Backstop at the forefront: Catching up with suburban athletes away at college
Softball America ranked University of Northern Iowa sophomore catcher Alexis Pupillo (Crystal Lake South) as the No. 3 catcher in college softball entering the 2024 season.
Overall it had Pupillo at No. 45 in its preseason rankings of the top 100 players.
After earning three high school all-state honors with the Gators, as a freshman Pupillo in 2023 started all of Northern Iowa’s 51 games. She led the Missouri Valley Conference with a .412 batting average and tied for the conference lead in home runs.
Overall Pupillo drove in 49 runs with 17 home runs, 14 doubles and 2 triples. Her .844 slugging percentage and .505 on-base percentage both rank fourth for a single season for the UNI Panthers.
The MVC freshman of the year and a member of D1Softball’s freshman All-America team, Pupillo also recorded 18 assists with a .998 fielding percentage at catcher.
Checking in on a few college basketball players...
Benedictine University senior forward Trevor Montiel (Lake Park), 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, is averaging a team-high 16.2 points, plus 7.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Sophomore forward Drew Stokes (Montini) ranks second on the Eagles in scoring at 13.1 points and leads the team in blocked shots.
Through 19 games, North Central College senior guard Megan McClure (South Elgin) was third on the team at 12 points a game while averaging 5.6 rebounds. McClure led the Cardinals in minutes played and ranked second in five categories including made free throws; she was shooting 84% from the line.
Knox College junior guard Sean Gallery (Maine South) is averaging 15.3 points and 6.7 rebounds. The Prairie Fire starter leads Knox in free throws made and attempted and is second in scoring, field goals and rebounds.
A basketball player we recently noted, Northern Illinois redshirt freshman Brooke Blumenfeld (Glenbrook North) is coming on. In her first collegiate start, Jan. 20 in DeKalb, she led the Huskies with 18 points on 9-of-13 shooting in a 70-57 win over Central Michigan. A 6-foot forward, Blumenfeld was tied for sixth in scoring overall for NIU, but third in seven games against Mid-American Conference foes.
This one’s a little different, a familiar name in Illinois track and field...
Steve Luke, who had success coaching boys track and field both at Waubonsie Valley and as he wrapped up his prep coaching career at his alma mater, Danville, is now an assistant coach in charge of pole vault at Illinois State University.
Luke came to Normal after two years as an assistant at Purdue. With the Boilermakers at the 2023 Big Ten Outdoor Championships, he had both a male and a female all-conference vaulter. It was the first time in 10 years a Purdue man cleared a bar at the Big Ten meet.
Luke coached 57 prep all-state athletes. Back in the day, he held Danville’s outdoor vault record, and for 27 years owned Western Illinois’ indoor and outdoor marks.