College Achievers: Former Hilltoppers creating chemistry at Lewis
Lewis University’s basketball website lists Paxton Warden as a marketing major. It says sophomore Ryan Renfro is studying finance.
Together, they’ve got chemistry.
Friends since they met in the third grade in Glen Ellyn, and starters on Glenbard West High School’s 37-1 2021-22 Class 4A state championship team, Renfro and Warden are back at it in Romeoville.
After the duo helped lead the Flyers to a 10-3 record with Thursday’s 105-89 victory over Upper Iowa, Lewis took a six-game winning streak into a brief break. Ranked No. 9 in the Midwest in the most recent Division II College Sports Communicators poll, the Flyers resume Thursday at William Jewel in Missouri.
A 6-foot-4 guard, Warden leads the team in scoring at 16.4 points a game. He also paces the Flyers with 3.6 assists while playing a team-high 36.5 minutes a game. He’s tied for the lead with 3-pointers and is second in steals, third in rebounds. Warden averages 1.52 assists for every turnover, best on the club among regulars.
Renfro, a 6-7 forward, is third on Lewis at 12.2 points a game, second at 4.5 rebounds, and third in assists at 1.9 per game. Renfro is among five Flyers regulars with more assist than turnovers, so far earning a positive 1.09 ratio.
In an 85-81 home victory over McKendree, Renfro recorded a double-double with 22 points and 16 rebounds. Warden added a game-high 26 points to go with 6 assists and 2 steals.
Carlson for two
On Jan. 6, the Mountain West Conference announced Colorado State guard Brooke Carlson (Batavia) as its women’s basketball freshman of the week. Getting starts in wins over San Diego State and San Jose State, Carlson averaged 10 points and 6.5 assists including a new high of 8 assists against San Jose State. It was her second weekly freshman honor. In December, she earned Mountain West awards as both freshman of the week and player of the week after she came off the bench for 18 points and 5 assists against Gonzaga. Carlson helped turn a 20-point deficit into a 74-72 overtime win sealed by her game-winning drive with 2 seconds left in overtime.
A definite plus
Mikey DeAngelo, a freshman forward from Itasca, is skating fourth-line shifts at Michigan State University, the No. 1 men’s college hockey team in the nation. The Spartans were 18-2-1 entering last Saturday’s game at Penn State. A product of the Chicago Mission hockey program, DeAngelo came to Michigan State after scoring 34 goals with 53 assists in 110 games over two seasons with Green Bay in the United States Hockey League. Coming into Saturday’s game the 5-11, 179-pounder had played in 19 of 21 games with 2 goals and 4 assists for 6 points. He was a plus-5.
Brains and brawn
Marshall Foerner (Marmion), a senior offensive lineman for the Minnesota State football team, appeared in this column last spring after he earned the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference’s Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award. In early January the 6-foot-7, 305-pounder was named to the D2Football.com Elite 100, a first-team selection for a second straight season. Starting 13 games this past season and 11 games in 2023, Foerner over the past two seasons helped the Mavericks run for a total of 5,140 yards and 60 touchdowns.