College Achievers: A winner at the women’s Frozen Four
Barrington High School product Kelly Gorbatenko is a national champion, a sophomore on the University of Wisconsin women’s hockey team that on March 23 won its eighth NCAA title, 4-3 over Ohio State in overtime at a sold-out Ridder Arena in Minneapolis.
A forward, Gorbatenko this season more than doubled her point total as a freshman. Playing in every game, she scored 15 goals with 23 assists for 38 points, tied for sixth on Wisconsin (38-1-2). A former national youth champion with the Chicago Mission, Gorbatenko scored 2 game-winning goals and once on the power play, and finished the season at plus-42 — one of 11 Badgers better than plus-30.
Three area wrestlers earned All-America status in the NCAA Division I men’s wrestling championships in Philadelphia — Oregon State redshirt freshman Ethan Stiles (Conant), sixth at 149 pounds; Northwestern graduate student Trevor Chumbley (Marmion), fourth at 157; and Iowa junior Mikey Caliendo (Batavia), second at 165.
Caliendo (24-3) earned his third All-America honor in his top finish to date, his three losses all against Mitch Mesenbrink of Penn State, which won the team title. Chumbley (17-8) surged from a No. 20 seed at 157. Stiles (17-8) helped Oregon State to the PAC-12 title, conference runner-up at 149.
Last week we noted Michigan State senior Gabrielle Stephen (Bartlett) was Big Ten Conference gymnast of the week. Then, at the conference championship, Stephen became the first Spartan to score a perfect 10 on balance beam in the Big Ten finals.
Mary Kate Fahey (Hersey) capped her senior basketball season as a two-time Division III national champion when New York University beat Smith College 77-49. The 5-foot-8 guard, who played in all 31 games, averaged 7 points and made 52 of 103 3-point attempts (51%) for a team that went 31-0 for a second straight season. Smith College, in Massachusetts, went 31-3 with the help of sophomore guard Maggie Fleming (Downers Grove North), who led the Pioneers in assist-to-turnover ratio.
One of Fahey’s prep teammates, Mary McGrath (Hersey) helped Lindenwood reach the “Super Sixteen” of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament. The 6-1 senior guard was part of a Lindenwood squad picked seventh in the Ohio Valley Conference before the season, yet reached the conference championship and made its first Division I postseason appearance.
The WNIT’s Elite Eight included Illinois State with senior guard Lauren Cohen (Glenbard South), Rutgers with sophomore guard Kennedy Brandt (Glenbard West), and Purdue-Fort Wayne with senior forward Jazzlyn Linbo (Grant), who leads the Mastodons in blocked shots.
Conrad Luczynski (Bartlett), a 7-2 sophomore at Lenoir-Rhyne University in North Carolina, helped the Bears into the men’s Division II Elite Eight before losing to Washburn 90-78. Luczynski averaged 12 points on 60% shooting, a team-high 7.3 rebounds, and blocked 43 shots. Lenoir-Rhyne (29-6) won the most games and scored the most points in its history.
In the Division II Final Four, Nova Southeastern beat Washburn. Redshirt freshman guard Jamie Qualley, who attended Stevenson before finishing at IMG Academy in Florida, averaged 4.3 points for the Sharks. On Saturday, Nova beat California State-Dominguez Hills 74-73 to win the men’s Division II championship.
Washington University in St. Louis advanced to the men’s Division III Final Four. Several area players were part of it — Yusuf Cisse (Conant), Yogi Oliff (Niles North) and starters Ryan Cohen (Glenbrook North), Will Grudzinski (Barrington) and Connor May (Palatine). A freshman, May finished third on the team in scoring, second in rebounding.
Trinity College in Connecticut won the Division III title, 64-60 over New York University. Trinity junior guard Henry Vetter, who attended a Connecticut boarding school but hails from Kenilworth, was named tournament MVP. On the year he averaged 15.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists, hit 72 threes and shot 89% from the foul line.