Coleman, Ramsey to coach Lake County stars

After leading North Chicago to the second-place trophy in Class 3A state finals last weekend in Peoria, coach Gerald Coleman will lead one more high school team this season.

He has been selected as coach for the East team in the third annual Lake County Senior Shootout High School All-Star Basketball game on April 13 at College of Lake County.

The West team will be directed by Warren coach Chuck Ramsey, who guided the Blue Devils to the Elite Eight this season.

“Coach Coleman is the second coach in Lake County history to take a team back-to-back to the state tournament, so he was an easy selection” said all-star game director Fred Fleming. “And having the all-time winningest coach in Lake County history, to coach the West team in his last game in Lake County will be historic.”

The names of the boys basketball players for the game have also been announced.

“It was a very tough decision in selecting players this year for the boys game,” Fleming said. “We broke down each player game by game, per position, times the years they played on the varsity level to compile our list and I must say we did an outstanding job with the selections.”

The East team: Kyle Ryan (Wauconda), Akeem Springs (Waukegan) Aaron Simpson (North Chicago), Marzhon Bryant (North Chicago), Juddon Carter (Round Lake), John Schneider (Barrington), Michael Fleming (Stevenson), Colby Cashaw (Stevenson), Sam Wacker (Buffalo Grove), Jay-Jay Elvir (Lakes), Tanner Blain (Lakes), Justin Schneider (Lakes), Brandon Motzel (Carmel), Thomas Durrett (Lake Forest) and Curtis Cook (Zion-Benton).

The West team: Mark Hall (Grayslake North), Jordan Taylor (Grayslake Central), Casey Boyle (Grayslake Central), Charles Harris (Lake Forest Academy), Kori Babineaux (Lake Forest Academy), Jameris Smith (Warren), Nathan Boothe (Warren), Darius Paul (Warren), Ilya Kadushin (Grant), Sean Wells (Grant), Jared Helmich (Grant), Ellis Matthews (Libertyville), Griffin Pils (Libertyville), Darren Hoveydai (Vernon Hills), Mirko Grcic (Lake Zurich) and William Waschow (Antioch).

Football

North Central senior Peter Bulandr (Stevenson) has been selected as one of 58 fall student-athletes from the 2011 season to receive an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.

The NCAA announced a list of 29 male and 29 female recipients from across all three divisions.

The NCAA’s Postgraduate Scholarship program, instituted in 1964, promotes and encourages education by rewarding the association’s most accomplished student-athletes.

To qualify, student-athletes must excel academically and athletically, be in their final year of eligibility and plan to pursue graduate study. Student-athletes must also maintain at least a 3.2 grade-point average and be nominated by their institution’s faculty athletics representative.

Bulandr, an economics and finance major from Long Grove was a team captain for the Cardinals this past season, helping lead the team to a 10-2 overall record and the program’s sixth consecutive CCIW championship.

Bulandr received first team All-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, All-North Region and All-America honors as a senior, and also became the fifth North Central player to be voted the CCIW Defensive Player of the Year. He was one of 10 nationwide finalists for the Galigardi Trophy, the premier individual award in NCAA Division III football.

Bulandr is the first North Central student-athlete to receive one of the NCAA’s Postgraduate Scholarship Awards since wrestler Ben Youel was selected in 2009, the year he graduated.

Bulandr is one of three CCIW student-athletes to be honored in this most recent announcement of awards, joining Wheaton College men’s soccer player Drew Golz and Illinois Wesleyan University women’s soccer player Lauren Knaack.

Nice digs

The nationally-ranked Leyden softball team will be practicing and playing all its home games at the Rosemont Stadium, home of the Chicago Bandit professional softball team.

“We are extremely grateful to the village of Rosemont for extending the invitation for us to play in the nicest female sporting venue in the country,” said Leyden varsity softball coach Kurt Schuett. “The facility is top notch in every way, shape and form, and we’re excited to represent Leyden High School on such a professional stage.”

The Eagles feature one of the top players in the state, DePaul-bound pitcher Morgan Maize, who belted a school-record 18 homers last spring with 77 RBI.

“I think playing in this stadium will be to our advantage,” Schuett added. “Especially, since it’s larger than all the varsity fields we will play on. In addition, the wind causes fly balls to dance a lot, so opposing teams could struggle with that.” Men’s track and field

A fifth-place showing by Dionte Hackler (Schaumburg) in the 400-meter dash helped turn the tide in favor of North Central when it won its third consecutive national title at the 2012 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Grinnell College Bear Recreation and Athletic Center.

Hackler claimed all-American honors with his finish, clocking a 49.25 to place third in his heat and fifth overall.

Hackler was also part of a national title in the 4x400-meter relay when his team established a facility record after finishing in 3:16.11, just one-hundredth of a second shy of the school record.

Football

Rich Zirngibl (Buffalo Grove), who passed for 1,156 yards and 5 TDs last fall, has committed to North Central College. Zirngibl also rushed for 686 yards and 11 TDs.

For his career defensively, he had a 103-yard fumble return TD against Hersey along with 4 interceptions, one returned for a touchdown and 122 tackles from his safety position.

His GPA is 5.12 out of a 5.0 and he scored a 29 on his ACT.

Gurnee Park District

The Gurnee Park District offers a fencing program for those ages 12 through 18. The program is held at the Woodland Middle School, Wednesdays, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. To register for this program visit gurneeparkdistrict.com or contact Ron Dorsey at 847.623.7788.

Alos offered is a variety of youth gymnastics program through three local gymnastic venues. To see what type of gymnastic programs are offered or register for a gymnastic program visit gurneeparkdistrict.com or contact Ron Dorsey at 847.623.7788.

Ÿ Please email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com or FAX to (847) 427-1173.