College Achievers: With fall sports underway, some early notables
College sports have started up in earnest. Weekly awards have yet to arrive, but there’s enough summer news to note some local graduates — starting with a usual suspect.
South Dakota State senior quarterback Mark Gronowski (Neuqua Valley High School), who has led the Jackrabbits to two straight Football Championship Subdivision titles, earned Phil Steele preseason FCS first-team All-America honors. Gronowski also is on the 35-player watch list for the Stats Perform 2024 Walter Payton Award honoring the top FCS player. Gronowski won that award last season and has a chance to be only the third quarterback to win the Payton Award twice since it was established in 1987.
Gronowski, 37-3 as a starter for South Dakota State and the 2023 FCS leader in passing efficiency, threw for 3,058 yards with 29 touchdowns to 5 interceptions last season, adding 402 yards rushing with 8 touchdowns. He merited several College Achievers mentions last season and likely will again in 2024-25.
Illinois State junior receiver Daniel Sobkowicz (Rolling Meadows) also is on Phil Steele’s preseason list of FCS first-team All-Americans. A two-year starter, in 2023 Sobkowicz led the Missouri Valley Football Conference with 10 touchdown catches and racked up 933 yards receiving, both top-20 in the nation.
Purdue graduate swimmer Michaela Herwig (Geneva) earned a Big Ten Conference postgraduate scholarship, announced back on July 10. The Big Ten awards these annual scholarships, worth $7,500, to two student-athletes at each league school. Herwig was a two-time Academic All-Big Ten pick who graduated with a 3.56 grade-point average in speech, language and hearing sciences.
Though listed on Iowa’s football roster as a junior, defensive lineman Jeremiah Pittman (St. Viator) also earned a Big Ten postgraduate scholarship. The Palatine native likewise is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection.
In a great college capper that came well after the season, in late June former Lewis University basketball star Beau Frericks (Cary-Grove) was named GLVC Basketball Scholar Athlete of the Year. Along with averaging a team-high 16.1 points, the all-conference guard and sports management major recorded a cumulative 3.84 GPA.
New coach news: Sean Carlson (Buffalo Grove), announced July 25 as director of cross country and track and field at the University of Colorado. Carlson, who as a runner helped North Central College win Division III indoor and outdoor national titles, comes to the Buffaloes from the director’s position at Tennessee. Previously he coached at Notre Dame, where in 2021 Carlson was named Atlantic Coast Conference cross country coach of the year.
Also, Andrew Mathys (Kaneland) was announced Aug. 13 as men’s head soccer coach at the University of Dubuque. Mathys formerly held assistant positions at Loras College, Bowling Green, and Wisconsin-Platteville.