Class of 2023's Athletes of the Year got it done on and off the field

As an aspiring basketball player visiting Glenbrook North for open gyms, varsity games and youth leagues, Ryan Cohen saw the photos posted of Spartan athletes selected "Athlete of the Class."

"I used to want to be up on that wall," he said.

Cohen will get his wish along with all-state Spartans gymnast Betsy Alcorn. They just submitted their pictures to join the cast of Glenbrook North athletes of the Class of 2023.

"I feel like all my hard work has been paying off," Alcorn said, "and it was really cool to win this award."

She and Cohen are among several athletes who earned honors like this from local schools.

They were part of a slate nominated and then voted upon by Glenbrook North coaches. Boys finalists included Cohen, Michael Glowacki, Jason Gordon, Gabe Johnson and Patrick Mahoney. Girls finalists were Alcorn, Jade Huang, Kate Leverenz and Ellie Peskin.

A "four-year" award," athletic director John Catalano said, Athlete of the Class considers a student's ability and achievements, involvement, sportsmanship and leadership abilities.

Across town, Glenbrook South's Drew Duffy had those qualities in spades.

Duffy will head to football workouts at Denison University fresh off winning the Titans' Three Sport Athlete award acknowledging a top four-year, three-sport athlete, a rarity nowadays.

"It's certainly something I'm very proud of. Playing three sports all those years is not an easy thing to do," he said.

Duffy, who will study politics and public affairs on a prelaw track at Denison, played lacrosse and was all-Central Suburban League South in football and wrestling.

"Certainly there were times where I considered not putting in my entire year to athletics, but I'm very grateful for my coaches and teammates I've been able to work with and who motivated me to stay in all those sports.

"It's been extremely rewarding and fulfilling. I think I'm certainly a better and stronger person for having gone through that experience," he said.

Duffy excelled off the field, too.

A National Honor Society member and president of Glenbrook South's Student Council Executive board, he designed the winning entry for a new Cook County flag, won a school award for social studies and two scholarships for service and leadership.

The Optimist Club of Glenview recognized Duffy's citizenship last fall. Earlier in high school he led or helped organize rallies supporting gun safety, Glenview Fire Station 13 and District 225 board candidates.

"I definitely had to organize my day well," he said. "If you break it down it becomes manageable. All the sports in the different seasons, student council during the day, that does leave time to volunteer in the community beyond that."

A two-time state qualifier in wrestling, Duffy also was among six seniors who earned Glenbrook South Triple Crown Athlete awards - two each for fall, winter and spring seasons.

For the fall, all-state football player Jacque Gariepy earned the Triple Crown as did Illinois High School Association diving runner-up Jacki Stadler.

Along with Duffy, Titans girls basketball star Sidney Rogers earned the Triple Crown for the winter season. The Central Suburban League South player of the year will play basketball at Washington University.

Spring Triple Crown Athlete awards went to Titans track star Ryan Schaefer, who won the Class 3A 300-meter hurdles and set school records in that and high jump; and softball player Lauren Chin, a three-time all-conference infielder who hit .467 this spring.

At Regina Dominican in Wilmette, Haneefa Adam was named the Panthers' athlete of the year.

All-conference in volleyball and track in the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference and, this year, the Independent School League, Adam earned her second straight all-state honor in triple jump with a seventh-place finish in Charleston.

Earlier in the season she set Regina's triple-jump record at 37 feet, 2½ inches. She also ran on a school-record 400-meter relay (50.04 seconds) at the Class 2A Richmond-Burton sectional this spring.

A National Honor Society student and a member of Regina's Class Leadership and Student Athletic Leadership boards, Adam will run track at Marquette University.

While Glenbrook North's Cohen - a three-time all-conference guard who led the Spartans to their first regional title in boys basketball in 13 years - will play at Washington University, Alcorn has probably come to the end of a gymnastics career she began at 3 years old.

"It's sad being done after my whole life, but gymnastics can be a lot so it's nice to relax right now," she said.

Motivated by a "bad" sectional as a junior, Alcorn in February placed second in state on uneven parallel bars and balance beam. In May, she earned second on bars, fourth on beam and sixth in all-around at the Level 9 Eastern Nationals.

"I definitely ended on a high note," said the prospective Clemson health science major.

She'll join Cohen among the highest-regarded athletes in school history.

"Now I'll be on that wall for all the other little kids who were in my position," Cohen said.