mid-Suburban League.
The big prizes at the end of the school year are the Bob Frisk Paddock Trophy for girls and Bob Frisk Paddock Cup for boys.
Only those three schools have finished on top in either race for the past eight years. In fact, Fremd or Barrington have claimed the last 17 Paddock Trophy championships.
Although the 2010-11 title races were not quite as close as the amazing 2009-10 scrambles, the most dramatic battles in history, they didn't miss by much.
Fremd's girls won their third straight Bob Frisk Paddock Trophy by averaging 10.03 points per sport (14 is the maximum) in edging Barrington's Fillies, who finished at 9.69. Prospect was a solid third at 9.38 points per sport.
Rounding out the first division were Schaumburg (8.96), Hersey (8.85) and Palatine (8.42).
Fremd will now retire a Trophy because of its three straight championships.
Barrington's boys returned to the No. 1 spot in the Bob Frisk Paddock Cup race for the first time since 2006-07. The Broncos averaged 9.73 points per sport to hold off Prospect's 9.57 and Fremd's 9.31.
The next first-division positions in the boys competition were filled by Palatine (9.12), Schaumburg (8.54) and Buffalo Grove and Hersey in a tie for sixth at 7.54 points per varsity sport.
In June of 2009 the two Mid-Suburban League varsity awards given by Paddock Publications officially added the name of Bob Frisk, who retired from the Daily Herald in 2008 after 50 years as an enthusiastic support of high school sports.
With the cooperation of the Mid-Suburban League Board of Control, Frisk had originated both the Paddock Cup for boys (1968) and Paddock Trophy for girls (1976) for the newspaper.
Points are awarded for each school's finish in Mid-Suburban League varsity competition only, and every sport is treated the same way. There are no so-called “minor” sports. They are all considered major at the varsity level in the Trophy and Cup battles. Success in state tournaments is not a factor.
Conference champions receive 14 points, an important plus in the standings, and the runner-up earns 12. Points then are distributed down the line (11, 10, 9, etc.) according to the final MSL standings. There is a formula that determines points for varsity sports that do no have overall standings but only divisions.
Through a 1997 agreement with the MSL Board of Control, complete standings of Nos. 1 through 12 are not published. Only first-division schools are announced each year. The publication of 1-12 put so much negative emphasis on some schools that it created bad feelings within the communities involved. The awards were initiated to emphasize overall success and not advertise programs that might have problems in any particular school year.
The key to winning the awards or even being in title contention is to avoid as much “down” time as possible in the standings. Schools hope to avoid too many second-division finishes in MSL varsity competition.
In the 35-year history of the Bob Frisk Paddock Trophy for girls, six Mid-Suburban League schools have claimed top prize — Fremd, Barrington, Schaumburg, Hersey, Palatine and Arlington.
Nine schools have won the Bob Frisk Paddock Cup for boys since it was initiated in 1967-68 — Barrington, Fremd, Prospect, Hersey, Buffalo Grove, Schaumburg, Rolling Meadows, Conant and Arlington.