College Achievers: Big day for T.J. McMillen in Illini victory
T.J. McMillen, a 6-foot-3, 295-pound sophomore football player at the University of Illinois who attended St. Francis High School in Wheaton, drew his first start for the Illini on Oct. 4.
In at center for injured senior Josh Kreutz, from Loyola Academy, McMillen contributed to Illinois’ 43-27 win over Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind. McMillen helped the Illini rush for 117 yards and protect quarterback Luke Altmyer, who completed 19 of 22 passes for 390 yards and a touchdown.
McMillen later drew praise from Illini coach Bret Bielema.
Already a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree (a redshirt his freshman season), McMillen played in all 13 Illinois games last season, a key blocker in goal line and short-yardage situations.
At Purdue, McMillen was on Illinois’ field goal unit that saw junior kicker David Olano (Naperville North) boot field goals of 35, 42, 45, 35 and 40 yards, tying the program record for field goals in a game.
The Daily Herald’s Mike McGraw wrote about Olano’s game-winning kick in a 34-32 win over USC on Sept. 27. Olano’s 5 field goals and 4-of-4 on extra points against Purdue earned Olano a second straight Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honor.
Both McMillen and Kreutz come from great stock. McMillen’s father, Bob, now St. Francis’ football coach, was an all-time ironman and an Arena Football League Hall of Fame selection. Kreutz’s father, Olin, was a six-time Pro Bowl center for the Chicago Bears.
Meanwhile …
T.J. McMillen’s younger sister, Shay McMillen (St. Francis), is a sophomore outside hitter with Parkland College in Champaign. The Cobras (35-3) are ranked No. 6 in NJCAA Division II. After 37 matches, the 6-footer’s 400 kills ranked second in NJCAA Division II. She was third in total points with 455.5 and fifth in total attacks. Shay McMillen was named Parkland College’s female athlete of the month for August.
Rejected
Eva Krakowski (Conant) is up to her old tricks. The University of Southern Illinois-Carbondale middle hitter had a personal-best 11 blocks in a 3-1 victory at Murray State. Her fourth set, according to the university’s press material, was “arguably the best set of her Saluki tenure” as Krakowski sealed the win with one of her 7 blocks in the 25-19 victory. A 6-foot sophomore, Krakowski through Thursday led the Missouri Valley Conference with those 11 blocks in a match. Overall, her 57 blocks were tied for sixth place in the conference — and not too far off the 79 blocks she had her entire freshman season.
Killing it
The Southeastern Conference recently named the University of Texas’ Abby Vander Wal (Timothy Christian) its co-freshman of the week, along with Zoe Humphrey of Tennessee. Vander Wal, a 6-3 outside hitter, recorded 19 kills and averaged a .316 hitting percentage in 3-0 sweeps over Vanderbilt and Missouri. Against Vanderbilt, she had 10 kills and hit .563. On the season for No. 2 Texas, Vander Wal, entering Sunday’s match at Alabama, had played in all 46 sets and ranked third on the Longhorns with 115 kills.