Conant’s O’Malley makes up her mind early

Conant’s Rachel O’Malley is headed to play Division I softball at Radford University in Virginia.

Three years from now.

O’Malley’s commitment makes her the first Mid-Suburban League softball player to commit to a college before her sophomore season.

Last spring, she was the starting second baseman and led the MSL champion Cougars with 44 assists, She batted .338 with 21 runs and 14 RBI.

This season, she will move to third base for coach CathyAnn Smith.

“Rachel has such a passion for the game,” Smith said. “She has said this is the school she has wanted to go to forever. And they saw her passion for the game. So it was a nice fit.”

O’Malley went to the Highlanders’ softball camp last July and fell in love with the team, coaching staff and atmosphere.

“I saw how they ran everything and I really liked what I saw,” O’Malley said. “They were very organized and set goals and it is very important to me to have a goal and meet it. So when they offered me the chance to play there, I thought I better take it right away.”

O’Malley said her travel coach (Bill Conroy, owner of the Chicago bandits) directed her toward the Radford camp. The Highlanders wear similar colors to Conant — red, blue and white.

“It’s a weight off my shoulders,” O’Malley said. “But I still get nervous because I have decided so early. But I’m proud to have made the decision and now I know I have a lot of time to keep improving before I get there. I want to be able to work on a lot of things and I will have time for that.”

Siblings in command

Here’s something you won’t see too often: the St. Viator varsity girls track and field team is directed by the brother-sister team of Jim and Courtney Milner, both Palatine graduates.

Jim, who graduated in 2001, participated in track and field, cross country and wrestling as a Pirate and played the tuba in the school band. He teaches at Chippewa Middle School in Des Plaines.

Courtney, who teaches at Joseph Academy in Des Plaines, competed in softball, track and field, cross country and bowling at Palatine.

Another interesting coaching duo at Palatine this winter was girls basketball coach Leslie Schock and her father Ed, who served as her assistant. Leslie currently is the varsity girls lacrosse coach for the Pirates.

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.

Basketball

The names of the boys basketball players for the third annual Lake County Senior Shootout High School All-Star Basketball game on April 13 at the College of Lake County have been announced.

“It was a very tough decision in selecting players this year for the boys game”, said coordinator Fred Fleming. “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) 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.

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