Fremd's Kotsakis shows class at Butler
The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced this December at the 2014 NCAA Men's and Women's College Cup championships,
Among the candidates is former Fremd soccer standout Elise Kotsakis, who represents Butler University and its women's soccer program.
Sixty NCAA men's and women's soccer student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were selected for the award, with Kotsakis making the first cut.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition.
Kotsakis has been involved in community efforts in Indianapolis and in her hometown of Palatine.
She has spent four years working with TopSoccer, an organization that has allowed her to share her love of the game with physically and mentally handicapped youths and young adults.
At Butler, she has been a true leader in the community where she and her teammates have completed over 800 hours of community service during her four-year career. Kotsakis enjoys volunteering at her local wellness center in Palatine, to provide support, education and understanding to those affected by cancer.
In the classroom, Kotsakis was part of a team that maintained a 3.588 grade-point average during the fall semester and upped that GPA to 3.622 during the spring.
She is one of 26 women's soccer student-athletes to make the spring 2014 Athletic Director's Honor Roll which recognizes those athletes who hold a 3.25 GPA or higher.
Kotsakis, an actuarial science major, currently holds a 3.623 cumulative GPA and was recently named to the 2013-14 BIG EAST All-Academic Team.
On the field, Kotsakis was a second-team All-Horizon League selection as well as a League All-Newcomer Squad honoree as a freshman. She followed that effort by starting in every game during her sophomore campaign which totaled 1,597 minutes of playing time.
Most recently, Kotsakis earned Second Team All-BIG EAST honors after her junior season. She started in all 20 games for Butler at the forward position and ended the year with six goals and four assists giving her 16 points. An impact player with the game on the line, Kotsakis also led the team with four game-winning goals.
This season, she has scored 4 goals and an assist in eight games this season.
Women's golf
Illinois freshman women's golfer Dana Gattone (St. Viator) tied for seventh individually to lead the Illini to a third-place finish at the Colonel Wollenberg Ptarmigan Ram Classic hosted by Colorado State University.
The Addison native shot rounds of 72, 72 and 73 to finish +1 on the tournament.
On the 15th hole to start the second round, Gattone nailed a hole-in-one to set the pace for the orange and blue's lowest round.
Coach Renne Slone added on the school's website that "Dana managed the game very well."
• Stephanie Miller (Stevenson) carded the second highest finish for the Fighting Illini with a final score of 220 (+4), good for 16th individually. The sophomore was responsible for 11 of the team's birdies. The Illini tied for third with a final score of 881 (+17) after the two-day tournament. Despite wind gusts as strong as 45 mph, Illinois delivered a "solid start" in Slone's eyes.
The Illini carded team rounds of 297, 289 and 295 respectively. The second-round score of 289 (+1) tied the seventh lowest team round in team history.
• The Redbird Invitational hosted by Illinois State's par-72 Weibring Golf Course served as a reunion for former Prospect standouts Ally Scaccia, Allison Walsh and Kiley Walsh.
Scaccia, a Bradley freshman, fired her lowest round of the young fall season with a two-over 74.
Scaccia was in the 70s in each of the first three rounds of her collegiate career to tie for 15th at 229, finishing 5 strokes back of first place and 2 shots shy of the top 10.
Allison Walsh, a Bradley junior, saved her best for last as well to card an 81 and tie for 74th (247).
The Redbirds' Kiley Walsh, a freshman, finished in 20th place with rounds of 77-79-75.
ISU won the 16-team tourney and Bradley came in 7th.
Nice touch by Fesl
Joanie Fesl, assignment chairman for Mid-Suburban League girls volleyball officials, made a nice move with last week's rare coaching matchup between Schaumburg's Jeanette Pancratz and her daughter, Conant coach Drewann Pancratz.
The game between a mother and daughter coaches was officiated by a father and son, Mark and Tim McKinnon of Homewood.
Mark has officiated state tourneys while Tim is in his seventh season.
Football
Augustana junior quarterback Sam Frasco (Prospect) came within 9 yards of Ken Anderson's 46-year old school record for total offense this past Saturday.
It was quite enough to keep Augustana from falling 37-27 at Hope.
Frasco finished with 191 yards and 3 touchdowns rushing and threw for a career-high 259 yards and an additional score.
His 450 yards of total offense were just short of the 459 Anderson compiled at North Park on November 2, 1968.
Through two games, Frasco has rushed for 193 yards and four touchdowns on 30 carries, an average of 6.4 yards per attempt.
He's completed 30-of-51 pass attempts (58.8%) for 377 yards with 1 interception and 1 touchdown.
Men's cross country
Augustana's Ethan Koch (Prospect) finished sixth in the Illinois Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships at Olivet Nazarene University.
He was clocked in 25:34.8 among the field of 158 runners.
Women's soccer
Northern Illinois freshmen Lauren Gierman (Hersey) and Allie Ingham (Buffalo Grove) scored their first collegiate goals as the Huskies defeated Missouri State 5-0.
Natalia Pena (Hoffman Estates) had an assist on the Huskies' first goal.
• Augustana sophomore Jessa Rizzo (Fremd) scored the winning goal in the 102nd minute to give the Vikings (3-1) a 2-1 double-overtime win over Marian at Thorson-Lucken Field.
A corner kick by Brianne Frys (Fremd) led to the Vikings' first goal.
Rizzo is tied for the team lead in scoring this season. She has 3 goals and an assist for 7 points.
• Northern Kentucky University red-shirt sophomore goal keeper Brooke Schocker (Schaumburg) earned her first start of the season and made to most of the opportunity.
Schocker helped the Norse post a 1-1 tie in double overtime over Xavier University as she collected a career-high 11 saves.
After the 110-minute effort, she followed it up with her first win of the season, a 2-1 overtime victory over Robert Morris University (Pittsburgh).
The two-game performance moved her into the several goal keeper categories in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Schocker is second in save percentage, third in goals-against average, eighth in saves and first in goals allowed. Her efforts have helped NKU post a 3-1-1 record to start the season.
Women's cross country
Augustana senior Becca Sund (Palatine) led the Vikings with a 10th-place finish at the Bradley Intercollegiate Invitational at Detweiller Park in Peoria. Her time was 17:38 over the 3-mile layout.
The Vikings finished third in the field which included four NCAA D-I schools.
Boys basketball
The St. Viator Junior Lions are holding their boys feeder tryouts on Sept. 28 and Oct. 4 for sixth through eighth grades.
Visit www.saintviator.com/ns/athletic/boys/basketball/PDFs/2014-2015feeder.pdf for details or contact Joe Rooney, Boys Feeder Director, at 630.202.0302 or at LITERAL121@juno.com.
Girls basketball
The 2014 Prospect Junior Knights girls feeder tryouts are Sunday Sept. 28 at the Prospect Field House for fifth and sixth grades 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 19 for seventh and eighth graders 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Eligible players include fifth through eighth grade girls who live within the Prospect High School District 214 boundaries.
For further information contact Jim Rebecca at prospectjuniorknights@gmail.com.
Women's volleyball
Augustana senior Emily Leazer (St. Viator) checks in at 2.37 kills per game with 71 in 30 games for the Vikings who are 9-1 overall. She leads the team in kill attempts with 270.
Rugby
After falling to South Side Irish Academy 45-5 a year ago, the Arlington Stallions high school side was much more competitive this past Saturday.
Traveling to the south side of Chicago to face a team which is a combination of players from the Brother Rice, Mt. Carmel and St. Rita high school rugby programs, the Stallions held a lead for most of the game before giving up a late, converted try for a narrow 12-10 loss.
The Stallions showed a very strong commitment to fitness and individual tackling this time.
"Despite the loss, this is a huge step up for us," said Stallions coach Paul Bergman. "The Irish are a formidable opponent and for us to be in a position to win is a testament to how hard our players are willing to work to be a better side in the weeks ahead and next spring as well."
The Stallions next opponent will be the Fox Valley Chiefs at Busse Woods on Saturday.
Stallions alumnus and former captain Zach Niro (St. Viator, 2014) has earned a starting varsity position as a flanker in the prestigious University of Colorado (Boulder) rugby program.
"Zach's a dedicated athlete who started with us as a middle schooler," Bergman said. "So it's natural that he would hit the ground running in such an outstanding program."
For more information about the Stallions Rugby Club, go to www.arlingtonstallionsrugby.com.
• Please email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com.